A supplier of the German discounters Aldi Nord and Penny allegedly used slave labour in Asia. The workers were never allowed to leave the fishing boats where they worked; those who resisted were slain. After the news was brought to light, Aldi announced that consequences would follow, and discounter Penny is currently studying the accusations.
The allegations were first made a few days ago. The British newspaper 'The Guardian' reported that a supplier of Aldi, Walmart and Tesco purchases products from a vendor that keeps slave workers from Thailand, Cambodia and Burma. There was also talk of torture and executions. The people were sold to the company for 300 Euro and were subsequently not allowed to leave their fishing boats.
The focus is also on the world's largest shrimp producer, CP Foods, which supplied the discounters with shrimps and ready-to-eat products. Bob Miller, director at CP Foods, told The Guardian that "we do not know what is happening; we knew that there were problems with the supplier of raw goods, but there is little transparency."