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Wittington Investments

OVERALL

Owned
UK
Rating
Criticism, some praise

Holding company

Wittington Investments is controlled by the Weston Family, and is the ultimate holding company of Associated British Foods plc (ABF), one of Europe's largest food companies and owners of George Weston Foods in Australia.

Company Ownership

Wittington Investments Ltd   UK     website   email      
  Garfield Weston Foundation   
   owns 79% of Wittington Investments Ltd  
UK     website   email      

Grant-giving charity

Founded 1958. The Weston family controls a string of businesses through this charitable trust, including Associated British Foods, Primark and Fortnum & Mason. Owns nearly 80% of Wittington Investments, its main source of income.

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE CRITICISM INFORMATION
Wittington Investments Ltd
Animals Selling foie gras
Wittington Investments subsidiary Fortnum & Mason has been targeted by PETA for continuing to sell foie gras. Foie gras is made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been force fed grain through a tube for the last 12-18 days of its life under factory farm conditions. More than a dozen countries have prohibited foie gras production due to animal welfare concerns.
Source: PETA (2020)
Business Ethics Tax avoidance
UK-based protest group, UK Uncut, targeted Wittington Investments during protests in March 2011 for their tax avoidance policies.
Source: UK Uncut (2011)
Information BOTTOM Rating - 54/100 for Good Shopping Guide rating
Brands in 'bread' category received BOTTOM Rating; with a score of 54 out of a possible score of 100 in the Ethical Company Organisation's 'Good Shopping Guide' (UK), which evaluates brands with regard to their environmental, animal welfare and human rights records.
Source: Ethical Company Organisation (UK) (2020)
Garfield Weston Foundation
Business Ethics Govenance
In 2010, the UK Charity Commission found that some of the family members who run the Garfield Weston Foundation allowed an investment company it controlled (Wittington Investments) to make illegal political donations between 1993 and 2007. The Charity Commission also found that the charity's nine trustees breached their duties in January 2006 by voting for a resolution allowing Wittington to make donations without giving proper consideration.
Source: news article (2010)
Business Ethics Charitable giving
The Garfield Weston Foundation gives grants to UK registered charities, with the exception of animal welfare charities. Organisations with an 'exempt' or 'excepted' status such as churches, hospitals, educational establishments and housing corporations may also apply for grants.
Source: company website (2012)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type Private Company
Subsidiaries Associated British Foods PLC (55% owned) 

Food manufacturer

Diversified international food, ingredients and retail group operating in 47 countries. 54.5% owned by Wittington Investments, a company controlled by the founding Weston family.


  - George Weston Foods Ltd 

Food manufacturing

One of Australia and New Zealand's largest food manufacturers, employing over 6,000 employees across 40 sites. George Weston Foods bought Tip Top Bakeries (1949), George Chapmans (1987), Don Smallgoods (1999), Melosi (1995), Jasol (1986), AGB (2007) KR Castlemaine (2008) and Yumi's (2018).


  - Acetum SpA 

Vinegar producer

Italian balsamic vinegar producer acquired by Associated British Foods in 2017.


  - AB Food & Beverages Australia Pty Ltd 

Powdered food products manufacturing

Australia's #2 hot beverages company. Like George Weston Foods, this company is owned by European food and beverages giant, AB Foods.


  - R. Twining & Co Ltd 

Tea company

Established in 1706. Twinings is a founder member of the Ethical Tea Partnership formed in 1997. See www.ethicalteapartnership.org


  - Primark Stores Ltd 

Clothing retailer


  - Silver Spoon Company 

Retail sugar

Established in 1972 as the retail brand of ABF owned British Sugar.


  - Jordans & Ryvita Company (62% owned) 

Grain-based foods

ABF merged its Ryvita subsidiary with Jordans cereal business in 2008, and in 2014 they acquired Dorset cereals.

Contact Details

Address London , United Kingdom
Email ABFinfo@abfoods.com
Website www.alacrastore.com/mergers-acquisitions/Wittington_Investments_Ltd-1027010

Products / Brands

George Weston Foods
9 Grain Bread
Abbott's Village Bakery Bread
Bagle House Bread
Bazaar Flat Bread
Burgen Bread
Don Smallgoods/Pork
English Muffins Bread
Golden Bread
Huttons Smallgoods/Pork
Jasol Multi-Purpose Cleaners
Kitchen Collection Flour & Bread Mix
KR Castlemaine Smallgoods/Pork
Pataks Indian
Pataks Cooking Sauce
Sunblest Bread
The One Bread
Tip Top Bread
Tip Top Flour & Bread Mix
Tip Top Flat Bread
Titan Multi-Purpose Cleaners

Acetum
Mazzetti Vinegar

Twinings & Co
Jarrah Coffee
Jarrah Milk Flavouring
Ovaltine Milk Flavouring
Ovaltines Chocolate
Twinings Tea

Silver Spoon
Billington's (sucrose) Sugar & Sweeteners


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