Biodiversity

Essentially all food products that we sell are directly or indirectly derived from biological resources, either wild or domesticated. In addition, the bulk of what we build with, make medicines from, and use as industrial raw materials are derived from nature. Products that are not sustainably sourced pose a threat to biodiversity worldwide. Natural habitats, forests and wetlands are often converted into monocultures and coupled with the unsustainable use of pesticides, which can further damage the surrounding biodiversity.

Ahold Delhaize acknowledges that food systems need to change to reduce the negative influence on biodiversity. Therefore, we have created approaches towards 2025 to influence those changes.  

We focus on: 

• Conserving natural resources. We are committed to avoid operational activities in close proximity to World Heritage areas and IUCN category I-IV protected areas.
• GMOs
• Reduce land conversion in our supply chain
  • Deforestation and Conversion 
  • Wood fiber
  • Palmoil
  • Soy
  • Cocoa
  • Moving to more sustainable agricultural practices, including regenerative principles

Sustainable and regenerative agriculture

Land based agricultural production is the basis of the majority of the food products that are sold by the Ahold Delhaize brands. Agricultural practices can compromise the production capacity of agricultural land. This puts pressure on the affordability of food, availability of agricultural land and can negatively affect biodiversity and the environment. 

'Some farmers in our supply chain work with initiatives and approaches which contribute to sustainable and regenerative agriculture. This includes working with initiatives such as the Global G.A.P., the SAI platform Farm Sustainability Assessment and certifications like the rainforest alliance. These approaches can minimize soil erosion and compaction, and maintain or improve soil health, including stocks of soil organic matter. Improvements in soil organic matter, water, soil health, and pest management increase a farm’s resilience to climate change.​ Where applied, this approach is expected to reduce the carbon footprint both of agriculture and the products we sell.