ALDI Australia has published its latest Modern Slavery Statement, summarising the grocery retailer’s continued action to safeguard and improve the rights and conditions of workers across its supply chains in Australia and overseas.
The actions ALDI has taken over the past year include implementing additional training programs for its shoe and textile buying teams, expanding its Supplier Evaluation program into housewares, working with partner organisations such as the Issara Institute and amfori to introduce grievance mechanisms in international food and non-food supply chains, and further embedding its Supplier Standards into its tendering process for labour hire providers.
ALDI Australia Director of Sustainability, Daniel Baker says, “In 2022, we faced one of the most challenging operating environments we have ever experienced with factors such as global supply chain pressures, natural disasters, labour shortages, COVID-19 impacts, and immigration disruptions only exacerbating inherent modern slavery risks.
“At ALDI, we acknowledge the important role we have as both a global retailer and Australia’s third largest supermarket to act ethically and responsibly across our supply chains. Modern slavery, or any exploitation for that matter, has no place in our operations and we will continue to take swift action to identify, mitigate and remedy any early indicators or instances of modern slavery. Ultimately, with the support of our supplier partners we want to ensure all workers, either directly or indirectly employed by ALDI, can work in a safe and fair environment.”
Looking ahead, ALDI Australia plans to undertake the following activities in 2023 to further enhance its commitment to eliminating modern slavery:
- Extending its Corporate Responsibility Supplier Evaluation program into its seafood categories.
- Increasing the traceability of supply chain data from its supplier partners. This will also increase the effectiveness of ALDI’s human and environmental risk assessments.
- Reviewing its risk assessment practices and tools to evaluate effectiveness and ensure they continue to be fit for purpose.
- Extending Responsible Purchasing Practice training for buying teams to ensure these practices are further embedded.
More information on how ALDI is Making a Good Difference, its policies and Supplier Standards are available here.
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