Since February it has been known in Haimhausen who will be the tenant of the supermarket planned at the south-eastern entrance to the town, when the investor Ratisbona presented Edeka as such. The SPD Haimhausen is now criticizing the food retailer and, in an open letter to the Edeka headquarters, is calling for more commitment to the observance of human rights by suppliers.
Even if it is not yet clear who will be the future operator of the market, Edeka will play a decisive role as a tenant, according to the letter from the SPD. The group is valued as a provider of good quality, but trusting purchasing also includes knowing about fair conditions throughout the supply chain. In the “Supermarket Check” by the independent organization Oxfam Germany, however, Edeka takes last place by a wide margin in all categories among the five leading German supermarket chains.
“It is incomprehensible to us why Edeka is not taking part in the initiative for German retail companies to commit themselves to implementing living wages for workers and small farmers in global supply chains,” writes the SPD. The examples given in the Oxfam report, such as the daily wages of the equivalent of 4.50 euros on pineapple plantations in Costa Rica, a supplier of Edeka, are not acceptable.
Whether the operator of the new Haimhauser supermarket will be the preferred candidate, the Allgäu supermarket chain Feneberg, is still not clear. It is not unlikely, as there is close cooperation between Feneberg and Edeka.