Charity and Donations
We are committed to working closely with organisations that create a positive and sustainable global impact.
Our Approach
The ALDI SOUTH Group aims to be an active member of the community. To us, responsibility means having a positive impact by applying our skills and resources beyond our core business operations.
As a company, we want to deliver a sustainable societal impact. Therefore, we engage in long-term partnerships with charitable organisations and focus on key issues and target groups. We support them with donations of money and products but also use other resources available to us, including the time and skills of our employees. Additionally, we cooperate with nonprofit organisations in countries where we source our products. We are committed to improving health and education and supporting other social and ecological causes with the aim of contributing towards sustainable development.
Our Actions - Ukraine Relief Fund
Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022. This led to the destabilisation of world financial markets and supply chains. The ALDI SOUTH Group formed the Ukraine Response Team to mitigate the business risks associated with the invasion. They recognised that the Group also has responsibility to support the humanitarian response and in March 2022, ALDI pledged €5 million to help communities, families and individuals affected, providing both emergency and medium-term support.
ALDI partnered with established Internationl Aid Organisations with offices in Austria – the Red Cross, Caritas, Diakonie and SOS Kinderdorf – to distribute humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine and neighbouring countries and to support Ukrainian refugees in Austria.
It was important for us to give the charities access to donations without any major restrictions – they are on the ground and know best where and for what the aid is most needed. We kept in regular contact with them throughout the period to discuss what was needed and what had been achieved. Other initiatives included national teams donating products and the Group also funded an initiative with a HOFER fresh vegetable supplier to provide organic baby food to Ukraine.
Our Actions - Relief fund for Turkey and Syria
The ALDI SOUTH Group donated €500,000 to the Red Cross disaster relief effort, supporting the people affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February 2023. This helped ensure that immediate emergency aid got to where it was needed the most and individuals, families and communities were supported accordingly.
ALDI SOUTH Group receives Humanity Award
The Austrian Red Cross “Heinrich Treichl Foundation” has awarded ALDI with a 2023 Red Cross Humanity Award in recognition of our social commitment and support of international disasters (war in Ukraine and Syria/Turkey earthquake).
Who we are supporting
Caritas Austria
Caritas first used our donation to support people in need in Ukraine by distributing water, food, hygiene kits, and vouchers to purchase food and basic personal items. They then focused on providing winter shelter and community support, as well as psychosocial support for children, orphans, and families.
In the medium-term (until end 2024), the focus of our donation will be to support children in Ukraine by providing access to continuous, equitable, inclusive, and quality education, as well as supporting reintegration and psychological recovery.
SOS-Kinderdorf
With our donation, SOS-Kinderdorf is supporting individual refugees and families in Ukraine. At the start of the war, the focus was on resettlement programmes for people from dangerous areas, short-term transit shelters and support with food, hygiene, and non-food items, as well as shortterm psychosocial support for children and their caregivers.
As the war progresses, the focus is now increasingly on preventing family separation and addressing the acute needs of foster families, vulnerable single and large families, children who have lost parent/s in the war, families who have lost child/ren in the war and traumatised children. SOS-Kinderdorf is also strengthening the capacity of local organisations to provide psychological services and case management to children and families affected by conflict.
Austrian Red Cross
ALDI’s first donations to the Red Cross were used to distribute food parcels, water, sanitation equipment and supplies for emergency shelters. Contributions were also made to purchase ambulances for the Ukrainian Red Cross Society in order to support the operation of Mobile Health Units in Ukraine.
In the medium-term (until end 2024), they will use the remaining funds to focus on livelihoods, rehabilitation, reconstruction and disaster risk reduction and management.
Diakonie Austria
ALDI’s donations have supported and continue to support Diakonie’s refugee aid in Austria, which provides physical, psychological, and legal support to people displaced by war and helps them to integrate into Austrian society.
Diakonie is using our funding to run several projects:
- Counselling Centres in Vienna, Lower Austria, Salzburg, and Tyrol: basic care and advice on social and health issues, now with special programmes for the integration of young people and the elderly.
- Housing and legal counselling
- Helpline: free advice and help for people suffering from mental stress
- Early childhood support for mothers and their children
Baby Food Project
The ALDI SOUTH Group supported the fruit and vegetable supplier, Meleco, and the non-profit organisation SUNUA (Support Ukraine Now Upper Austria) in the production and delivery of organic baby food to Ukraine.
By funding 50% of the project costs, a total of 1 million packages of baby food puree were distributed to hospitals, orphanages, and children’s homes.
