Are European supermarkets living up to their responsibilities?

"Checked out: Are European supermarkets living up to their responsibilities for labour conditions in the developing world?" is a report  produced by CI’s London office as part of a project funded by the European Union to raise European consumers’ awareness of the impact that supermarkets supply chain policies can have on poverty reduction in developing countries. Consumers International is a not-for-profit company and the global federation of consumer organisations, representing over 220 groups in 115 countries.

Leading supermarkets in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain were surveyed on their policies relating to labour conditions and trading relationships in developing country supply chains. The report also includes results from a consumer survey conducted in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Poland and Spain to assess consumer attitudes and awareness in this area. The survey revealed widespread support amongst consumers for supermarkets paying their suppliers enough to ensure workers receive a decent wage, even if this led to higher prices for consumers.
 

On the basis of the survey the report concludes that most supermarkets in the countries surveyed were not meeting these obligations to consumers. Despite some examples of good practice, the majority of supermarkets failed to demonstrate that they are taking adequate responsibility for labour conditions and fair trading relationships in their food supply chains. Relatively speaking Coop Italia was found to have the most consistently good policies overall, followed by Coop Denmark. Auchan and Carrefour, and to a slightly lesser extent Mercadona and Colruyt, have some policies across the range of issues covered. In some of the countries surveyed, notably France, Belgium and Denmark, supermarkets stock a wide range and some take part in awareness raising activities. However, there are still opportunities for supermarkets to do more in this area particularly in those countries where awareness is relatively low such as Spain, Portugal, Poland and Greece. The full report is available here