Aldi's UK operation has become the first supermarket chain in Britain to put its support behind the country's National Farmers' Union (NFU) Fruit and Veg Pledge, which requests new levels of fairness and better conditions for fresh-produce suppliers, The Guardian reports.
This means that the discounter will no longer retract money if fresh-produce sales do not hit their targets. It also means that greater consideration will be given to selling UK fruit and vegetables that are seasonal, and that farmers will not have to provide financial backing for the promotion of these goods.
As part of the move, suppliers contracted to Aldi will not be hit by charges for missed or late deliveries, or in the case that customers express dissatisfaction regarding the fresh produce they sell.
NFU chief horticultural adviser Dr Chris Hartfield told the paper, “We have been talking to numerous retailers, and Aldi is the first to sign up publicly. The pledge is a real breakthrough – it is about stripping out unwieldy bureaucracy and charges, and minimising market volatility for smaller suppliers, which can kill off their businesses."
Aldi UK's director of buying, Tony Baines, said, “True to our family values, we treat growers and packers across the UK equally and fairly. This allows us to build long-term and sustainable relationships with them, which, in turn, enables our customers to benefit from unbeatable prices and quality.
“The transparency and fairness with which we treat all our suppliers was recently recognised by the Groceries Code Adjudicator’s annual supplier survey, which named Aldi as the best-performing grocery retailer for compliance.”
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly.
