Aldi pulls Brazilian beef

In an official statement, Aldi announced they would no longer sell beef from Brazil in their stores. In doing so, the discounters intend to position themselves "clearly against deforestation in the Amazon region." Furthermore, the retailer wants to follow its long-term plan to focus on locally produced meat and higher animal welfare standards.

Cattle farming in Brazil has been highly criticized. The illegal clearing is often carried out in order to expand land for cattle grazing. Most recently, an investigation by Repórter Brasil and the US activist group Mighty Earth traced the path from "shady" meat processors linked to deforestation all the way to the supermarkets in Europe. As a result, several European retailers such as Lidl, Carrefour, Sainsbury's and Albert Heijn pledged to remove all beef products from South America in 2022.

Now Aldi is following suit, "as an international retailer with global supply chains, we want to take responsibility and play our role in preventing further rainforest deforestation," explains Dr Tanja Hacker, Managing Director Category Management and National Buying at Aldi Nord. "At the same time, this is further proof of our intent to extend our product range of locally produced meat consistently," adds Erik Döbele, Managing Director National Buying at Aldi Süd.

Starting in summer 2022, Aldi's refusal to list Brazilian beef will apply to all new supplier contracts for fresh and frozen meat. As a next step, the retailer wants to check the origin for processed meat products and declared that around 85% of all fresh meat sold in stores already are locally produced and of German origin. "Due to growing consumer demand, Aldi intends to continuously increase this share," Aldi managers said. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon for the cultivation of, for example, soy, coffee, cocoa and also for grazing cattle hits a new record in 2021. According to the 2021 report by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), satellite-based rainforest monitoring revealed a record loss of rainforest amounting to 13,235 sq. km between August 2020 and July 2021, an area nearly seven times bigger than greater London and 13 times the size of New York City. The figure had been 57% higher than in the previous year and is the worst since 2012.