The ALDI SOUTH Group is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to ensure responsible and sustainable palm oil production. We only use RSPO-certified palm oil for our own-brand food and non-food products.
What do you know about palm oil production?
Palm oil is the most versatile and efficient vegetable oil in terms of consistency and durability. It can hold its colour and form and does not have a distinctive taste or odour. As a result, the raw material is used in many food and non-food products, such as biscuits, chocolate, candles, toothpaste and detergents. Palm oil has the highest yield compared to other vegetable oils - such as rapeseed, sunflower, or coconut oil. This makes it very attractive to many businesses around the world.
Despite these positive attributes, palm oil production is frequently criticised for causing deforestation. Large areas of rainforest have been cleared to make way for plantations, endangering wildlife and threatening the environment.
Sourcing palm oil sustainably
Partnerships and alliances help us to develop and implement sustainable standards across the palm oil supply chain. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification ensures that palm oil is produced in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way. To reach certification, palm oil producers need to verify that their production process is in line with the RSPO guiding principles for prosperity, people and planet. To ensure that the palm oil used for our products has been produced sustainably, we rely on the RSPO Chain of Custody Standards. Each part of our supply chain needs to be certified. Certified volumes get audited by an independent third party.
Currently, we use 99% RSPO-certified palm oil in all our own-label food and non-food ALDI products.
Together with ALDI Nord, we supported a smallholder project in Côte d'Ivoire to improve the sustainable cultivation of palm oil in the region. We partnered with Solidaridad, which helped us improve farmers' knowledge of environmental practices and the conservation of natural forests.
We faced many challenges during this four-year project. Despite this, 90% of stakeholders reported positive impacts and increased knowledge.
Together with ALDI Nord, we supported a smallholder project in Côte d'Ivoire to improve the sustainable cultivation of palm oil in the region. We partnered with Solidaridad, which helped us improve farmers' knowledge of environmental practices and the conservation of natural forests.
We faced many challenges during this four-year project. Despite this, 90% of stakeholders reported positive impacts and increased knowledge.
Supporting smallholder farmers
Around 40% of the world's traded palm oil is produced by smallholders. Certification requirements are often a barrier for these farmers due to the administrative burden and costs involved. We are trying to change this and integrate smallholder farmers into sustainable global palm oil supply chains. Therefore, we purchase and accept RSPO Independent Smallholder Credits. For farmers who do not have access to a certified mill, those Independent Smallholder Credits are often the only possibility to benefit from an RSPO premium for growing certified palm.
We also participate in the RSPO Smallholder Standing Committee as retail representatives. The aim is to empower smallholder farmers and engage in a platform that makes the palm oil market more sustainable. A major achievement was the development of a smallholder palm oil standard that increases the availability of RSPO Independent Smallholder Credits.
Transparency of palm oil supply chains
Promoting transparency and increasing traceability are important steps towards our goal of eliminating deforestation within the palm oil supply chain. Therefore, we collaborate with other businesses via the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition (POTC). This partnership is a pre-competitive coalition to remove deforestation and exploitation from the palm oil production sector. We engage with and evaluate the major international importers of palm oil to determine their progress.
In a trial survey, we were able to trace around 50% of the palm oil used in our products back to the palm oil importer. The sample of suppliers surveyed represents around 15% of the ALDI SOUTH Group's palm oil volume. In the future, we want to identify an even higher percentage of palm oil importers and the volumes entering our supply chains.
Fighting deforestation
The ALDI SOUTH Group is committed to eliminating deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems from our high-priority supply chains by 31 December 2025.
As a global retailer, it is one of our key responsibilities to ensure that our products do not contribute to the destruction of forests. Find out more about our actions to eliminate deforestation and conversion from our supply chains.
Find out more about our policies, initiatives, and projects. The Forest Protection Factsheet provides information about the ALDI SOUTH Group for benchmarking enquiries.
