Food retailers start the new year with fresh climate plans

Ahold Delhaize and Aldi UK have refined their climate plans and targets as they head towards 2030 interim commitments.

The retailers’ announcements come just a few weeks after COP28 placed food at the centre of the climate agenda. 

Ahold Delhaize: Refining decarbonisation levers

Ahold Delhaize, which reported net sales of €87 billion in 2022, up 15% year on year, has published an updated climate plan that will apply to all 6,769 of its shops – most of which are in Europe and the US. The company also recently hired Alex Holt as its next Chief Sustainability Officer.

The new plan doesn’t change the retailer’s science-based climate targets: for Scope 1 and 2, cutting emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2040; for Scope 3, achieving 37% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

However, it refines decarbonisation levers (namely agriculture, processing, packaging, waste, transport, operations, retail and use of products) with their quantified potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. For instance, actions with the biggest reduction potential in Scope 3 revolve around changes in agricultural practices and livestock farming, as well as achieving a deforestation-free supply chain.

Jan-Ernst de Groot, Ahold Delhaize’s current Chief Sustainability Officer (who is retiring in April), said: “With this update, we are taking an important step forward in defining a clear action plan on both our net-zero targets and interim (2030) targets. The challenge with long term net-zero targets is to connect these with immediate actions as well as concrete plans for interim targets. Ahold Delhaize is addressing this by providing a new level of disclosure in this plan.”

Aldi UK: Tackling food waste

Meanwhile Aldi, the UK’s fastest-growing food retailer with £15.5 billion in sales in 2022, has revised its food waste targets after meeting its 2030 commitment eight years early. 

The UK branch of the German discount supermarket chain has a goal of cutting food waste by 50% by 2030. Through better labelling, discounts and food donations to charities, it achieved a 41.9% in tonnes of food waste and 57% reduction in food waste intensity in 2022, from a 2017 baseline. 

It is now reportedly targeting a 90% food waste reduction by 2030. CEO Giles Hurley said that millions of shoppers are switching to the discount supermarket as the cost of living rises, and in this context, “we have a huge role to play in making sustainability affordable for all”.