To promote sustainable plant and flower cultivation practices, we have developed a responsible purchasing policy for these products and established rigorous criteria, aimed at improving conditions in the countries of production in the following three areas:
• social, with the aim of improving the living and working conditions of farmers, respecting human rights and eliminating discrimination;
• ecological, to control processes related to climate change and limit their consequences, reducing the use of water and other resources in cultivation practices, minimising the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers in order to safeguard biodiversity, as well as protecting bees and other pollinating insects;
• economic, in order to satisfy the market demand and act in a sustainable manner, avoiding the possibility of having the production of plants and flowers compromising the cultivable surfaces of other raw materials (such as cereals as an example).
Our commitment is based on the objective of certifying 100% of the flowers and plants marketed with social and environmental sustainability standards, requiring that all suppliers, by the end of 2021, be GLOBALG.A.P certified and having passed the GRASP assessment (Risk Assessment on Social Practice). To date, around 85% of the plants and flowers assortment at Lidl comes from suppliers with GL GLOBAL G.A.P., Fairtrade or Milieu Project Siertee (MPS) and, in order to guarantee traceability and transparency of the supply chain, all the flowers and plants are marketed and labelled with the unique identification number (GGN) of the producer or the producer association concerned. Furthermore, in order to build profitable and long-lasting partnerships with our suppliers, we require them to visit the growers on a regular basis, intensifying their collaboration, in order to favour reciprocal exchange with a view to continuous improvement.
Download the Position Paper to know more.