ALDI SÜD GROUP
since 2017
World Banana Forum (WBF)
The World Banana Forum (WBF) is an initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It brings together key stakeholders in the global banana supply chain to build consensus on best practices for sustainable production and trade. Retailers, importers, producers, exporters, consumer organisations, governments, research institutions, trade unions and civil society organisations work together to discuss the challenges facing the banana sector and find solutions.
ALDI SÜD Group joined the WBF as a member in 2017. We participate in the working group focused on Fair Distribution of Value and are also involved in several sub-groups. One of these is the WBF's Commission on Living Wages and Income, which advocates for living wages and incomes across global banana value chains. This includes supporting efforts such as responsible purchasing practices, as a means to ensure greater transparency and a fairer distribution of value within supply chains. Together we are working to bring banana industry stakeholders closer together and to support in ensuring that minimum wages are living wages.
Before the Commission, we supported the FAO World Banana Forum's Living Wage Advocacy Initiative (LIWIN), a pilot project implemented in the banana‑producing countries of Ghana and Ecuador to establish living‑wage benchmarks, and to advocate for living wages with government, private sector and civil society organizations in major European importing countries. This initiative sought to build national consensus around these benchmarks, providing a foundation to inform future wage negotiations and minimum wage policies in the banana sector. The Commission on Living Wages and Income is the continuation of this pilot work.
