BLOG: It is not about the choice between slave-free chocolate or not
by Sophie Witlox
“Our fruit from Africa not only tastes good, it also gives you a good feeling. This is because our growers, together with the AH Foundation, contribute to better living conditions for the local community.” This sentence – taken from the website of the Albert Heijn Foundation– illustrates that the supermarket is not just a place for food, but also for social issues. Nowadays consumers also want to feel 'good' about their purchase. And anyone who goes shopping will find more than one social issue in their cart: from animal welfare and sugar to pesticides and human rights.
Supermarkets are increasingly choosing to profile themselves through social issues. For example, Lidl and Aldi have announced that they will ban energy drinks this autumn, after various NGOs and pediatricians had advocated a ban on these drinks. Albert Heijn and Plus responded that they wanted to follow this example, but have not heard anything since. Jumbo announced that it will not participate because they consider it more important 'to meet the consumer's full grocery needs'. But the real reason for this decision, according to food watchdog Foodwatch, is that Jumbo is stuck in their big campaign with Max Verstappen and Red Bull. “Unfortunately, health seems to be given second priority,” he said Food watch.
The above example shows that supermarkets in the Netherlands contribute in a 'selective' way to a healthier society and a more sustainable food chain. This fact also became clear at the beginning of this summer Foodstuffs Agreement – guidelines drawn up by Oxfam Novib that should ensure more sustainability in the food chain – was not signed by any individual supermarket. Instead, the supermarket trade association (CBL) signed it two months ago, despite the guidelines being aimed at individual supermarkets. A paper tiger seems to be the result.
Supermarkets say they do support the Food Covenant. But this support, according to Oxfam Novib, means very little without a signature. Recently Oxfam released a report released in which it stated that the five largest supermarkets in the country – Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Lidl, Aldi and PLUS – perpetuate the economic exploitation of people who produce our food in developing countries. All five supermarket chains received a serious failing grade on Oxfam Novib's international sustainability ranking of supermarkets.
In addition, due to the complicated European legislation, it is also important that the supermarket acts more firmly as a 'gatekeeper' to protect consumers against abuses that may occur throughout the food production chain. The legislation has little influence on suppliers and producers outside the EU. An example of the limitations of this legislation is the report that the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority released earlier this year, after pesticides were found on beans from Kenya, strawberries from Egypt and tomatoes from Morocco. The NVWA concluded that banned pesticides still end up in supermarkets through imports from outside the EU.
A store that recently announced that it is taking more responsibility with regard to the food chain is Ekoplaza. This supermarket chain not only recently calls itself 'the first toxic-free supermarket' of the Netherlands, but says it will also investigate and monitor the impact of its range on the health of its customers. In any case, the supermarket shows a consistent policy instead of selectivity in the field of sustainability.
That all supermarkets can assure consumers of a sustainable and safe product that has been tested across the entire food chain should ultimately become the standard. A signature under the Food Covenant is a necessary asset for this, so that consumers can rest assured that support will be converted into motivation to conduct more research in the food production chain. Finally, the 'complete shopping question' of the consumer should not revolve around the choice between soft drinks with or without health risks or with or without slave-free chocolate. The supermarket can serve as an example in this regard.
