The discounter Lidl has given up its plans to sell in future only Fairtrade bananas. Lidl will offer from the summer nationwide again bananas at the starting price without Fairtrade certification, the discounter announced on Friday. "We have not been able to convince the customer of our commitment," Lidl manager Jan Bock said to InFranken.
Fairtrade bananas at Lidl: "Taking responsibility"
The Fairtrade label identifies goods that are fair trade and have been manufactured in accordance with certain social, environmental and economic criteria. Last autumn, the discounter announced that it would only sell bananas with Fairtrade certification nationwide in the future. In doing so, the company clearly assumes "responsibility for the sustainable production of its products and for improved living and working conditions in the producing countries," said Bock on the initiative.
The new scheme should be phased out gradually as initially insufficient quantities were available. Most recently, 40 percent of the approximately 3200 Lidl branches only had bananas with Fairtrade certification.
Fairtrade bananas cost 10 to 20 cents more per kilo
In the future, the discounter wants to offer both Fairtrade and conventional bananas nationwide. This means Lidl is listening to "the customer's request for bananas in the price entry segment and the current market situation," the company emphasized. The low-cost supplier has not completely abandoned this mission yet. In the future, Lidl will also explain the added value of Fairtrade in his shops, emphasized Bock. "We stand by Fairtrade."
Source: InFranken.