Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person's liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.

We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or our supply chain.

We are also committed to ensuring there is transparency in our own business and in our approach to tackling modern slavery throughout our supply chain. We expect the same high standards from all of our contractors, suppliers and other business partners.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking commitment for our financial year 2024-2025.

Our business, structure and supply chains

Wallaroo Foods Ltd is a food business engaged in the manufacture and distribution of pre-packaged ambient food products in the UK. The company’s business offices and packing/processing facilities are based entirely in the UK although the company sources ingredients and other materials from suppliers located all over the world.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

Wallaroo internal policies include our Ethical Trading Policy where we confirm that we will not tolerate or condone abuse of human rights within any part of our business or supply chains and will take seriously any allegations that human rights are not properly respected. Our policies are developed by subject matter experts and signed off at Director level.

Due diligence processes for slavery and human trafficking

We understand that our biggest exposure to Modern Slavery is in our product supply chains, where we have undertaken to ensure that we only work with suppliers that operate a strong set of controls and have systems in place to identify and address issues relating to modern slavery and human trafficking.

Supplier adherence to our values

We are aware of the reported instances of forced or trafficked labour in the food industry. Our current suppliers are based in ‘low risk’ countries and we work with them continuously to ensure that we jointly understand the importance of adhering to good practices in this area. Our suppliers understand that we have zero tolerance when it comes to modern slavery and human trafficking. Our current food suppliers are also certified as FairTrade. We will continue to onboard only those suppliers that share our values and are able to show their commitment towards addressing issues relating to modern slavery.

Training

The directors of the company are aware of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Employees when onboarded will be required to read through the relevant company policies and may, depending on job role and function, be given specific training relating to modern slavery and human trafficking.

Further steps to prevent Modern Slavery in our supply chains

We understand that Modern Slavery risk is not static, and we will continue to evolve our policies, practices and systems as we grow as a company to ensure that we address this ongoing risk in the year ahead. We will also be reviewing our supplier interactions and ensuring that we require adherence to the prevention of modern slavery as a separate step in all our contracts with all future suppliers.