Meat Business Women (MBW) has announced a new two-year strategic partnership with Tesco to advance gender balance and inclusion across the meat and wider food industry.
Tesco’s decision to partner with Meat Business Women formalises a shared commitment to build a more diverse talent pipeline across the industry.
Through the partnership, Tesco said that it reinforces its own values on diversity and also sets clear expectations for gender balance among its suppliers.
Meat Business Women
Research by MBW shows women made up 33.5% of the sector’s total workforce in 2023, down from 36% in 2020.
In an industry where gender balance has historically lagged, Tesco is apparently leading the way with a workforce that significantly exceeds the sector’s average for female representation.
Today, women make up two-thirds of Tesco’s Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) team, including its MFP leadership team.
Director of Meat, Fish, Eggs and Poultry at Tesco and product commercial director for Onestop, Richard Wood commented on the partnership: “Tesco is proud to be at the forefront of gender representation within the food sector.
“Building a balanced team is not only the right thing to do, it’s essential to creating a stronger organisation and a more resilient industry.
“Our partnership with Meat Business Women is a vital step towards making gender inclusivity a priority, and we’re excited to work together to inspire similar commitment across our supplier network.”
Gender balance
By investing in gender balance and making the sector more appealing to talent regardless of gender, Tesco aims to deliver long-term positive impacts, including increased colleague retention and progression.
Founder and global chair of Meat Business Women, Laura Ryan said: “Tesco join the Meat Business Women family at an extremely exciting time of growth. We are leading the conversation on gender balance and providing practical solutions to partners.
“We are delighted to have Tesco on board and to be working with their teams and suppliers.”
As part of the partnership, Tesco employees will receive access to resources such as global mentoring, monthly development masterclasses, global networking and industry events.
MBW works in partnership with meat businesses and the supply chain to remove the barriers that stop women from reaching their full professional potential.
It does this by focusing on five key areas:
- Changing perceptions of the sector;
- Moving inclusion up the agenda;
- Tackling the broken career ladder;
- Strengthening networks and creating visible role models;
- Gender-proofing working practices and patterns.
Meat Business Women is the United Nation’s recognised global professional network for women working across the meat industry.
It was created to improve the sustainability of the meat sector and grow the pipeline of female talent in what has been a male dominated arena.
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