Lidl Italia has opened its first store with an 'urban garden', managed by an NGO that develops cooperation and social inclusion projects for people in need.
The store, located in Turin features 1,400 square metres of vegetable gardens on the roof of the building.
According to Lidl Italia’s regional director, Maurizio Cellini, the project symbolises the retailer’s willingness “to be part of a social inclusion project in which the families of the neighbourhood will play a leading role".
Sustainable Development
The vice-president of Re.Te ONG, a body that promotes sustainable development, Luca Giliberti, said that the agricultural spaces will be managed in collaboration with other associations and entrusted to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
He added that the gardens will also be used for training and awareness-raising activities for school groups and work reintegration, as well as for testing agricultural techniques to combat the effects of climate change, in support of international farm projects in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The new store offers an assortment of more than 2,000 items, 80% of which are made in Italy. It is also equipped with photovoltaic panels to reduce energy requirements
Lidl Italia operates more than 620 stores in 19 Italian regions, of which 70 are located in the Piedmont region, of which Turin is the capital.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
