Ensuring and respecting human rights in complex supply chains is challenging and we are committed to further improving our performance in the coming years. In 2022, we ranked third out of 12 international retailers for taking additional measures to strengthen human rights in our supply chains, such as:

• Our International Policy on Forced Labour expands our zero-tolerance approach to any forms of slavery and forced labour. This also represents part of our ongoing efforts to internationally advocate for supply chain improvements and encourage others to follow our approach.
• Our International Policy on Gender Equality in ALDI’s Supply Chains outlines our understanding of gender equality and the approach we take to prioritise our activities. With the Gender Equality Action Plan, we bring the policy to life to further strengthen women’s rights and support gender equality across our global supply chains where it is at risk or being undermined.
• As part of the GIZ Working Group on Living Income and Living Wages, we collaborate with German retailers to work towards living wages in the banana supply chain by implementing our International Position Statement on Living Wages and Living Incomes.
• The publication of our first three Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) for Avocados, Brazil nuts and Coffee, is an significant step towards greater transparency in the supply chain. They enable us to effectively prevent, mitigate and remedy potential and actual negative impacts on human rights. In addition, we plan to publish nine more HRIAs in the coming years.

As part of our international CR strategy, we have defined additional long-term commitments and specific actions which guide the day-to-day implementation of our international CR Strategy and contribute to our overall vision of “making sustainability affordable to our customers”. Among others, we will establish or participate in effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for workers in all our high-priority supply chains.