JD Wetherspoon

JD Wetherspoon’s antibiotics policy is publicly available on its website as part of its broader food sourcing policy.

The company states that "the policy covers all animal derived protein across all species".

The company states that their antibiotics policy applies to all suppliers. JD Wetherspoons has confirmed that the policy applies to all suppliers irrespective of location.

The company states that "Wetherspoon does not support the preventative mass medication of animals by the use of antibiotics (prophylactic) within its supply chain. Our view is that antibiotics should be used only when there has been a specific clinical diagnosis and are working with our suppliers and producers to achieve this sensibly, while not affecting animal welfare. Our aim is to phase out the use of critically important antibiotics, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the highest priority given to critically important antimicrobials for human medicine. JD Wetherspoons has confirmed their policy focus is only on critically important antibiotics to human medicine.

The company has not yet set external targets and timelines for implementation. However, in their response to FAIRR, the company indicated that "over the next year, a formal antibiotic reduction strategy will be developed using the Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) Antibiotic Stewardship Programme as a blueprint." Once published, this will be used to "set specific targets and timelines for all species with detailed data being gathered from suppliers and producers".

The company does not currently disclose antibiotics usage, however in their response they stated that they are in the process of gathering data from suppliers to enable them to report on progress.

JD Wetherspoon states that "all of our suppliers are BRC certified and all meat and seafood suppliers conform to relevant welfare assurance schemes (dependent on species and geographical location). Suppliers are routinely audited by Wetherspoon’s internal supply chain auditors. The audits concentrate on the safety of the products being supplied and the welfare of the animals and employees of the supplier. We independently and routinely test all of our farmed animal derived protein products for residual antibiotics." Based on this information it appears that the company carries out internal audits, and their third-party audit do not appear to specifically address antibiotics policy compliance other than residue levels.

JD Wetherspoon responded to the investor letter providing clear insightful answers to all questions. The company has not met with the investor coalition.