From yesterday, March 2, ALDI is also offering loose fruit and vegetables to its clients in Belgium and Luxembourg. In this way, this chain store will avoid using thousands of tons of plastic. Aldi customers can now decide for themselves how many apples or pieces of chicory they want.
Onions, carrots, aubergines, courgettes, potatoes, apples, bananas, lemons, chicory - these are just a few of the fruits and vegetables Aldi customers can now buy fresh and individually. These products join others - cauliflower, avocados, and melons - that are already sold separately.
"This change allows us to avoid using thousands of tons of plastic packaging every year. That is another step in the right direction," says Stefaan De Schepper, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Aldi. "Customers can request a free, FSC certified paper bag. They can then neatly store these loose fruit and vegetables."
This chain store's customers can now decide for themselves how many kgs of a particular product they wish to buy. "The number of smaller families is on the rise. We are adapting to this," says Kilian De Geyter, Aldi's Fruit and Vegetable Category Manager. "Questioning our customers taught us that loose fruit and vegetables are the answer to this trend. People can determine the amounts they wish to purchase themselves. This also allows us to offer an even better service."
"With each item, we critically asked ourselves if plastic packaging was still necessary," continues De Geyter. "Here, the product's shelf life and freshness were crucial to us. Only if we could guarantee that, we chose to offer the fruit or vegetable as loose."
Ensuring quality
"Aldi strictly guards products' freshness and quality. When these items are offered loose, this becomes even more important," says the Category Manager. "We inspect our assortment every day. We put the products to the test ourselves too. We have sustainable long-term partnerships with our suppliers. That means they can perfectly meet our quality requirements."
"Our fruit and vegetables are subjected to extra inspections. These are done by independent parties even before they reach our warehouses. Our store employees also do freshness checks multiple times a day. No effort is too great to guarantee our products' quality - all the way from the field to the customer," concludes De Geyter.
Source: Aldi Belgium
