Aldi South

Aldi received an overall score of 'D' in Consumer Focus's 2009 Green to the Core report, which rates the UK's top nine supermarkets on how well they inform consumers about sustainability issues and help them make more sustainable choices. The report uses four environmental indicators: climate change, sustainable farming, sustainable fishing, and waste and recycling. Aldi "scored highly in some areas - 100 per cent closed door freezers and a high proportion of sustainable content in packaging. However, let down by lack of information for consumers in many areas and could do better in the amount of UK in-season produce."
[Source 2009][More on Packaging]

This 2009 report by SUDWIND (part of the German Clean Clothes Campaign) uncovers massive rights violations in Chinese factories that supply special bargains to Aldi. 'The mostly female employees worked up to 91 hours per week and yet were hardly able to make a living from their meager wages. The work load is enormous, and mistakes are being punished by fines. Fundamental labour and women's rights such as the right to maternity leave and to freedom of association are being suppressed.'
[Source 2009][More on Workers Rights]

Named in the Clean Clothes Campaign 'Cashing In' report on five top global retailers: Carrefour, Walmart, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl, highlighting poor working conditions where these discounters produce their clothes and taking the companies to task for failing to take sufficient action to address these problems.
[Source 2009][More on Workers Rights]

This 2011 report by Pesticide Action Network UK compares the top nine UK supermarkets' policies on pesticides. Aldi came equal last in the report, after failing to make any progress despite being the lowest performer in 2009. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2011][More on Product Safety]

As a discount chain store, they have been criticised for running smaller retailers out of business. Bavarian dairy farmers picketed Aldi stores, which they blame for a ruinous 15% plunge in milk prices since 2001. [listed as Information due to age of article]
[Source 2004][More on Governance]

Greenpeace launched its "Detox My Fashion" campaign in 2011 to expose the direct links between global clothing brands, their suppliers and toxic water pollution around the world. As a result, many companies, including this one, committed to Greenpeace's Detox Program.
[Source 2018][More on Habitats]

In 2008 Ethical Consumer (UK) gave Aldi a rating of 3 out of 4 for its animal testing policies, placing them in the top 3 of 19 supermarket and convenience store chains operating in the UK. [Listed under information due to age of report]
[Source 2008][More on Animal Testing]

This retailer has committed to being a fur free retailer, as recognised by the International Fur Free Retailer Program.
[Source 2016][More on Animal Rights]

This company is a member of the Leather Working Group, a multi-stakeholder group who's objective is to develop and maintain a protocol that assesses the compliance and environmental performance of tanners and promotes sustainable and appropriate environmental business practices within the leather industry.
[Source 2016][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]

The Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge (Transparency Pledge) helps demonstrate apparel and footwear companies' commitment towards greater transparency in their manufacturing supply chain. Transparency of a company's manufacturing supply chain better enables a company to collaborate with civil society in identifying, assessing, and avoiding actual or potential adverse human rights impacts. This is a critical step that strengthens a company's human rights due diligence. This company has not committed to the Transparency Pledge, but will begin publishing supplier factory information in 2017.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]

This company is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, a voluntary initiative which encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for cotton farmers, small and large, worldwide.
[Source 2018][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]

The Forest 500 identifies, ranks, and tracks the governments, companies and financial institutions worldwide that together could virtually eradicate tropical deforestation. Rankings are based on their public policies and commitments and potential impacts on tropical forests in the context of forest risk commodities (palm oil, soya, beef, leather, timber, and pulp and paper). This company received a score of 3/5.
[Source 2016][More on Forests]

This company received a score of 6.5 out of a possible total of 12 in the WWF Palm Oil Buyers' Scorecard 2013. This report measures if major retailers and consumer goods manufacturers are acting responsibly in terms of palm oil use and sourcing.
[Source 2013][More on Palm Oil]

C- grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2018', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour, and exploitation in their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, knowing suppliers, auditing and supplier relationships, and worker empowerment.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]

This 2010 Der Spiegel article explores "What Makes the Aldi Discount Empire Tick".
[Source 2010]