The scheme will be in place from November 2007 with all 26 John Lewis in-store restaurants featuring Red Tractor assured pork, beef, lamb, chicken and turkey.

Red Tractor plaques will be going up in the restaurants to highlight the arrival of Red Tractor meats on the menu. As an extra push, John Lewis will be investing in training and promotional tools for their intranet site to ensure that all restaurant and store staff are fully equipped to answer customer queries and give information on the scheme.

Marco Zacharia, Head of Catering for John Lewis says, “It’s great news that John Lewis have gained this accreditation and shows our commitment to the UK farming industry. Red Tractor continues to boost the reputation of UK produced food and it’s great that we can now support them and take their messages to our consumers.”

Colin Smith, Chairman of Assured Food Standards added “John Lewis is the UK’s largest department store retailer and we welcome their commitment to buying and serving top quality food underpinned by the stringent standards of production of the Red Tractor mark. This development is significant for the scheme as it takes us into a new arena and we are very pleased to welcome the company on board.”