Spar

Spar is an international supermarket chain that started their operations in the Netherlands and today is active in most European countries, in Africa and Oceania, with more than 12,000 stores and more than 28 billion euros in sales.

Fairfood and Spar
Fairfood International first approached Spar to ask them for information on the sustainability level of their own brand products, thereby already putting some pressure on Spar to become more transparent and more thoughtful with regards to their supply chain. In 2008, Spar expressed their interest in this issue and voiced their ambition to stipulate priorities in policies and examine their implementation over the next years. However, they could not specify whether this would result in more sustainability within their private label products. In order to increase the pressure on Spar, Fairfood International involved them in the “Play it Fair” campaign for sustainable soy in November 2009 (in cooperation with Milieudefensie). Spar was invited to play fair football at the Amsterdam’s central Dam square. It was positive publicity to draw attention to the problems of soybean production and highlight the more sustainable alternatives available.

Current status
After this increased pressure, Spar became more responsive to Fairfood’s approaches. They informed Fairfood International about their plan to cooperate with a total concept supplier for Organic and FairTrade products under one brand name. In 2009, Spar announced that its own brand coffee will be FairTrade certified. Recently, Spar declared to Fairfood International that they believe in sustainability and a step-by-step process. Part of that process is their plan to hire a sustainability manager in the near future. Fairfood and Spar agreed to continue this constructive dialogue. Fairfood will monitor the progress of Spar’s actions, making sure that their stated ambitions and plans are not neglected but implemented.