Our responsibility

WHAT SUSTAINABILITY MEANS TO US

Sustainability is part of the quality promise we make our clients on a daily basis.

We take our responsibilities very seriously and therefore strive to promote sustainability throughout all our company processes on a daily basis. By pursuing our motto "A better tomorrow", we aim to continuously improve our business processes in order to have a positive impact on our employees, the society and the environment. This approach is rooted in our corporate principles.

We are convinced that acting in a responsible manner will positively influence global challenges, such as climate change and the exploitation of ecosystems. This approach is also important for the preservation of future business success.

Highlights

Our strategic focus areas

Protecting the environment and the climate

Promoting healthy lifestyles

Contribute to the community

WE FOCUS ON FIVE AREAS OF ACTIVITY

On a daily basis we strive to pursue greater sustainability in five main areas of activity: assortment, employees, environment, business partners and society.

Assortment

We want to offer an increasingly sustainable assortment, guaranteeing high quality standards, promoting a healthy diet and conscious consumption.

There are more than 2.500 products on our shelves, among which you can already find a number of items provided by Maltese suppliers. To promote a healthy diet and to protect the environment we use recognised certifications that guarantee the environmental and social sustainability of our products. We also propose alternative foods such as gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian, vegan or organic products, to meet the needs of all customers.

Business partners

We strive to create long-term relationships with our suppliers to offer customers a selection of products and stores that are ever more sustainable and responsive to their needs. We also focus on working with local suppliers. Our assortment already includes numerous Maltese items, which we aim to increase in the next years.

To ensure a relationship of trust with our suppliers, based on the principles of transparency and fairness, we sign a Code of Conduct with each business partner which sets out clear lines of conduct.

Employees

With 10 stores and more than 450 employees, Lidl is the leading supermarket in Malta.

Our employees are the key to our success and with their passion they contribute to making shopping a unique experience for our customers on a daily basis. As a company we are committed to continuously improving our human resources management to create a serene and stimulating working environment that is based on the principles of equality, respect and appreciation of the individual, in addition to promoting a healthy lifestyle for all our employees.

Environment

We strive to reduce our impact on the environment through the use of innovative technologies in the field of energy management, the streamlining of business processes, as well as construction methods aimed at greater sustainability, recycling in stores and logistics centres, a lean logistics operation that aims to optimise loads carried and especially raising awareness among our employees.

We aim at defining an assortment consisting of increasingly sustainable products.

Society

As a company widely spread throughout Malta, we are aware of our role in society and we want to be an active part of it, with great attention paid to the country and its inhabitants.

Due to this we work with charities and non-profit organisations, developing practical projects together, both on a national and local level, to be even closer to the people with whom we come into contact every day.

Publications

Purchasing Policies

We have implemented purchasing policies, publicly available in the form of position papers; these guide our work. It is through these policies that we form our purchasing choices aimed at mitigating the social and environmental impacts that occur in the supply chain or our own brand products. Check out our commitments in this section.

Detox Commitment

In December 2014 Lidl was the first food retailer to take part in Greenpeace’s Detox Campaign. Lidl has the aim of completely eliminating the use of 11 chemical groups, which Greenpeace has defined as forbidden, in the production of its own textile and shoe brands by 2020, or replacing them with safe substances. Here you can access Lidl’s Detox Report 2020.

Sustainability Report Schwarz

Lidl, as part of the Schwarz Group, has a great responsibility towards people and the environment. The Company takes its social and environmental commitment very seriously. The Schwarz Group's first sustainability report documents for the first time the Group's commitment to sustainability. Read more here.

Code of Conduct

Lidl, as part of the Schwarz Group and as a responsible and sustainable company, is committed to respecting clear and binding principles in all areas of its business relationships. With the aim of establishing collaborations with counterparties aligned with our values and expectations, also in terms of social and environmental standards, at group level we have adopted a Code of Conduct which provides clear lines of behavior. In this way, we foster loyal cooperation along the entire supply chain, with the aim of ensuring social and ecological standards together with our business partners.

Human rights policy statement

Whether with customers, employees or business partners - as part of the Schwarz Group, we observe human rights in all areas of our business activities worldwide. We underscore our responsibility with the policy statement that applies to the entire Schwarz Group. The policy statement of the Schwarz Group can be found here.

Transparency in the non-food supply chain

As a company active in an international market we work in close collaboration with suppliers from all over the world. We consistently pursue our demand for transparency in our supplier relationships in our actions. For this reason, we provide extensive information about our suppliers in the nonfood sector.