December 15, 2017, Nairobi. German retailers, the ALDI Nord and ALDI SÜD corporate groups have announced a purchasing policy for flowers and plants restricting sourcing from sustainable sources.
According to reports from GlobalGAP, this applies to all plants in the ALDI branches and to the online offer of ALDI Blumen.
“Sustainable products should become a matter of course for retailers and consumers. The flower and plant purchasing policy is a further commitment to our holistic sustainability strategy,” says Dr. Ing. Julia Adou, Head of Corporate Responsibility at ALDI Süd. Amongst other considerations, the approach looks at policies that minimize the use of plant protection products and promote,protection of workers.
“Together with our suppliers, we want to encourage cultivation of flowers and plants while protecting the environment as well as the health of workers and allows our customers to trace the origin of their flowers transparently,” says Erik Hollmann, Head of Corporate Responsibility Non-Food at ALDI Nord.
Since the summer of 2017, flowers and plants produced by GlobalGAP certified farms, are labeled with the GGN (GlobalGAP Number) consumer label. With this number, customers can trace the origin of the plants online. This label will be gradually introduced for all ALDI flower and plant products.
All cut flowers and plants of the two discounters should, if possible, be sold by the end of 2019 via a GlobalGAP Chain of Custody certification. In addition, a social evaluation is carried out according to the GlobalGAP module GRASP (GlobalGAP Risk Assessment Social Practice) or comparable recognized standards.
“We very much welcome that such strong partners as ALDI Nord and ALDI Süd are implementing the commitment to more sustainability,” Dr. Kristian Möller, Managing Director of GlobalGAP, said. “This move helps GlobalGAP certified growers to be transparent about their commitment to sustainability, health and safety for consumers.”