In the assortment of fresh potatoes, vegetables and fruits (fruit and vegetable products) in the Aldi supermarket chain, on average, only 0.5 organic products were found. This is evidenced by PAN Nederland’s selection of the five largest supermarket chains in the Netherlands: Albert Heijn, Lidl, Jumbo, Aldi and Plus/Coop. At the same time, the organization calls the German retailer the least sustainable supermarket in the Netherlands.
Ieder jaar telt PAN Nederland het aantal stuks verse biologische aardappelen, groenten en fruit in de vijf grootste supermarktketens van Nederland. Aldi scoort het slechtst, met dus slechts 0.5 biologisch agf-product. ‘Dat was één jaar eerder nog 1 biologisch product en bij een vergelijkbare steekproef van Greenpeace in 2017 zelfs nog 11 producten. Kortom: de supermarkt heeft de biologische producten overboord gegooid’, staat in de conclusie van het rapport.
Albert Hein scores best with an average of 45 organic products. Jumbo follows in second place with 31 organic products and Coop/Plus is in third place with 23 organic products. The average supply of organic products is 27.5%. This is 20 percent more than a year earlier. This increase seems to be mainly due to Lidl. This German retailer’s organic offering has increased from 12 organic products to 22 organic products over the past five years.
The current market share of all organic products in supermarkets is 3.3 percent, writes PAN Nederland in a report. “Over the past two years, the financial turnover of organic fruit and vegetable products in supermarkets has increased by an average of 1 percent per year. As a result, supermarkets are not making any additional efforts to further increase the share of organic fruits and vegetables,” the organization concludes.
Regulation needed
The purpose of these “eco-counts” is to encourage supermarkets to expand their range of organic products and encourage them to increase their sales of organic products. This is why PAN Nederland is calling on the government to develop regulations to promote the growth of the organic agriculture sector. “Achieving the target of 25% organic agriculture in 2030 should be the focus of the future program for the implementation of the plant protection concept for the period up to 2030 and annual plans.”
In addition, PAN Nederland believes that the Dutch government should force supermarket chains to write and implement a plan to ensure that at least 25 percent of the turnover of potatoes, vegetables and fruits comes from organic products by 2023.
