Lidl Belgium’s fair trade chocolate bars ‘Way to Go!’ are going international: the chocolate is also finding its way onto store shelves in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
All over Europe
A few months ago – shortly before the corona crisis – Lidl launched its own fair trade chocolate line in Belgium under the name ‘Way To Go!’: the assortment currently consists of four different bars and was created in cooperation with Fairtrade, Rikolto and cooperative Kuapa Kokoo. The ‘super fair’ chocolate offers a livable income to 1,000 cocoa farmers, with Lidl paying an extra premium for projects in the field on top of the minimum price and the fair trade premium.
Meanwhile, some 60 tons of the honest chocolate have already been sold and neighbouring countries have also become interested: Lidl will also sell the chocolate bars in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In this way, ‘Way To Go!’ will expand to 2,000 stores this year. The ambition: to roll out the “Belgian” chocolate all over Europe.
Mandatory by 2030
“At the start, Lidl directly supported 440 farmers from Ghana with ‘Way To Go!’. Due to the success of the project and the enthusiasm of the cocoa farmers, the supermarket chain now reaches a total of 1,000 farmers. That number will only increase in the coming months, given the ambition to further expand to all other Lidl branches in Europe”, says Lidl Belgium, where the purchasing and sustainability departments came up with the idea last year.
The initiative fits in Lidl’s strategy to make the range 10% more sustainable every year. The discounter also signed the ‘Beyond Chocolate’ charter, which commits the Belgian chocolate sector to producing 100% sustainable chocolate by 2025 and to providing a living income for all cocoa farmers by 2030. “It is a concrete realization of our commitment,” says Philippe Weiler, head of sustainability at Lidl: “in the long run, all chocolate will have to meet these standards”.
