Advocacy groups are increasingly focusing on supermarkets. The origin of products is also becoming more important. One of these is Foodwatch. They are a European advocacy group focused on consumer protection regarding food quality. The Dutch green bean season has begun, and Foodwatch finds it 'bizarre' that there are Kenyan haricot verts on the shelves of a well-known Dutch supermarket chain in the Netherlands. "In the middle of summer, during the Dutch green bean season, Albert Heijn is happily selling green beans from Kenya. Bizarre, and they are probably not the only ones", says Foodwatch in their newsletter. Foodwatch is, however, lumping all bean varieties together - haricots verts are beans, but not green beans.
Albert Heijn (AH) reacted by saying, "We get haricots verts from Kenya year round. They are not cultivated in the Netherlands. This variety thrives at high altitudes with the climatic conditions such as those found in Kenya." The haricots verts fall under the auspices of the AH Foundation. This organisation focuses on creating better living conditions in African countries, including Kenya.
The green beans that are currently in this shop's shelves come from the Netherlands. "From now until the beginning of October, these will come from the Netherlands. From mid-October until mid-June, they come from Morocco and Egypt. From January to April, we also get them from Senegal. All our green beans are cultivated by a select group of farmers. They all farm according to the strictest European food safety and labour conditions legislation. All our growers are GlobalGAP certified. They also all have some form of internationally accepted social accreditation, such as BSCI- ETI or one of equal standing", according to an Albert Heijn spokesperson.