right, so those of you who read my last two posts about Fair Cape, may have noticed a discrepancy.

you see, Fair Cape told me that there are no free range certification standards or bodies in South Africa. that is why Fair Cape calls their free range milk “Fair Cape Free Range” – which they then define on all their products.

woolworths, who won Responsible Retailer of the Year 2008 (an international award, you can read more about it here), claims that its free range offerings are all certified by an independent auditing body. but they don’t say who this is… hmm.

Certified by independent auditors Independent and internal auditors visit our free range farms regularly to ensure that they meet international standards. This way you can be sure that free range food from Woolworths is not only delicious – it’s also guaranteed free from routine antibiotics and animal by-products. Now that’s food you can trust.

what’s even more interesting to me is that Fair Cape supplies Woolworths with 80% of their dairy NATIONWIDE. that’s a lot, right? right. so… what seems mysterious to me is that Woolworths doesn’t say their milk or yoghurt (both of which Fair Cape supply) are free range. does this mean the Fair Cape’s milks and yoghurts DON’T meet the Woolworths’ standards? or does that mean that, since Woolworths presumably supplements some of their milk and yoghurts with milk from another dairy or dairies, they can’t claim it’s all free range?

and how can Woolworths claim to be audited by independent auditors when Fair Cape says there are no standards in SA?

i thought this was a little weird. so i filled in a Contact form on Woolworths’ webpage on Tuesday 16 September. this is what i said:

I am interested in finding out more about your “independent auditors” who certify your products as “free range”. Can you please tell me who they are and how I may contact them?
Also, I visited Fair Cape dairy last week and was told that they supply 80% of your dairy nationwide. Since they claim to be “free range”, why doesn’t Woolworths advertise its milk and yoghurt as “free range”?

I only got a response Thursday Sept 18th and was asked for my nearest store, postal address and telephone number as they would like to “correspond with me as soon as possible”. I thought this was a rather odd response, but i complied. i haven’t heard anything back yet.

i think it will be very interesting to see what they have to say, and to chat to the “independent auditors” to see what standards they apply to the rest of woolworths’ “free range” offerings. woolworths offers free range eggs, chicken, duck, biltong, lamb and beef. you can read more about it here.

well, let’s hope i get a response…