Avocados in Danish supermarkets may have taken water from ordinary Chileans in a way that violates their human right to water. A number of supermarkets were unaware of the problem prior to Danwatch’s investigation, but they now say they will change their purchasing policies for avocados.
Familiar supermarket chains in Denmark sell avocados from Chile’s Petorca Province, where avocado plantations have contributed to the depletion of the area’s water resources. After the avocado plantations moved in to Petorca, the rivers dried up, and locals have become dependent on deliveries of drinking water by truck. Because of the nature of Chile’s water code, it has been legal for the plantations to empty the rivers; however, several have been accused of illegal water extraction in the area, others have been fined for water code violations, and according to Chilean human rights experts, the local population’s human right to water has been violated.
Danwatch’s documentation of the supply chain shows that supermarket chains like Dansk Supermarked, Lidl and Aldi sell or have sold avocados from Petorca Province. Several of the largest Danish supermarket chains – including Aldi, Dansk Supermarked and Coop – did not know about the issue of water scarcity prior to Danwatch’s investigation, but say they will now change their purchasing policies.
Aldi expands network of producers
In 2014 and 2015, Aldi sold avocados from Petorca Province in its stores.
“We are in dialogue with our supplier about this issue and are discussing at the moment how we can ensure that we do not contribute to water shortages in the future,” writes Aldi.
More specifically, Aldi’s supplier will in the future prioritise goods from areas that do not suffer from water scarcity; to do so, they are now in the process of expanding their network of producers. Aldi has also asked its supplier to take the steps necessary to avoid buying goods from plantations that have been involved in violations of Chile’s water code.
Rema: Won’t buy from areas where water is scarce
Rema 1000 was the only one of the six chains we investigated that admitted to already knowing about the problem of water scarcity in Petorca. Rema 1000 buys most of its Chilean avocados from wholesalers Nordic Fruit and Nature’s Pride.
“In our work over the last few years with Nordic Fruit and Nature’s Pride, we have prioritised the sole use of suppliers located in areas that do not suffer from water scarcity,” wrote Rema 1000 to Danwatch.
Following Danwatch’s investigation, Rema 1000 decided to place the same requirements on their remaining suppliers of Chilean avocados, which make up just a small fraction of the chain’s deliveries.
No answer from Dagrofa
Dagrofa buys the majority of the avocados it sells in its Spar, Many and Kiwi chains from Chile. Dagrofa says that its suppliers must guarantee that they uphold human rights and applicable environmental regulations.
Danwatch asked what kinds of challenges Dagrofa is especially mindful of with respect to its CSR policy and code of conduct when purchasing avocados from Chile.
The chain answered, “There are no particular circumstances for this specific country compared to imports from other countries outside the EU.” Dagrofa said this was the case for both avocados and other product categories.
When Danwatch replied with a follow-up question regarding whether Dagrofa buys avocados from Petorca Province in Chile and if so, whether it would be necessary to take action if Dagrofa’s products proved to be contributing to the violation of local residents’ right to water, the company answered that it could not reply because of competitiveness concerns.
Dansk Supermarked will change procurement policies
Before Danwatch’s investigation, Dansk Supermarked was unaware that Petorca had been declared a water-scarce area by the Chilean authorities or that the region’s rivers are now totally empty.
Asked for a statement regarding the way avocado plantations are taking water from local residents in Petorca, Dansk Supermarked answered, “This is an issue we had not been aware of before, but that we must now look into and discuss with our suppliers.”
The chain also said that it would change its procurement policies for avocados from Petorca Province.
Lidl declined to answer questions of illegal water extraction
Lidl said that it buys Chilean avocados via the exporter Cabilfrut, which is headquartered in Petorca Province. Lidl declined to answer whether it purchased avocados from two specific plantations that have been convicted of water code violations in Petorca Province. One of the two is owned by the Cerda family, which also owns Cabilfrut, the exporter Lidl does business with.
Lidl did say, however, that Lidl Danmark does not have avocados from Petorca on its shelves right now, nor does the company have plans to stock avocados from the province in the future.
Coop wants to strengthen the right to water
The only one of the supermarket chains in this investigation to tell Danwatch that it has not sold avocados from Petorca Province is Coop. Issues of water theft and scarcity in the area therefore do not affect the avocados sold in Coop’s stores.
The chain believes, however, that it would be necessary to take action should it prove that any of its products contribute to the violation of local residents’ right to water.
“If we find out that Coop’s suppliers are contributing to gross violations of ethical and environmental issues, then we will open a dialogue with our suppliers to find possible solutions. If necessary, we would terminate our business relationship until it could be shown that the offenses had stopped,” write Coop.
Following Danwatch’s inquiries, Coop made its purchasers and suppliers aware of the problem of water scarcity in Petorca.