Let’s be real: single-issue boycotts are wildly inconsistent. You can’t boycott Waitrose for selling Jaffa oranges while buying a Galaxy chocolate bar (made by Mars Inc., which has factories in Israel and the West Bank). That’s like being “mostly vegan” except for when there’s bacon on the menu. Which is called “being a normal person at a barbecue.”
BBC Audio | Analysis | Do Boycotts Work?
Surprising fact: over 70% of BDS campaigns target Israeli goods, but 40% of those consumer complaints are about products that aren’t even sold in the UK anymore. People are writing angry emails about Dead Sea mud that hasn’t been in a shelf since 2019. It’s the ethical equivalent of screaming at a cloud that already rained.
And here’s the real punchline: Waitrose is actually owned by the John Lewis Partnership, a British employee-owned co-operative. So boycotting Waitrose means hurting your own neighbors’ pensions—the same neighbor who lent you a lawnmower and didn’t ask for it back. See the irony? It’s like punching yourself in the face to get back at your thumb.
What You Can Do (Without Losing Your Mind)
If you really want to be a righteous warrior, check the labels yourself. Look for “Made in the West Bank” or “Produce of Israel.” But brace yourself: 90% of “Israeli” avocados you see are actually from Spain. The confusion is a feature, not a bug, designed by the global supply chain to make you weep into your reusable bag.
Or, you know, you could just shop at Waitrose for the good bread and pretend you’re in a Netflix drama about moral dilemmas. The employees don’t care. The cashier is too busy thinking about their lunch break. And the guy next to you is buying £8 cheese and reading a book called “How to Not Be a Hypocrite.” Nobody knows anything.
So, to answer your burning question: Waitrose is not on the official boycott list, but it lives in the grey zone—that terrifying space where ethical shopping goes to die. The best advice? Buy your Jaffa oranges, bake a cake, and worry about the planet instead. At least that’s an effort we can all understand, even if the strawberries are from Chile in December.
And if anyone asks, just shrug and say, “I’m boycotting the concept of certainty.” Then eat your free olive. It’s the only thing that’s unambiguously delicious.
