Lidl pioneers sustainability once again, this time with rice
Someone recently asked whether we own Lidl shares, since we write about them so often (haha). No, we don’t, but we are indeed fans! Because besides being a place where you can buy fun things like churro makers and Oktoberfest beer kegs during promotional weeks, it’s also a supermarket that is actively committed to sustainability and thinking about how, in the future, we can feed a global population of billions of people in a fairer way. And now they’re taking another important step…
Lidl previously pioneered the most sustainable eggs in the Netherlands and opened the country’s most environmentally conscious supermarket in Almere. And the latest development on the fair and conscious list? Selling delicious basmati rice with a guaranteed sustainability certification. This is going to be a winner—we’re rushing to the store!
Rice always works
The Netherlands may not be a leader when it comes to rice consumption, but we still eat an average of around five kilos of rice per person per year. Naturally, it’s hugely important in Asian cuisine, but it’s also delicious as the base for a salad, and of course with the famous Surinamese brown beans. So it would be a really good idea to make sure that rice reaches our plates in a sustainable and fair way.
Stronger together
To achieve this, Lidl has joined a platform called Sustainable Rice Development, which is led in part by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). So this is no amateur operation, and the SRD standard is also the first and only sustainability management system to connect rice buyers in global markets with producers who manage their land and production sustainably. The platform was also established to create more efficient cultivation and harvesting methods, improve living conditions for rice farmers and increase their income. It encourages rice farmers to use less water and helps reduce CO₂ emissions, making the rice better for the environment. A great initiative!
Get it home soon
According to Nic Jooste of the platform, Lidl is taking a genuine pioneering role by becoming the first retailer in the Netherlands to sell this rice, and the hope is that many supermarkets will follow its example. So next time you’re at Lidl to pick up, for example, that amazing lemon mayonnaise, be sure to grab a bag of rice too. Because delicious and doing the right thing—that’s what everyone wants, right?!
Also read:
- Latest ice cream obsession: Toblerone ice creams (and you can buy them at Lidl)
- You can now buy a mini deep fryer at Lidl and it costs next to nothing
- Make your rice extra crispy
