Aldi received a low overall score and came ninth out of ten supermarkets in the 2021 ranking. The company continues to do well on engaging with its customers on issues linked to reducing pesticide use. However, it is not doing enough to support its suppliers to use non-chemical alternatives, or to monitor and reduce pesticide residues in food. Like all other UK supermarkets, Aldi could be doing more to reduce pesticide-related harms in its global supply chains.

Aldi told PAN UK that it is taking the following actions to involve its customers in reducing pesticide use in their supply chains:

• In response to complaints from customers who find an insect in fresh produce, Aldi is making sure to explain that this may be because their suppliers are using less pesticides.
• Aldi includes a range of fruit and vegetables that aren’t perfect (otherwise known as ‘wonky’) in their ‘Everyday Essentials’ range, thereby reducing the need for cosmetic pesticides. However, the company could be making more effort to encourage customers to specifically choose to buy this produce.
• The company doesn’t particularly focus on promoting seasonality but does promote UK produce which is likely to be sold in season and be grown closer to home. This keeps supply chains short and tends to reduce the need to use fungicides which prevent fresh produce from rotting while it’s being transported.

Since the previous supermarket ranking in 2019, Aldi has made limited progress in phasing-out highly hazardous pesticides beyond complying with tighter legal restrictions. While the company does have lists of specific pesticides which it monitors, restricts or prohibits completely from use within its global supply chains, it still doesn’t have a written commitment to phase out highly hazardous pesticides like some other supermarkets.

Aldi told PAN UK that any pesticide which is not authorised for use in the EU is prohibited, or at least flagged for phase out, throughout its global supply chains. This is significant because the EU has the most protective pesticide regime in the world and is far more likely to ban a pesticide due to the harms it causes. As a result, many – but not all – highly hazardous pesticides are banned by the EU. However, Aldi delegates the implementation of this policy on highly hazardous pesticides to an external organisation but was unable to provide much detail on how this third-party monitors or enforces it. The company therefore has much less control over which pesticides are used in its supply chain than many other supermarkets which retain responsibility for this in-house.

In addition, unlike many other supermarkets, Aldi does not place any further restrictions on pesticides which are approved for use by the EU, regardless of their potential to harm human health or the environment. Neither does the company require additional worker safety measures for pesticides of concern, telling PAN UK that “Suppliers are expected to ensure that all workers are protected from any harmful substances”.

Since the last Supermarket Ranking in 2019, Aldi has not made much progress on putting further measures in place to protect bees and other pollinators from pesticides. The company told PAN UK that it continues to work with an external organisation with the aim of eliminating all neonicotinoids and other pesticides known to be harmful to bees and pollinators from its global supply chains. The same external organisation also supports and educates Aldi growers to avoid pesticides that are harmful to pollinators. Aldi also reported that it trains its staff on the importance of pollinators, maintains a bee hotel and wildflower meadow at its headquarters in Warwickshire and is running biodiversity trials on farms to ensure bees have access to all year round forage and safe habitats. The company also told PAN UK that most of its fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers “are invested in biodiversity programmes through assurance certification programmes” which should support pollinators.

However, Aldi could be doing much more to directly help and encourage its suppliers to adopt the pollinator-friendly practices needed to reverse insect declines. For example, unlike some other supermarkets, the company isn’t currently funding research on the effect of pesticides on pollinators and alternative non-chemical practices that could be employed by farmers. Aldi also does not require its suppliers to monitor pollinator activity.

While Aldi has not introduced any significant new measures to help its suppliers reduce their reliance on pesticides, it does continue to take some action in this area. The company told PAN UK that it makes efforts to reduce post-harvest use of pesticides through a range of measures including keeping its supply chains short and storing produce in optimum conditions, both of which reduce the need for fungicides that prevent fresh produce from rotting. They also said that they encourage their suppliers to use biopesticides where possible.

However, Aldi is still not doing anywhere near enough to support its suppliers to use non-chemical alternatives. The company doesn’t provide its own in-house guidance or training, or offer suppliers advice on how to adopt non-chemical pest control techniques for specific crops. Unlike many other supermarkets, it also doesn’t conduct research on non-chemical alternatives to pesticides or run forums designed to bring suppliers together to share tips and learnings on pesticide reduction.

Aldi has not made any significant changes to its residue testing programme since 2019, and continues to test a range of food items including fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat, baby food, nuts, cereals and wheat products such as pasta and bread. Aldi told us it follows both UK and EU legal limits for how much of a pesticide is allowed to appear in food. When the EU and UK limits diverge, the company applies the stricter of the two. While this is positive, Aldi only takes corrective action once a legal residue limit has been exceeded. This is in contrast to some other supermarkets which kick off investigations as soon as a residue goes beyond 50 percent of the legal limit.

When asked if there were any action plans in place for tackling the most serious residue problems, Aldi replied that “when residue issues occur, all pesticide residues found above the legal limit are investigated with the supplier to identify the root cause and corrective action. Suppliers must implement corrective action to prevent reoccurrence”. It also told PAN UK that it works with a number of external experts who provide support to both the company and specific suppliers on pesticides. However, unlike some supermarkets, Aldi doesn’t currently use the results from its residue testing to inform which pesticides to prioritise for phase out or to identify which farmers need greater support to switch to non-chemical alternatives.

In common with the majority of UK supermarkets, Aldi continues to sell pesticides on its shelves. The company has not reduced the number of pesticides included in its garden range since the last supermarket ranking in 2019. While Aldi does publish some general guidance online about the potential dangers to health and environment associated with using pesticide products, it doesn’t provide this information to its customers in-store beyond what is included on the product’s label. It also doesn’t offer any non-chemical alternatives to pesticides in its range, although it did point out that it sells weeding tools.

Unlike some other supermarkets, Aldi doesn’t sell pesticide products through its website or have its own-brand products. The company also told PAN UK that it doesn’t offer deals and discounts on pesticides. This is a positive since it discourages people from buying more than they need and getting rid of the excess down the drain or in the bin, which can contaminate drinking water and soils.

Aldi has increased its transparency only slightly by launching a webpage outlining its approach to pesticides. However, the company could be doing much more. It does not publish its pesticide policy, the lists of which pesticides it monitors, restricts or prohibits from its supply chains, or the results of its residue testing programme. As a result, Aldi customers continue to have no way of finding out which specific pesticides are banned from use within the company’s global supply chains, or which pesticide residues appear in the food Aldi sells.

Aldi sells a range of 45 organic products across its UK stores, which includes baby food, wine and champagne, fresh produce, dairy and eggs. The company told PAN UK “We want to increase our organic offering based on growing consumer needs”. Despite this, Aldi is not currently undertaking any significant activities to either boost organic sales or communicate the benefits of buying organic to the public. The company also doesn’t have any measures in place to support its non-organic suppliers to convert to organic production.