Kaufland has scored highly for its efforts to preserve forests and other ecosystems and to ensure compliance with human rights in the supply chain, in an analysis by environmental protection organisation WWF.
The WWF rated the Schwarz Group-owned retailer highly on its efforts to prevent deforestation, especially in regard to the cultivation of soy.
The retailer was also commended for its certification of raw materials and its commitment to human rights and the implementation of corporate due diligence.
Soy Mapping At Kaufland
To quantify and evaluate the relevant soy quantities in the indirect supply chain of its own-brand products of animal origin, the company initiated soy mapping in 2021.
“Soy mapping gives us an accurate picture of the origin, quantity, and certification status of the soy that is fed to animal products," said Stephan Carbach, head of purchasing sustainability international at Kaufland.
"This enables us to prioritise risks and approach our suppliers at an early stage in order to jointly develop and derive suitable measures."
Meat Production
Elsewhere, Kaufland has not offered any beef from Brazil since 2019, with the the species-rich ecosystems of the Cerrado and Amazon basin are threatened by deforestation in the course of feed production and pasture land development.
The retailer is increasingly focusing on products from local farms, with the majority of pork and beef at Kaufland coming from Germany.
"To promote sustainable German agriculture, we maintain fair and long-term partnerships with our suppliers and contract farmers," explains Robert Pudelko, head of purchasing sustainability Germany at Kaufland.
In keeping with its pork quality meat programme, 25% of the participating farms in Germany only use soy that is not sourced from South America.
"In addition to continuous approaches to reducing soy in feed, our goal is to switch our entire value program in the pig area to traceable, physical, and certified soy by the end of 2023, subject to current developments," says Pudelko.
GMO-Free Products
In addition, Kaufland is constantly increasing the number of GMO-free products in its own brands.
A wider range of milk products under the K-Classic brand, as well as meat products under K-Purland and K-Wertschatze, bear the green 'Ohne GenTechnik' seal.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
