How does Lidl compare with the big four supermarkets ethically?

[thatwasfun]

I have been reading some of the suppliers' horror stories of dealing with the big four and it has made me vow (again) to cut down on what I buy from them.

I already do pretty well and only visit a large store about once every 2 months.

I get an organic veg box and a meat box delivered. Almost everything else comes from Lidl. This justifies (to me) the increased cost of the organic meat and veg and is the only supermarket I can walk to. Plus I find their food/toiletries and cleaning stuff to be very good quality for the price. But, I have no idea if they are on the Tesco or Waitrose end of the scale ethically.

I always wonder about this too. They sell a lot of organic and fairtrade stuff, but a lot of their goods are imported I reckon.
Interesed to hear replies.

Don't know about Lidl, but Aldi certainly aren't...a friend used to work for them.

When I looked into it briefly, all the anti-Lidl stories were about the way they treat their staff, rather than anything about their sourcing policies.

Which confused me, because the staff in our local Lidl are unfailing cheerful, relaxed and apparently happy in their work - unlike those at the other two (big four) supermarkets in town.

It may be relevant that the local Lidl is also the regional training centre, so possibly standards are higher than elsewhere. But I'd be interested in any informed comments.

I tend to use them for basics/non-perishables/homewares and get meat and veg from more ethical sources (milkman, veg box, butcher).

A lot of their veg seems to be British.

The staff at the one near here are very nice, and seem to like working there.

Buy a lot of fairtrade and organic from local Lidl. Staff also very nice and happy and even more so in local Aldi. Personally I always think that's an indication of how staff are treated. However the staff at our local 'posh' supermarket,reknowned for its customer service ( the orginal owner wrote a best seller on customer relations) and crammed with pc friendly products, would cut the nose off you with rudness and it has a reputation for being employee unfriendly.

Recent price comparisons in papers put Lidl at one of most expensive for a lot of products !!!
Staff are quite well paid for retail work.
Not sure on food ethics, just be careful of thinking packaged food products are British produce as there is a loop hole in labelling law if they re packed in Britain!!

elliephant - you don't live in Surrey do you. That's exactly what I'm finding. "big, ethical supermarket" = grumpy staff who appear to hate their work, Lidl = friendly, relaxed staff who chat to the kids and go out of their way to help (while also maintaining a blistering speed on the scanner, it has to be said.) I find it hard to believe that the staff in the first supermarket are being treated better.

I read an article about this subject apparently they are not particularly ethically sound and don't treat their suppliers much better than the big names. BUT whilst the big names rip off the suppliers AND the shoppers to cream more profit for their shareholders the discounters (aldi, lidl ect) pass the discount on to the customer. So it is better to shop there basically. hth

Here in Ireland Lidl is offically the cheapest by far - 20 to 50 % depending on where you shop.. I am sure the german duo are as cut throat with their suppliers as the others - afterall they're are all in it for profit.
However I can get fairtrade/organic and local ( I know the potato grower!) at mine,as well as home born dry cured bacon and free range chicken, all for a better price . This is because of their business model and not because they're paying the supplier less and as the staff appear to be happy (assuming they're not all drugged , so I think why not?

No smithagain I'm in Ireland so obviously the happiness spreads. Think Lidl/Aldi staff have to get x number of goods through scanner per specific amount of time - can't remember the finer details! That's why they don't allow you to pack as you throw stuff into trolley - they have to keep you moving. Less time per customer = less staff = less overheads = lower costs.

The brothers that own Lidl/Aldi used to make staff remember every price in store to put in till so wages were great, now they scan not sure.
They terrify me if I am too slow at checkout.Not happy when a bottle of wine fell out of reused Sainsbury's
plastic bag and smashed on floor at till last week !!!!!!!OOOOPS What a waste too.Not sure ethical living always works HaHa!

The brothers that own Lidl/Aldi used to make staff remember every price in store to put in till so wages were great, now they scan not sure.
They terrify me if I am too slow at checkout.Not happy when a bottle of wine fell out of reused Sainsbury's
plastic bag and smashed on floor at till last week !!!!!!!OOOOPS What a waste too.Not sure ethical living always works HaHa!

Sallyben, many (many) years ago I had a saturday job in a small local grocers ( remember them ) where nothing was priced and the till was just a drawer. So had to remember the price of everything, work out the price of weighed goods ( argh) and then add it all up while the customer stood tapping and sighing. Total nightmare. I used a pencil and paper for the final tally, the old lady owner could still do the sums in her head even though she was in her seventies

Um - people who post on "Ethical living" care - otherwise they wouldn't post there And I'm absolutely certain that not everyone who posts here is rolling in cash.

Do you have any links to these horror stories as I haven't seen them. Who are the big 4? Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrison's or Waitrose I presume.

Here's how Ethical Consumer rated them based on 20 key areas covering:

• environmental responsibility,
• treatment of staff and suppliers,
• human rights,
• treatment of animals/sourcing of animal products,
• responsible marketing,
• politics(e.g. anti-social finance, stance on boycott calls).

Scores out of 20

M&S 8
Co-op 7
Budgens 6
Londis 6
Spar 5.5
Waitrose 5
Aldi 5
Costcutter 5
Iceland 3.5
Lidl 3.5
Netto 2.5
Morrisons 2
Sainsbury's 2
Tesco 0.5
Somerfield 0.5
Asda 0

wow....ASAD 0!
DS1 worked at Lidl and was treated very badly. Related to this, I felt their emplyment practices strayed into the area of endangering the public (it might be thought) eg having staff work when ill and understaffing.

I was suprised at Sainsbury's. So much for the Jamie Oliver 'nice' credentials.

What sort of ill are we talking though? I think most places would still want you to work if you just had a bad cold or a bad throat.

he'd been throwing up.

Hmm tricky one. Where I work they would want me in as long as I wasn't still throwing up and might have to keep rushing off to be sick.

I would have thought you should wait 24 hrs before working in a food shop.
It was there that a customer asked him (holding a lettuce) 'is this a cabbage?' 'no, that's a lettuce' 'where are the cabbages then?' 'here, where it says 'cabbages''!

where do you work nappy addict?

In a restaurant.