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Factory workers

Supply Chain

Our Approach

The ALDI SOUTH Group, in collaboration with its business partners, assumes responsibility throughout the supply chain. This relationship is based on mutual respect and trust and forms the foundation for our supply chain activities.

We expect our business partners to comply with all our social and environmental standards and we pay particular attention to production conditions in countries where adherence to these standards cannot yet be taken for granted. In these countries, we want to contribute to the improvement of working conditions and the protection of the environment.

As many of our products are not sourced directly from producers, we value our business partners as key allies in improving working conditions in production facilities used for ALDI. Therefore, we maintain an ongoing dialogue with our business partners, work together on projects as well as monitoring their activities to ensure that our requirements are implemented and adhered to in all production facilities used for ALDI production.

Our Actions

ALDI Business Partner Sustainability Standards

The ALDI Business Partner Sustainability Standards (formerly the ALDI Social Standards in Production) represent ALDI’s minimum requirements for its value chains. They were first published in 2010 and were further revised in 2014 and 2023. 

The ALDI Business Partner Sustainability Standards constitute a binding set of norms for all enterprises that have a business relationship with ALDI by supplying services or goods, including both merchandise and goods not for resale, and whose requirements are to be further cascaded to all indirect business partners. They are to be understood in the context of ALDI's own activities towards addressing salient risks identified in our value chains, as laid out in the ALDI Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence Policy. ALDI reviews these standards frequently and strives for continuous improvement.”

Social Monitoring Programme (SMP)

In order to be able to monitor compliance with these sustainability standards at production facility level and to continue to foster these together with our business partners, we have developed and implemented our Social Monitoring Programme. Business partners are integrated into this programme according to an assessment and prioritisation of their respective supply chain risks (based on commodity groups and sourcing countries).

All main production facilities in high risk areas used for the manufacturing of ALDI products have to have a valid third party audit. On-site audits performed by independent experts are a key component of the programme. ALDI recognises audits and certificates according to the standards including:

Following every audit, a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is developed which sets out an individualised timeline for eliminating any issues that may have been found. Our business partners are obliged to implement the measures together with the production facility’s management. Our CR departments closely monitor the process to ensure successful remediation.

ALDI Social Assessments (ASAs) & ALDI Producer Assessments (APAs)

We consider third party social audits to be an important first step in gathering social compliance information about our production facilities and initiating improvements. However, we are aware that they may not always provide a true picture of working conditions. From our experience, we know that on-site presence can lead to greater transparency and fosters strong partnership with business partners and production facilities. Since 2011, we have been supplementing third-party audits with our own on-site visits for certain high-risk commodity groups.

These ALDI Social Assessments (ASAs) are assessments of main production facilities that are carried out by ALDI employees together with external auditors and business partner representatives. These ASAs mainly take place in amfori BSCI risk countries.

ALDI Producer Assessments (APAs) are audits on food farms and plantations in countries of origin. The audits are conducted by external service providers and  enable us to carry out spot checks to verify the human rights situation and working conditions in our supply chain and how our requirements, in particular the ‘ALDI Business Partner Sustainability Standards’, are being implemented and met.

Following every assessment, if necessary, a Corrective Action Plan is agreed which lays out an individualised timeline for eliminating potential issues. Our business partners are obliged to implement the measures together with the production facility’s management. Our CR departments closely monitor the progress and successful remediation.

Visits and assessments

Corporate Responsibility Supplier Evaluation (CRSE)

As the majority of our products are sourced from business partners who commission the manufacture of the products, establishing strategic long-term relationships with business partners with a good CR performance is an essential factor in achieving our sustainability goals in the supply chain. In acknowledgment of our responsibility, we are working to ensure that ALDI standards and requirements are implemented beyond our first-tier suppliers and also at production level.

We have adopted an annual Corporate Responsibility Supplier Evaluation (CRSE), an approach that goes beyond conducting audits. The CRSE is a comparable and transparent evaluation based on quantitative and qualitative indicators. The indicators focus on our business partners’ social and environmental compliance management systems as well as their farms’ or production facilities’ CR performance and are derived from our international CR Requirements, which form part of every contract.

Transparency of supply chains

We attach great importance to sustainable production conditions in the manufacturing of food and non-food products. Supply chain transparency is the foundation for all our sustainability measures. Without the knowledge where our products come from, we cannot ensure compliance with our requirements, analyse risks, monitor or implement projects. We work with our business partners to increase the transparency of our supply chains so that we have a better understanding of the origins of the products we sell and the raw materials we use in our products.

Our CR Performance

Our Projects & Memberships

Anke Ehlers cutting cake on the opening of the Bangladesh CR office
International organisation
ALDI CR offices in Asia

Each of the ALDI SOUTH Group’s national organisations sources products from Asia. To minimise the risks related to working conditions and to ensure compliance with our high standards, the ALDI SOUTH Group, together with ALDI Nord, has been operating its own CR office in Hong Kong since 2012 and established a second CR office in Bangladesh in 2017.

The focus of these CR offices is to monitor our business partner’ production facilities and the performance of our business partners with regard to social compliance. For this purpose, the CR offices conduct our own ALDI Social Assessments in the production facilities used for ALDI production and provide support to business partners on how to implement our CR requirements.

More: Company Profile
Male and female people sitting around in circle
Project in Bangladesh
ALDI Factory Advancement (AFA) Project (2013-2020)

ALDI is committed to promoting human rights in the garment industry. With the ALDI Factory Advancement (AFA) Project, the ALDI SOUTH Group, together with ALDI Nord, has introduced a programme which delivers change in factories that produce our garments in Bangladesh.

Running from 2013 to 2020, the AFA Project placed factory workers and managers at the centre of its activities to find sustainable solutions for improved workplaces. Its core principle was the promotion of dialogue and cooperation between workers and managers. To date, approximately 85,000 workers and their managers of 40 participating factories have benefitted from the project and experienced positive changes in their day-to-day working environment.

More: AFA Project
Picture drawn from a child showing the scene from a child care service
Project in Bangladesh
AFA Project Plus for child care services (2016-2019)

From 2016 until 2019, the AFA Project PLUS addressed the critical need for quality childcare for the children of working parents in factories that produce our textile goods in Bangladesh. ALDI supported selected factories participating in the AFA Project in improving their internal day-care services.

Many workers are reliant on these services due to financial constraints and a lack of alternative care options. Together with local non-governmental organisations, we trained caregivers, childcare centre supervisors, nurses and parents working at the factory. 

More: AFA Project
Workers in garment factory in Bangladesh
Special focus
Bangladesh

ALDI SOUTH was one of the first signatories of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh in 2013 and 2017. By signing this independent, legally binding agreement we have committed to improve the safety of the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) factories in our Bangladesh supply chain.

At the beginning of September 2021, the ALDI SOUTH Group were one of the first brands to sign the new legally-binding International Accord for Health and Safety in the Garment and Textile Industry that will continue to make garment factories in Bangladesh safer for workers. The new “International Accord for Health and Safety in the Garment and Textile Industry” is the result of long and intensive negotiations between trade unions and brands. We fully support the new agreement and we believe that it will help us to continue our engagement for fair and safe working conditions in Bangladesh.

As Bangladesh is one of our most important sourcing countries, we have intensified our regular ALDI Social Assessment (ASA) activities in this country to step up cooperation with business partners sourcing from there.

With the ALDI Factory Advancement (AFA) Project, the ALDI SOUTH Group, together with ALDI Nord, has introduced a programme, which delivers change in factories that produce our garments in Bangladesh.

More on 'AFA Project'
Two women holding ALDI donation sign
COVID-19 emergency relief in Bangladesh & Myanmar
ALDI & CARE support female garment workers

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on garment workers has been devastating. Women make up the majority of the garment sector workforce and  they have been affected the most. In 2020, CARE International and the ALDI SOUTH Group teamed up to protect the rights and needs of women in the garment sector in Bangladesh and Myanmar during the pandemic.

These efforts resulted in nearly 5,000 female workers receiving hygiene kits while 1,600 workers received household handwashing facilities in Bangladesh. In Myanmar, we were able to reach more than 76,000 factory workers with sanitising and disinfecting materials and provided face masks for more than 28,000 workers.

More: CARE
amfori BSCI
Logo of amfori BSCI
Since 2008
amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI)

For over 40 years, amfori has been the leading global business association for open and sustainable trade. Its mission is to support each of its members to enhance human rights, use natural resources responsibly, and drive open trade globally. It brings together over 2,000 retailers, importers, brands and associations. The ALDI SOUTH Group became a member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) in 2008.

Working together

amfori is run by Board of Directors representing the member’s interests from different countries and businesses. In June 2019, Anke Ehlers, Managing Director for Corporate Responsibility International of the ALDI SOUTH Group, was elected to the Board of Directors of amfori to represent ALDI SOUTH and ALDI Nord internationally. This shows the continuing dedication of ALDI to enhance sustainable development in our global supply chains.

The ALDI SOUTH Group is also an active member of the amfori Project Group ‘Social Issues in Food’, which unites retailer and producer members of amfori to tackle shared social and environmental issues in the food sector. A representative from ALDI SOUTH chairs the group.

The ALDI SOUTH Group and ALDI Nord Group of companies have joined UN Womenamfori and other leading companies from across Europe to increase their positive impact on gender diversity and inclusion. This is through the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Activator programme. The programme will contribute to closing the gender gap in the private sector while building business value. Its aim is to secure business leadership buy-in for gender equality as a foundation for companies and their global supply chains.

More information
CGF
Logo of CGF
Since 2020
Consumer Goods Forum (CGF)

In 2020, the ALDI SOUTH Group joined the Consumer Goods Forum (“CGF”), a global industry network that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category, and format.

More information
Logo of Ethical Trading Initiative
Since 2019
Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI)

The ALDI SOUTH Group’s hard work in implementing human rights policies and processes has allowed the move from the foundation stage to become a full member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) in July 2022. This full membership shows that ALDI’s efforts to trade ethically and to making a positive difference to workers' lives are being recognised. ETI is a global alliance of companies, trade unions, and NGOs that promotes respect for workers' rights. Our ALDI Business Partner Sustainability Standards are aligned with the ETI Base Code.

Working together

Since joining ETI, the ALDI SOUTH Group has become a member in several working groups:

  • Italian Agriculture Working Group to establish an Italian Ethical Trade Forum in order to address social and environmental challenges facing Italian agriculture particularly related to the cultivation of produce. The work of the Italian Agriculture Working Group started in 2019 and has been concluded in 2023, but it will be continued as part of another workstream.
  • Peruvian Horticulture Working Group to engage with key stakeholders both local and international - and including workers - to identify and implement collaborative action plans, which address poor working conditions and improve the lives of vulnerable workers.

Over the next five years, the ALDI SOUTH Group intends to address issues within its high-priority supply chains via a number of measures.

More: Ethical Trading Initiatives
IDH
Logo of IDH
Since 2019
IDH - The Sustainable Trade Initiative

IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, brings governments, companies, CSOs and financiers together in action driven coalitions. The IDH orchestrates the powers of law, of entrepreneurship and investments to work together to create solutions for global sustainability issues at scale.

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Sedex
Logo of Sedex
Since 2017
Sedex - Members Ethical Trade Audit

Sedex is one of the world’s leading ethical trade service providers, striving to improve working conditions in global supply chains. Sedex provides practical tools, services and a community network to help companies improve their responsible and sustainable business practices, and source sustainably. ALDI became a member in 2017. ALDI UK is also part of the Sedex Board.

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UNGC
Logo of UNGC
Since 2017
UN Global Compact (UNGC)

In August 2017, the ALDI SOUTH Group was the first discount food retailer to join the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). By joining this initiative, we have committed to implementing the UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption as part of our corporate strategy and within the scope of our daily business operations.

More information

Sustainable Development Goals

4 Quality education 5 Gender equality 8 Decent work and economic growth 10 Reduced inequalities 12 Responsible consumption and production 15 Life on land 17 Partnerships for the goals

UNGC

Human Rights

Principle 1

Support and respect the protection of human rights

Principle 2

Not complicit in human rights abuses

Labour

Principle 3

Uphold freedom of association and recognition of right to collective bargaining

Principle 4

Elimination of forced and compulsory labour

Principle 5

Abolition of child labour

Principle 6

Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

Environment

Principle 7

Precautionary approach to environmental challenges

Principle 8

Promote environmental responsibility

Anti-Corruption

Principle 10

Work against corruption in all its forms

GRI references

GRI 102: General disclosures 2016

Global Reporting Initiative 102-9

GRI 103: Management approach 2016

Global Reporting Initiative 103-1 Global Reporting Initiative 103-2 Global Reporting Initiative 103-3

GRI 308: Supplier environmental assessment 2016

Global Reporting Initiative 308-2

GRI 412: Human rights assessment 2016

Global Reporting Initiative 412-1

GRI 414: Supplier social assessment

Global Reporting Initiative 414-1 Global Reporting Initiative 414-2