Man in coffee field holding coffee beans

May 2021

ALDI strives to bring sustainable and responsibly sourced products onto everybody’s plate

Sarah Bollermann
Group Director of Corporate Responsibility International

Our new vision is to “make sustainability affordable to our customers” by 2030. Whilst this is an ambitious goal, we think it is achievable by taking one clearly defined step after the other and working with strong partners.

International CR Strategy & Vision 2030 Our new International CR Strategy reflects the need to use a global perspective, when faced with global challenges. We focus on four international areas: respecting human rights, improving resource efficiency, realising zero carbon and being an employer of choice, and combine them with national activities to meet our customers’ everyday needs and support local communities.

We took a risk-based approach when developing our new strategy. We wanted to focus on those supply chains with high sustainability risks and high leverage. This enables us to address global social and environmental problems where they are most pressing, and where we have the greatest impact on people and the environment.

Upholding human rights

Our first international focus area is about respecting “human rights”. Our aim is to actively improve living and working conditions throughout our high-priority supply chains (e.g. cocoa, fish and seafood, textiles). On the one hand, it is important to make our supply chains transparent and to have a better understanding about the origin of the products we sell. Whilst at the same time, ensuring that the rights of workers, who contribute to these supply chains, are respected and their working conditions improved. In this context, the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) is not only a valuable partner for change, but also supports us in identifying and developing measures to effectively support workers in our supply chains.

As a global player, we want to be seen as an advocate for workers; we have a loud voice, and we are willing to speak up to drive change. We are excited about supporting the new EU Human Rights Due Diligence legislation and in our opinion partnering and collaborating are essential in order to have a real impact. Through joint initiatives and projects on the ground, we aim to make a positive progress for workers and their families.

A good example of successful cooperation and responsible sourcing is our brand new chocolate bar, the Choceur “CHOCO CHANGER”. ALDI has joined Tony's Open Chain and together we are strengthening the positive effects on cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and setting a new benchmark in the cocoa supply chain in terms of transparency, secured income and improved livelihood for farmers. The cocoa, sugar and vanilla in the chocolate bars are Fairtrade certified and sourced from Fairtrade producers. By paying the farmers an extra premium on top, we go beyond certification and enable a living income.

Collaborating with ETI

Working with the ETI is one of the ways we will deliver our strategy in the area of human rights. Collaborating on working groups, such as the “Italian Agricultural Working Group” or the “Peruvian Horticultural Working Group” really allows ALDI to not only get a great insight into the challenges that other retailers face, but also gives us an opportunity to engage with diverse stakeholders and to work with likeminded businesses who also want to make a difference. The partnership will help us to democratise sustainable products, make them affordable, and bring them into any household and onto everybody’s plate. In order to fulfil this ambitious vision, we have clearly defined our corporate responsibility focus areas.

New international CR Strategy defines our way forward

In addition to the focus area of “human rights”, we place a strong emphasis on “resource efficiency”. Here, we not only concentrate on sustainable sourcing, good water stewardship and deforestation-free supply chains, but also reduce food and operational waste across our whole business and tackle plastics and packaging. With the focus area “zero carbon”, our aim is to minimise our own operational carbon ecological footprint and also encourage our strategic suppliers to set their own ambitious emissions targets. With the focus area “employer of choice”, we want to offer our employees a motivating and healthy work environment and want to attract and retain the right staff. The global CR strategy is complemented by additional national focus areas, which concentrate on giving all customers access to healthy products and supporting local communities through charity partnerships.

More: Vision 2030