Health, biodiversity, and increasing plant-based protein: ALDI Netherlands

ALDI Netherlands is committed to offering healthier products, supporting biodiversity, and minimising food waste.

As in previous years, health was a major focus for ALDI Netherlands in 2023. A further 2,700 children in the Limburg province participated in the vegetable box programme 'Groenteboxjes'. We also took action in product development. This involved reducing a total of some 41,820 kilogrammes of fat, 3,103 kilogrammes of salt, and 22,840 kilogrammes of sugar in 30 articles within the product groups cold cuts, fresh spreads, canned fruits, fruit spreads, and frozen products over a period of one year. Additionally, more than 400 products were labelled with the Nutri-Score in 2023, bringing the products displaying the nutrition label to nearly 700. Our private labels continued to pursue the policy of avoiding the marketing of unhealthy products to children.

ALDI Netherlands has also been monitoring the proportion of animal-based and plant-based protein in the volume sold since 2022. The ratio was 37 per cent plant-based to 63 per cent animal-based protein in 2023.

We celebrated the first year of the Kruidenrijk Grasland (Herb-rich Grasslands) project by visiting and interviewing some of the 43 farmers who plant herb-rich grasses around their fields to support biodiversity. A total of 80 hectares of farmland are sown with herb-rich seeds, greening an area the size of all the ALDI stores and distribution centres in the Netherlands.

Reducing food waste was another focus. We strengthened our collaboration with food banks (Voedselbanken Nederland) with a new contract, and simplified and improved processes. Overall, 419 stores (86 per cent), all distribution centres, and our headquarters made donations to local food banks.