“Supermarkets’ Supply Chain Responsibility: Lidl Leads the Way, Plus and Dirk Trail Behind”

Supermarkets, like other companies, are currently not responsible for how suppliers are doing. That will probably change soon. There is an initiative law in the House that enforces this chain responsibility, the so-called International Corporate Social Responsibility Act (IMVO). At the same time, Brussels is also working on such legislation.

Large grutters still have a long way to go, concludes research agency Questionmark Tuesday. The agency took a closer look at seven supermarket chains that together serve more than 80 percent of the market. It looked at all publications of the companies. Questionmark analyzed how much the companies reported on the supply chain and whether they made concrete commitments to safeguard human rights.

Here and there, companies do carry out risk analyses, which lead to general observations. For example, Albert Heijn reports that child or forced labor may be involved in coffee from China and Honduras. The companies hardly disclose whether these abuses are also in their own production chain. These include underpayment, child and forced labour, discrimination against women or minorities or an unsafe workplace. The companies also hardly ever publish about measures to prevent this.

Plus and Dirk dangle at the bottom

Supermarket chain Lidl is the undisputed forerunner, concludes Questionmark, with a score of 44.5 out of 100 points. For example, the company annually publishes who its suppliers are and where its products come from. Lidl is the only supermarket with reporting points, where, for example, workers from the Spanish berry chain can report abuses by Whatsapp message and in several languages.

Other supermarket chains are doing worse. Market leader Albert Heijn received more than 32 points, slightly more than Ekoplaza (31) and Aldi (29). Jumbo gets 23 points. Plus and Dirk dangle at the bottom of the ranking, with 12 and almost 3 points respectively. For example, Plus does not disclose who its suppliers are, making abuses more difficult to trace for outsiders such as NGOs and journalists. Dirk has no human rights policy of his own at all.

Questionmark director Charlotte Linnebank calls it striking that Lidl and Aldi, two originally German companies, are doing well. According to her, this may have to do with German government policy. “In 2021, Germany will have a stricter law accepted. Large companies are now required to monitor their supply chains for both human rights violations and environmental regulations. They must actively investigate possible abuses themselves. As a result, it seems to have become more embedded in the corporate culture.’

Linnebank has some advice: ‘Start by screening three new chains every year. Everyone already knows that there are abuses in the banana, cocoa and coffee chain. But there are many more products with problems that end up on the shelves. Hazelnuts are sometimes harvested and processed by children’s hands in Turkey and Azerbaijan. Rice and tea plantations in Bangladesh or China grossly underpay workers. Super distressing, documented cases of forced labor are known in shrimps from Asia.’

‘Steps’

In a response, Albert Heijn says it is ‘proud’ of the ‘movement that both we and other retailers have made in recent years. We keep taking steps.’ Jumbo takes Questionmark’s recommendations to heart, but believes that the report ‘does not fully reflect the steps Jumbo has already taken’. Plus acknowledges that it “still has steps to take” and is considering the recommendations. Dirk could not be reached for comment.

According to the leader of sustainable business organization MVO Nederland Wouter Scheepens, the research once again proves ‘that supermarkets are not yet able to properly translate this into real action’. ‘And injustice is too crucial to linger in non-commitment’. He therefore argues for the rapid introduction of the Dutch ICSR law. That will probably be after the summer recess treated. Whether there is a majority remains exciting: VVD is a declared opponent, and there is also division within the CDA. European legislation will be discussed in Brussels in the coming months.