Freshways has launched a new partnership with Map of Ag to help measure and improve animal health and welfare and environmental sustainability across its producing farms. The programme, which began in May 2026, is expected to cover around 150 producers across the UK, giving Freshways and its farmers a practical framework for monitoring progress, identifying opportunities and strengthening long-term resilience across the supply chain.
How the Partnership Works
At the heart of the partnership is a shared focus on making data sharing more effective for everyone in the supply chain, especially farmers. Through FarmMetrics, Map of Ag’s data platform, farms can connect existing datasets, add further information where needed and receive useful reporting back, while Freshways can build a clearer picture of welfare and sustainability performance across its supply base. The approach is designed to be low-friction and farmer-friendly, reducing manual data entry by drawing on existing third-party data sources wherever possible and helping minimise time spent on administration.
Benefits for Freshways Farmers
For farmers, that means less duplication, better visibility and more targeted support. The programme will monitor areas including:
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Animal health outcomes
- Animal welfare performance
- Antibiotic usage
- Soil management
- Water stewardship
- Biodiversity initiatives
FarmMetrics also supports real-time or regularly updated reporting for a wide range of metrics, helping surface trends earlier and making it easier to identify where support, intervention or knowledge exchange could deliver the greatest benefit on farm.
Supporting Responsible Dairy Sourcing
For Freshways and its customers, the partnership creates a more robust way to demonstrate responsible sourcing in action. By collecting and monitoring key farm-level data on an ongoing basis, Freshways can show how it is working with producers to improve welfare, reduce emissions and support better environmental outcomes in line with growing customer and consumer expectations.
Why Freshways Chose Map of Ag
Map of Ag brings significant experience to the programme, with the business already working widely across the UK dairy sector with 15 other producer groups. Designed and managed by a team of specialist veterinary consultants, the platform combines sector expertise with configurable reporting, broad integrations and a digital approach to producer engagement that helps create the foundations for continuous improvement.
“It was clear from our discussions that Freshways has ambitious plans to work proactively with their producers, measuring key impact areas and, over time, provide targeted knowledge exchange and support where it is needed most. This partnership creates an opportunity to deliver welfare and sustainability improvements, to deliver benefits to the whole supply chain.” said Rob Burgess, Chief Operating Officer at Map of Ag.
“We’re delighted to get this programme underway. It is increasingly important for us to show our customers how we are supporting farms in monitoring welfare and environmental impact, while helping build a supply chain that improves welfare and can reduce emissions over time. Working with Map of Ag, with their expertise in this area, will help us do that effectively and in a way that supports both our farmers and our customers.” said Khyati Sahu, Head of Sustainability, Freshways.
Building a More Resilient Dairy Supply Chain
By combining farmer-friendly data collection with practical insight and the potential for future knowledge exchange, the Freshways and Map of Ag partnership is designed to move beyond measurement alone. The aim is to give farmers useful, actionable information, give customers greater confidence in how milk is sourced, and create a stronger foundation for continuous improvement across the supply chain.
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