Red Tractor has accused the Advertising Standards Agency of making a ‘fundamentally flawed’ judgement, after the advertising watchdog upheld a complaint against an advert first shown in 2021.
The complaint was made by River Action in 2023 against the Red Tractor advert that featured an animated sequence of a person pushing a shopping trolley in a store with a poster with the Red Tractor logo, featuring the text ‘CERTIFIED STANDARDS’ and ‘FARMED WITH CARE’, then outside, passing a flock of sheep and a tractor, through the barn of a dairy herd; and back into the shop.
A voice-over stated: “Farmed with care, that’s the Red Tractor way. A label to trust, found on food every day. This promise is kept by the checks put in place, to care for our animals with the right food and space. Our cows have a health plan, and a personal vet, from field to store all our standards are met. When the Red Tractor’s there, your food’s farmed with care”.
River Action challenged whether the ad exaggerated the benefits of Red Tractor endorsement because they understood, based on reports from the Environment Agency, that some environmental standards relating to pollution on Red Tractor Assured farms were not met.
Red Tractor argued that its core standards relate to food safety, animal welfare and traceability, while environmental requirements form a minor part of its standards and do not cover all environmental legislation. Therefore, data on compliance with environmental regulation should not be confused with farms’ compliance with Red Tractor’s requirements. As the regulator, it is the Environment Agency’s responsibility to ensure the law is being met, it pointed out.
The assurance scheme explained to the ASA that the then head of agriculture at the Environment Agency, Kevin Austin confirmed that the data had been misinterpreted.
It pointed to data showing that from November 2021 to May 2023, 98.8% of Red Tractor farmers were compliant with its requirements for environmental protection. Where a non-conformance was uncovered, a farm had a maximum of 28 days to address the inspector’s concern, or face further sanction.
The scheme pointed out that it is a voluntary assurance scheme operating completely independently from the Environment Agency and UK government. “However, ASA and River Action have confused the role of Red Tractor with that of the Environment Agency. Red Tractor does not enforce environmental regulation, and does not claim to do so,” it said.
Ruling
However, ASA’s ruling, published on Wednesday, revealed that it has upheld the complaint. It said its starting point was to ‘assess how the notional average consumer, who was reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, was likely to view the ad’.
While it acknowledged the detailed arguments made by Red Tractor, the agency said it considered that the claims made, together with the different food types depicted and the pastoral imagery, ‘contributed to an impression that implied RT Assured foods were subject to certified standards, which sought to achieve high levels of care, across the full journey over which food was produced.’
“Many consumers would associate those standards with the care given to animals as part of the dairy and meat production chain, as well as standards associated with arable farmed products such as fruit, vegetables and grain,” it said.
“We further considered that at least a significant minority of those consumers would also expect that, in giving assurances about high standards of farming and food production, such standards would encompass measures to manage and mitigate environmental risk that arose through farming practices.”
The ruling means the ad must not appear again in its current form, and when claiming ‘farmed with care’ in conjunction with ‘all our standards are met’ in advertising, Red Tractor must ‘make clear exactly what standards they were referring to, and the degree to which they claimed that they were being met’.
Red Tractor response
Red Tractor said it has spent more than two years cooperating fully with the ASA’s investigation and defending its position.
Red Tractor’s CEO, Jim Moseley said: “The ASA has been considering this complaint for over two years, during which time they’ve flipped from not upholding to upholding.
“We believe the ASA’s final decision is fundamentally flawed and misinterprets the content of our advert. If the advert was clearly misleading, it wouldn’t have taken so long to reach this conclusion. Accordingly, the ASA’s actions are minimal.
“They’ve confirmed that we can continue to use ‘Farmed with Care’ but simply need to provide more information on the specific standards being referred to, such as a link to our website.
“The advert, which is now almost five years old, was last broadcast in 2023 and focused on Red Tractor’s standards for traceability, food safety and animal welfare. It made no environmental claim, and we completely disagree with the assumption that it would have been misinterpreted by consumers.
“While we fully respect the ASA’s role, we are concerned about the process they’ve followed. First, rather than use the accepted ‘average consumer test’ the ASA has used their own judgement that a minority of informed consumers may misinterpret the advert.
“We believe this is an error in law and certainly a departure from normal practice. Second, we’re concerned that the use of pastoral imagery (in CGI) in conjunction with messages about responsible farming, is treated as an implicit environmental claim. Both concerns could have serious implications for other advertisers, particularly in the field of food and farming.”
Red Tractor has recently released a new advert, which it said has been ‘thoroughly vetted to ensure no implied claims’.
River Action response
River Action responded to the ruling by calling on leading supermarket retailers, including Tesco and Asda, to stop relying on Red Tractor for environmental certification, claiming the scheme has been exposed for ‘serious environmental greenwashing’.
It said new figures reveal a ‘staggering’ 19,000 breaches across 60% of inspected Red Tractor farms, ‘exposing systemic failure behind the label’s ‘environmentally friendly’ claims.
The trust’s chair and founder, Charles Watson, said: “Red Tractor farms are polluting the UK’s rivers, and consumers trying to make environmentally responsible choices have been misled. This ASA ruling confirms what we’ve long argued: Red Tractor’s claims aren’t just misleading – they provide cover for farms breaking the law.
“The time has now come for our major food retailers to lay out credible plans as to how they will move away from this busted flush of a certification scheme and support farmers whose working practices are genuinely sustainable.”