Many Glaswegians living in the West End of Glasgow and beyond will view the opening of your new branch at 373 Byres Road with dismay. This is due to Waitrose knowingly stocking goods sourced from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, which are illegal under international law and are built on land which has been confiscated from Palestinian farmers, most of whom were already poor to begin with. Our concern is that these goods are misleadingly labelled as “Produce of the West Bank ”.

Purchasing goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is considered by many of your customers to be Waitrose’s implicit support for an illegal act.

I have looked at your website, hoping that an answer would become manifest. However, perusal of the forums on your website shows that you have a very simplistic and technical stance on this issue because you claim:

“Our products are sourced on the basis of quality and the integrity of our suppliers”.

However, Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and our own Foreign and Commonwealth Office also views them as illegal. It says:

“The government has been clear that settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are illegal”.

Furthermore, Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states:

“The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”

Therefore, one would require an explanation of “supplier integrity” within a context where the land being farmed does not belong to the farmer. You also mention mixed Israeli and Palestinian workforces on your forum as if they are living and working in Utopia:

“(Palestinian and Israeli) workforce have worked side by side for many years”

You also say that:

“(our) buyers and food technologists have been to the West Bank recently to see first hand farms we source from”

However, if they have been there, you have neglected to mention that the very same Palestinians cannot travel on the same roads as Israeli settlers because they are reserved exclusively for Israeli settlers. The last place where this happened was in South Africa, where such arrangements were known as apartheid.  On your forum, you go on to claim that:

“we try to take into account the wide range of beliefs and opinions held by our customers by offering choice”.

The issue is that you do not really. You believe that choice consists of one single criterion, i.e. geographical placement. This is an issue which can influence a customer in his or her decision. On your forum, you claim that your labelling is:

“in line with the geographical region and EU legislative advice”

However, your current practice is actually illegal because Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament states:

“(6) The prime consideration for any rules on the labelling of foodstuffs should be the need to inform and protect the consumer.”

“(8) Detailed labelling, in particular giving the exact nature and characteristics of the product which enables the consumer to make his choice in full knowledge of the facts…”

Article 2(1) states:

The labelling and methods used must not:

(a) be such as could mislead the purchaser to a material degree, particularly:

(i) as to the characteristics of the foodstuff and, in particular, as to its nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, origin or provenance, method of manufacture or production

Article 3(1) states:

Indication of the following particulars alone shall be compulsory on the labelling of foodstuffs:

“(8) Particulars of the place of origin or provenance where failure to give such particulars might mislead the consumer to a material degree as to the true origin or provenance of the foodstuff”

Part 2, paragraph 13 of the Food Standards Agency’s Guidance states:

“Where the label carries other information that may imply origin, the actual country of origin declaration should be sufficiently prominent, precise and compelling to correct any potentially misleading impression.”

Your stance on this labelling issue goes against the grain of your overall belief in fairness. Your website displays 230 results when searching for “ethical” and 252 results when searching for “fair trade”. Glaswegians are very forthright and many will view your duality as hypocrisy.