I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s food processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and one of your suppliers - Nomad Foods.

Aldi Nord sells Iglo brand white fish products. Our research shows that Northseafood Holland and Unibond Seafood International are white fish suppliers to Nomad Foods brands, which include the Iglo, Birds Eye and Findus ranges retailing across Europe.

Northseafood Holland has imported shipments of white fish, including pollock, from the processor, Yan…

At ALDI, we are committed to respecting human rights and improving living as well as working conditions throughout all our supply chains. We’re focusing on any adverse impact on human rights that we might cause, contribute to or are linked to. Therefore, we are taking these allegations very seriously, and we are in close contact with all relevant suppliers to get more information. Furthermore, we are in the process of conducting internal investigations to understand the extent of the allegations and evaluate the cause to take appropriate actions. Until we have clarity on the described matter,…

"I am pleased to respond to your inquiry on behalf of the ALDI North Group. When purchasing fish and seafood, the requirements of our due diligence process and the International Catalogue of Requirements (ICOR) are binding. The requirements formulated therein include both ecological and social aspects and in some cases go well beyond legal standards.

Before entering into contracts, we review various sources to conduct risk assessments. We want to ensure that our requirements regarding raw materials, fisheries and main production sites are met. We are also helped in this by externally recogniz…

Since The Outlaw Ocean Project first contacted Aldi Nord, the company has contacted all relevant suppliers and audits have been carried out. The company does not wish to comment publicly on the audit results, however, as a precautionary measure, it is not sourcing products from any of the production facilities mentioned in The Outlaw Ocean Project's research for the time being.

The response in its original language said: “Ergänzend zu den Ihnen bereits bekannten Inhalten kann ich Ihnen heute folgenden aktuellen Stand aus Sicht der Unternehmensgruppe ALDI Nord geben: Seit der ersten Anfrage v…

Since we were last in contact with you, we have made additional findings in our ongoing investigation into China’s seafood processing industry which we wanted to raise with you as they relate to Aldi in Portugal. We have uncovered evidence that a Chinese company called Donggang Jinhui Foodstuff used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers required under United Nations Security Council sanctions. This evidence shows the presence of North Korean labor at Donggang Jinhui’s factory in Liaoning, China, as recently as 2023. Packaging…

Thank you for your response and for sharing those details. As before, we really appreciate Aldi North's engagement on these issues. You said in your email “that the production facility in question has not been delivering goods to Aldi Portugal for several weeks”. Can you specify when this supply connection ceased? Do you still carry stock from this production facility, or has it all been sold by this time? We appreciate your interest in the evidence we have gathered, but at this stage of our investigation are unable to share materials. We can confirm that we have video evidence of North Korean…

We last emailed you on December 7, 2023, concerning our ongoing investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry. Since then, we have uncovered additional evidence which we wanted to raise with Aldi Portugal.

We have investigators on the ground in China who have been engaging with labor brokers directly involved with the transfer of North Korean workers to factories in China. Through this and other investigative means, including collecting online footage from the plants and interviews with workers recently returned to North Korea from China, we’ve found large…

In reference to your questions regarding Donggang Haimeng Foodstuff, we can share the following information:

We are currently conducting a data enquiry with our suppliers to get more detailed information and evaluate whether products have been sourced from the mentioned production facility. As this evaluation is still ongoing, we are unable to provide any detailed information at this time.

Regarding the situation at the Donggang Jinhui production facility we can confirm that ALDI Nord is still excluding this production facility from its supply chain.

In addition, we have been in conversati…

Thank you for your email of February 5, 2024, and the updates you shared with us.

We have a further supply chain query for Aldi, arising from our ongoing investigation. We have information that as recently as December 2023, there were 50-70 workers at Dalian Haiqing Food Co. Ltd. in Liaoning.

According to trade records, Pickenpack was the consignee for multiple shipments of seafood from Dalian Haiqing in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Packaging analysis shows that Pickenpack has supplied seafood to Aldi’s Golden Seafood brand. Can you confirm or deny if Pickenpack has supplied any product from Dalia…

In regards to your ongoing investigations in the seafood supply chains, we were wondering if there is a possibility for further exchange between your organization and the ALDI Nord Group? We appreciate the opportunities to comment on your findings on specific production site basis, but would be keen to discuss your research, its implications for our supply chain or also expectations towards us in a broader sense. We believe that engagement with industry stakeholders is essential for us as retailer to continuously improve our due diligence processes and thus would welcome an opportunity to have…

Thank you for your interest in the reporting and evidence gathered to date under our ongoing investigation. I’m sure you can understand that we are a journalism organization, not an advocacy organization. We do investigative reporting and we try to highlight problems worth being fixed. We try to do so in a rigorous but fair way. We do not, however, tend to cross too far over the line into advocating specific solutions to these problems.

As a journalism outlet, it would not be appropriate for us to present solutions or plans of action to Aldi on how to better strengthen its supply chain again…