Shining a light on our women-owned suppliers | International Women’s Day 2026

This International Women’s Day, we focused on celebrating every story, making us stronger together. It’s an opportunity to recognise the diverse experiences of women across our organisation and our supply base, to elevate voices that inspire progress, and to strengthen our collective commitment to creating an environment where colleagues and partners of all genders can thrive.

At Sainsbury’s, we’re proud to work with a diverse community of suppliers who bring innovation, purpose and passion to our shelves and into the hands of our customers. In celebration of International Women’s Day 2026, we welcomed some of our suppliers to our London Store Support Centre where they showcased their products and shared their stories and perspective with some of our colleagues.

For Ella Mills, Founder of Deliciously Ella, her journey began with a personal turning point. Ella started the business in 2012 after becoming unwell at 21, an experience that changed the way she thought about food and wellbeing. What followed, she said, was “a personal search to feel better” that has since grown into “a community of more than 2.5 million people”, built around simple, accessible ways to support long-term wellbeing.

This strong sense of purpose also came through in Amelia’s reflections from Bold Bean Co. She described International Women’s Day as a chance to celebrate “the strength, resilience and brilliance of women in work”, while also highlighting the importance of representation. Her view was simple: when women are in senior leadership, it helps create policies and cultures that better support people — and that visibility matters because it doesn’t just reflect progress, it helps create more of it.

For Dr Megan Rossi, Co-Founder of Bio & Me, the story has been shaped by science, purpose and accessibility. Growing up on a farm in Australia, she told us she could never have imagined founding two science-led brands rooted in her love of food and research. Inspired by her mum, a science teacher, Megan said her mission has been to translate “cutting-edge microbiome science” into products people can actually use.

Pippa Murray, Founder of Pip & Nut, spoke candidly about building a business. She reflected that growing a grocery brand hasn’t always been easy, from raising funding in rooms where she was often the only woman to navigating motherhood while scaling the business. But her perspective also returned to community: behind every growing brand, she said, “is a network of support”.

Creating space for women to feel seen and supported is also a passion for Harriet Aldam, Head of Sales & Partnerships at OVUM. She spoke about the importance of better access to reproductive health products and information, saying that women deserve clearer information and products “truly grounded in science” when it comes to their reproductive health. She also described International Women’s Day as a reminder of the power of women backing women.

Community is also central to Ros Heathcote, Founder and Managing Director of Borough Broth. She told us that every milestone in the business has been shaped by resilience and by “a community that believes in backing women”.

The idea of collectively-created opportunity also shines through in Sainsbury’s partnership with Finlays. Together, Finlays and Sainsbury’s have focused on sourcing sustainable roast and ground coffee from 34 women farmers in La Celia, Colombia, by Expocafe. Finlays described La Celia coffee as “an inspiring example of women leading progress at origin”. Rosa, a farmer in Colombia, brought that impact to life by sharing what being part of the WRM Low Carbon project means to her: confidence that women farmers can lead change and bring coffee grown with responsibility and dedication to international markets.

An enormous thank you to all the suppliers who shared their stories with us and to all the colleagues who came along to learn about them!