This is the ALDI North Group’s second comprehensive Sustainability Report. By publishing it, we are keeping our promise to provide our internal and external stakeholders with regular and transparent information about our material social, environmental and economic goals and measures. The report is directed in particular towards customers, employees, suppliers and business partners, as well as interested parties in the public domain.
Our Sustainability Report 2017 consists of two main elements: traditional reporting subject matter and appealing stories. The
Management, Key topics and Data & standards overview pages serve as the starting point for diving into the issues covered by the report, where we give an account of where we stand with regard to sustainability and what we hope to achieve in future. Readers also have the option of downloading this information as a compact PDF. In addition, the cr-aldinord.com home page presents readers with stories, both long and brief, that provide an informative look at the sustainability-focused activities of the overall Group (our Highlights). Our aim with this structure is to offer exciting insights and new perspectives in particular to customers and employees and make sustainability issues even more tangible. At the same time, we are shining an even bigger spotlight on ALDI North activities by way of separate country profiles.
[GRI 102-50] The reporting period covers the time from 1 January to 31 December 2017. We have taken account of significant events up to the editorial deadline on 31 March 2018. We also plan to update the stories on the home page outside the reporting period and add to them in order to reflect new developments.
[GRI 102-52] The ALDI North Group publishes a comprehensive Sustainability Report every two years. The next report is scheduled for publication in 2020.
The report is available in German and in seven other languages. When, for reasons of readability, the male form is used to designate persons and functions in this report, this shall naturally be interpreted to include equally the male and female gender. The legal form of companies is also omitted for the same reasons.
[GRI 102-54] We determined the topics covered by this report using our materiality analysis. The report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core Option published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The GRI Content Index provides an overview at a glance.
[GRI 102-1, -3, -5] The publisher of the report is ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, Essen (hereinafter referred to as ALDI Buying). The shareholders of ALDI Buying are specifically ALDI GmbH & Co. KG limited partnerships which form a group of equal subsidiaries in Germany. The foreign ALDI companies are licensees of ALDI Buying. These legally independent companies form the ALDI North Group, which is the subject of the report. Deviations in individual performance indicators or content are indicated as necessary. ALDI Luxembourg is supplied by the Purchasing and the Logistics departments of ALDI Belgium. ALDI Belgium and ALDI Luxembourg are legally independent companies, which are regularly displayed in combined form in the report for reasons of simplicity.
[GRI 102-48, -56] Selected content and performance indicators for the year 2017 were the subject of an assurance engagement by the independent audit firm Flottmeyer • Steghaus + Partner. They are identified by the check mark ✔ . Certification of the review of this report is available for download. Retroactive changes to figures with respect to previous reports are noted accordingly.
[GRI 102-10] At the beginning of 2018, business operations at the regional companies Hoyerswerda und Könnern underwent restructuring; the associated stores remained largely unaffected by the change. Restructuring the local distribution and administration processes shall ensure a better supply set-up for the stores and ultimately for customers. In future, fewer truck transports will be necessary as a result of these efforts thanks to the better utilisation of their capacities. Our supply chain is also gradually changing in favour of greater dialogue with our suppliers, for example as part of the Sustainable Textiles Purchasing project.
GRI
