Asda Group Ltd

How ethical is Asda?

Our research highlights several ethical issues with Asda, including allegations of gender discrimination, a lack of animal welfare policies, and inadequate climate action plans.

Below we outline some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and Asda’s overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.

Who owns Asda?

Previously TDR Capital and the Issa brothers had approximately equal ownership of Asda, but one of the brothers is currently selling their share which will give TDR a 67.5% majority ownership. Mohsin Issa will continue to hold a 22.5% stake, and Walmart 10%.

People

Asda has faced multiple criticisms over its policies and practices, when it comes to treatment of workers.

The company has a supplier code of conduct, which outlines its workers’ right expectations in its supply chain. However, it was not considered to have adequate policies on multiple key issues, for example requiring payment of a living wage, and prohibiting child labour and excessive working hours.

In March 2023 Ethical Consumer published the report Produce of Exploitation. It found that fruit and vegetable companies in southern Spain, believed to be supplying to all major UK supermarkets, were committing major labour rights abuses – such as wage theft, unsafe conditions, sexual harassment and forced labour. UK supermarkets, including Asda, had failed to take adequate action, the report found.

The British Retail Consortium responded to the report on behalf of Asda and other supermarkets. It stated that it was “not in a position to comment on the claims made”, as it had not seen the report in full prior to publication.

Oxfam has rated supermarkets for their human rights approach, in its Supermarkets Scorecard. It scores companies based on their efforts to protect and ensure fair treatment to women, smallholder farmers and others in its supply chains. In the most recent 2022 version of the report, Asda was the lowest scoring. It received just 9%, compared to 61% for the highest scoring company.

In 2014, the law firm Leigh Day began representing Asda workers, claiming those working on the shop floor (mainly women) were paid less than those working in warehouses (mainly men) due to gender discrimination. Many other brands now face similar cases. The court case – representing over 60,000 workers – opened in September 2024, with the hearing expected to last three months. If successful, some workers could claim over £20,000 compensation.

An Asda spokesperson told The Guardian in September: “we strongly reject any claim that Asda’s pay rates are influenced by gender. There are numerous different jobs within retail and within warehouses. We continue to defend these claims because retail and distribution are two different industry sectors that have their own distinct skill sets and pay structures.”

Environment

Asda scores 0 marks (out of 100) for its climate approach under our ratings system.

The company has worked with its largest suppliers on setting science-based targets for reducing emissions. However, it has not published details on how it plans to cut its emissions in the future, and in July 2024, it was criticised for dropping its 2040 Climate Target just months after it had been independently approved.

According to an article on the news site Business Green, “The supermarket said the hundreds of new small stores it has rolled out since the start of 2023 meant it would no longer be able to meet its goal of reducing absolute emissions across all scopes by 90 per cent by 2040”. Asda defended the decision, stating it did not amount to a rollback of its climate efforts, and that it would be submitting a new target for approval.

Asda was also criticised by the Environmental Investigation Agency in 2023 for installing climate-damaging refrigerants (known as HFCs) at a time when other supermarkets are reducing their use.

Asda has a mixed record when it comes to other environmental issues.

Asda has made some limited steps to cut packaging. 29.4% of the plastic in its own brand products was made from recycled materials in 2022, and it had shifted to using reusable crates for transportation of its meat and vegetables. However, the company did not appear to have set a future target to reduce packaging in its stores overall.

Animals

Asda performs badly when it comes to animals – scoring 0/100 for both dairy and hen welfare in Ethical Consumer’s ratings.

For example, the supermarket did not appear to have any policy on ’surplus calves’ – male baby cows that cannot produce milk and are therefore often unwanted on dairy farms. In the UK, the calves may be euthanized by slaughterhouses shortly after birth or transported to the EU at a young age to be raised as veal, both raising major welfare concerns. 

Asda likewise still sells cage eggs, alongside higher welfare options, with a target to end the practice by 2025. It did not have a clear policy to prohibit beak trimming – a practice that sees farmers cut the end of birds’ beaks to stop them pecking one another due to lack of space and stress – or to have a no-kill male chicks policy – to prevent male chicks being killed when they hatched. Read more about the ethics of egg production our ethical shopping guide.

Politics and finance

In 2020, Retail Gazette published an article titled, “Asda’s new billionaire owners paid £55m in tax in the last 5 years”. The article stated that the Issa Brothers – who purchased Asda in 2020 alongside private equity firm TDR Capital – had “reportedly managed to pay minimal tax in recent years as a rapid expansion scheme led to billions of pounds of debt and reduced taxable income.”

In 2023, the Telegraph published a second article titled, “Billionaire Issa brothers deny setting up companies in Jersey for tax reasons”. Parliament launched an inquiry into the Issa brother’s business affairs, over concerns about tax avoidance. The brothers had written to Liam Byrne, a Labour MP chairing the business and trade committee, stating “no companies in the Asda ownership structure are incorporated in jurisdictions outside of England and Wales due to any ‘tax haven’ status.” The brothers denied having misled the committee during the inquiry.

The text above was written in September 2024, and most research was conducted in June 2024.

Want to find out more? Subscribe to see the full detailed stories about Asda and many other brands.