Aldi is not entirely a Fairtrade-only retailer, but it is a major partner that stocks a wide range of certified products, including coffee, bananas, flowers, and cocoa. The company focuses on increasing sustainable, independently certified goods, with specific goals to improve living incomes for farmers and worker conditions in their supply chains.
For years we have been working with our suppliers to increase the number of independently certified products we sell, such as bananas, cocoa, coffee and tea. To do this, we use schemes such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance.
The Aldi £13 rule refers to its significant pay increases for UK store assistants, making it the first supermarket to pay above £13 per hour, with rates rising to £13.35 nationally and £14.71 within the M25 from March 2026, with even higher rates for experience, all part of its pledge to lead on pay and offer paid breaks.
One way to ensure social and environmental standards is through the use of independent certification schemes. All bananas offered in our European and US ALDI stores are certified. We either use the Rainforest Alliance standard or buy organic bananas with Fairtrade certification or GLOBALG.
“Our Primark Cares ambition is to make more sustainable products affordable for everyone while improving the lives of the workers who make our products. We know we can't do this alone and so we're delighted to partner with Fairtrade to work together towards our shared goals.
"Aldi says that cashiers sit at the register because, according to their testing, it allows us to ring up items faster," Jonah, an Aldi employee, told Mental Floss.
Asda 40% – While it scored surprisingly well in our agriculture rating, Asda's ethical policies in general are very poor. Aldi 16% – Aldi's ethical ratings are even lower than its budget prices, with 0 marks for approaches to climate, animal rights, tax conduct and company ethos. Lidl 14%
Lidl GB sells over 100 different Fairtrade certified products throughout the year, from bananas originating from Colombia, to cocoa for our chocolate grown in Cote d'Ivoire.
Aldi Sud founded the first American Aldi store in 1976 (in Iowa), and currently owns all U.S. locations. Completely unrelated is the fact that in 1979 Aldi Nord purchased the U.S. operations of Trader Joe's, which was founded in California in 1958. So, there is no relationship between Aldi and Trader Joe's.
While Aldi fans keep going back because they find good stuff at even better prices, not all shoppers are fans. Fresh foods such as meats and produce in particular are an issue with some shoppers. "Their produce section was always small and low quality, their meats were low quality," someone on Reddit complained.
Just like most supermarkets, Aldi has its own brand of products and they're not only high-quality, they're also extremely affordable. If you find yourself in an Aldi, it's a good idea to avoid brand-name products and take advantage of the reasonably priced Aldi items, like frozen pizzas, chips, and baked goods.
How much does ALDI - Retail in London, England pay? The average ALDI salary ranges from approximately £22,899 per year for Retail Sales Associate to £54,063 per year for Store Manager. Average ALDI hourly pay ranges from approximately £14.28 per hour for Stocking Associate to £14.34 per hour for Retail Sales Associate.
Aldi's checkout policy focuses on speed and efficiency, requiring customers to bag their own groceries, use a quarter for carts (returned later), and move items quickly from scanning to the bagging area, with cashiers scanning items very fast; some stores have self-checkout (often with item limits) or "Shop & Go" (app/contactless) options, but the core is customer participation to keep costs low.
M&S are one of the UK's leading Fairtrade retail supporters, having worked in partnership for almost two decades. Fairtrade producers in M&S's supply chains receive a fairer price for their crop and an additional Fairtrade Premium to spend on projects of their choice.
