Supermarkets not doing enough to respect and protect human rights, shows Belgian ranking: 'This is a wake-up call'

What are the big Belgian supermarkets doing for the rights of the farmers and agricultural workers who keep our shelves stocked?

Superlist Social is a study that compares the policies of 5 retailers present in Belgium (Aldi, Carrefour, Colruyt, Delhaize and Lidl) on how they deal with the protection of human rights, gender equality and the rights of agricultural workers, farmers in Europe and small-scale farmers internationally. Superlist Social was an initiative of the Dutch think tank Questionmark; Rikolto brought it to Belgium together with Oxfam Belgium and Fairtrade Belgium.

What does this survey tell us? Lidl is clearly leading the way, but no supermarket is doing enough to protect human rights in their supply chains. There are strong initiatives, such as those aimed at providing cocoa farmers with a living income, but there is a lack of a comprehensive, chain-wide approaches. This will be required under the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

Lidl tops the list, but no guarantee of human rights

Lidl is the leader in the ranking, with Aldi in the middle. Delhaize, Colruyt and Carrefour lag behind. Lidl, for example, carries out an annual risk assessment of human rights violations and then identifies and responds to problems that arise. Lidl is also the most transparent about its suppliers throughout the supply chains and is the only supermarket to have a grievance mechanism accessible to workers and small-scale farmers. Lidl and Aldi are also the only ones to have an action plan against gender-based violence for all their chains.

However, not a single retailer can currently guarantee compliance with human rights in their supply chains.

"From 2027 onwards, supermarkets will have to identify, address and prevent human rights violations," says Jelle Goossens from Rikolto. "This was decided this year in the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. So this study is a strong wake-up call for supermarkets."

Charlotte Linnebank, Director of Questionmark, concludes, "It is striking that Lidl is way ahead in Belgium, but there is still plenty of room for all supermarkets to take more responsibility. I hope that all supermarkets will find support in these recommendations, and that a next survey will showcase more transparency, policy and action on human rights.

Sporadic efforts to improve incomes for farmers and workers

Most supermarkets are working to improve the incomes of small-scale farmers and agricultural workers in some specific chains. Aldi, Colruyt, Delhaize and Lidl are all committed to paying a living wage to banana workers in their international supply chains. Colruyt is the only supermarket to report on the gap between a living income and the current income of cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast. "These are valuable projects with real impact," says Philippe Weiler, CEO of Fairtrade Belgium. "But supermarkets sell countless other products, such as coffee, where the social and environmental challenges also require such an approach."

Limited commitment to support European farmers

This spring, farmers in Belgium and Europe took to the streets in protest. Superlist Social also looked at policies and actions to support European farmers. Examples of supermarkets taking action are limited: Carrefour signs long-term contracts and Colruyt buys from cooperatives, which is good for farmers' bargaining power. None of the supermarkets make a general commitment to ensuring fair and long-term sourcing from European farmers. "Supermarkets and European farmers can build fair and stable relationships together. The good examples we already see here should become the standard," said Jelle Goossens, Rikolto.

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Detect, resolve, prevent

Superlist Social aims to provide insight into which supermarkets are making efforts to respect and protect human rights in their food supply chains. Superlist Social also aims to make Belgian supermarkets aware of their responsibility to respect and protect human rights in their chains, and to give supermarkets an insight into their position and the steps they could take.

In this way, Superlist Social calls supermarkets to action. Bart Van Besien, Oxfam Belgium: "A first important step is to map your risks and assess these negative impacts. After that, you can effectively prevent and solve human rights violations." Superlist Social shows that currently not a single supermarket has included and applied all due diligence steps in its policy. "So supermarkets still have a lot of work to do," concludes Van Besien. "This should be a wake-up call in view of the upcoming legal obligations."