Aldi
In September 2021, the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a complaint to German prosecutors alleging that several retailers, including Aldi, C&A, Lidl, and HUGO BOSS, profited from forced labour in Xinjiang.
According to the ECCHR, the companies listed their Xinjiang supply factories “publicly and voluntarily” but may only represent a small sample of similar factories in Xinjiang.
The Aldo Group said the ECCHR’s allegations are directed at the supplier Turpan Jinpin Knitting, but it said it had stopped purchasing any items from the company since the end of 2019.
A spokesman for the group told The Muslim News, “ALDI does not normally maintain any direct business relationships with production sites. We obtain most of our products from suppliers. That is why, before entering into a relationship with direct business partners, we check whether or not they meet our corporate responsibility standards. We regularly review our business partners to ensure that our requirements are continuously met.”