Lidl

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Lidl Foundation & Co. KG

logo
legal form Foundation & Co. KG
founding 1973
Seat Neckarsulm , Germany
management Ignazio Paternò ( Chairman of the Board )
Number of employees 160,083 (worldwide, 2018)

83,000 (throughout Germany, 2018)

sales EUR 81.2 billion (2018)
Branch Grocery retail
Website info.lidl
As of February 28, 2018

Lidl is a discount company based in Neckarsulm in Baden-Württemberg . Currently (2020) Lidl operates over 11,000 branches in 29 countries and is the largest discounter in the world in terms of the number of branches . Like the full-range grocery retailer Kaufland, Lidl is a subsidiary of the Schwarz Group . With 81.2 billion euros, the discounter contributed around four-fifths of the total sales of the Schwarz Group in 2018.

history

Lidl & Co. Südfrüchtenhandlung at Sülmerstrasse 54 in Heilbronn (around 1905)

The Lidl & Cie. Südfrüchtenhandlung can already be found in the Heilbronn address book from 1862. Initially located at Sülmerstrasse 31, the business of the merchant Aloys Paulweber moved to Deutschordensstrasse 11 before 1879, before it can be found ten years later at Sülmerstrasse 54.

In 1930 the Heilbronn businessman Josef Schwarz (1903–1977) joined the then Lidl & Co. Südfrüchtenhandlung as a personally liable partner ( general partner ) . The company was renamed Lidl & Schwarz KG and expanded into a food wholesaler for the Heilbronn-Franken region .

After Lidl & Schwarz was completely destroyed in World War II in 1944 , the grocery wholesaler was able to rebuild within ten years. In 1954 a new head office was set up in Heilbronn. In 1968 Lidl & Schwarz opened the first supermarket under the name “Handelshof” in Backnang , Swabia , and from 1984 the Handelshof stores were renamed Kaufland supermarkets.

Dieter Schwarz , the only son of Josef Schwarz, completed a commercial apprenticeship in the food wholesaler Lidl & Schwarz KG in Heilbronn from 1958 to 1960 after graduating from high school . At that time, his father Josef Schwarz was the sole managing director of Lidl & Schwarz KG. In 1962 Dieter Schwarz became an authorized signatory and in 1963 a personally liable partner of Lidl & Schwarz KG in Heilbronn. In 1972 a new company headquarters was opened in Neckarsulm .

Foundation of the discount group Lidl

In 1968 Dieter Schwarz opened his first retail store. A few years later, in 1973, the first discount store was opened as a new type of shop in Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Mundenheimer Strasse). Because he could not easily take over the name Lidl , which the father's company already had as part of the company name, for legal reasons and to avoid the pun " black market ", Dieter Schwarz secured himself legally by speaking to the retired vocational school teacher and painter Ludwig Lidl bought the naming rights for 1000  DM .

When Josef Schwarz died in 1977 at the age of 74, Dieter Schwarz took over the food wholesaler Lidl & Schwarz KG . At this point in time, Dieter Schwarz already had 30 Lidl branches. Until 1978, Schwarz tested various discount types before the final concept of the Lidl discounter went into series production. The company's activities were divided into the area of ​​discount stores (small areas) under the name Lidl and the area of ​​full-range retailers (large areas) Kaufland .

When Dieter Schwarz withdrew from management in 1999, he transferred his tax-saving share to the non-profit Dieter Schwarz Foundation gGmbH , whose purpose is, among other things, the promotion of science and research, art and culture.

Holdings
Exterior view of a Lidl branch

After Wilfried Oskierski, Karl-Heinz Holland followed as CEO in September 2008. The dismissal of Holland on March 21, 2014 was justified with "different, irreconcilable views regarding the future strategic business direction". According to information from Manager Magazin, Holland received his annual salary of 3 million euros until the end of his notice period on March 31, 2017. His successor, Sven Seidel, only stayed in his position until February 2017 due to "different strategic business views". Seidel's successor, Jesper Højer , also left the company - after two years for personal reasons. Lidl has been headed by Ignazio Paternò as CEO since mid-2019 .

In December 2015, Lidl opened the first German branch of a new generation of branches in Offenau that had previously been tested abroad. The new branches are characterized by building materials such as glass, aluminum and wood as well as new lighting technology, are also more spacious and offer attractive lounges for employees. The groundbreaking ceremony for a new Lidl Germany headquarters took place on May 5, 2017 in Bad Wimpfen . Not far from the previous company headquarters in Neckarsulm, a separate industrial area is to be developed for the around 1500 employees of the Lidl Foundation & Co. KG. The company's move is planned for 2020.

expansion

Lidl activities in Europe

International expansion has been intensively pursued since 1989. After Lidl's expansion within West Germany, the first store in the East German federal states was opened in Chemnitz in 1990. The year before, in 1989, international expansion began with entry into the French market .

Number of Lidl branches in individual countries

Lidl branch in London : After entering the market in 1994, Lidl operated around 760 branches in the United Kingdom in 2017.
Lidl in Tomaszów Mazowiecki , Poland
Country Number of branches Market entry
BelgiumBelgium Belgium 305 1995
BulgariaBulgaria Bulgaria 99 2010
DenmarkDenmark Denmark 120 2005
GermanyGermany Germany around 3200 1973 (discount store principle)
FinlandFinland Finland 180 2002
FranceFrance France 1500 1989
GreeceGreece Greece 224 1999
IrelandIreland Ireland 162 2000
ItalyItaly Italy 630 1992
CroatiaCroatia Croatia 97 2006
LithuaniaLithuania Lithuania 36 2016
LuxembourgLuxembourg Luxembourg 10 2001
MaltaMalta Malta 8th 2008
NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 420 1997
AustriaAustria Austria 250 1998
PolandPoland Poland 670 2002
PortugalPortugal Portugal 250 1995
RomaniaRomania Romania 250 2011
SwedenSweden Sweden 189 2003
SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 133 2009
SerbiaSerbia Serbia 37 2018
SlovakiaSlovakia Slovakia 138 2004
SloveniaSlovenia Slovenia 54 2007
SpainSpain Spain 550 1994
Czech RepublicCzech Republic Czech Republic 245 2003
HungaryHungary Hungary 200 2004
United StatesUnited States United States around 98 (71 own) 2017
United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 760 1994
Cyprus RepublicRepublic of Cyprus Cyprus 17th 2010

In 2014 Lidl was represented with 9,875 branches in 26 countries, in 2019 with 11,000 branches in 29 countries. A key recipe for success for Lidl and comparable discounters such as Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord is to adapt the product ranges to local characteristics. That is why the product ranges differ enormously in some cases. In markets in which Aldi Süd or Aldi Nord is also represented, these companies are always the main competitors.

Norway is the only country from which Lidl has withdrawn after entering the market. The official reason was that since entering the market in 2004, after four years in Norway, Lidl had an under-market share of 1.5% and therefore stopped further expansion. In March 2008 it was announced that the discounter would sell its 50 stores in Norway and sell them to the Reitan Group. In addition to the branches, administration and distribution were also handed over.

Special features of the expansion

To further finance the expansion, properties worth one billion euros were sold at the end of 2006. In France , Lidl is the market leader in the discount segment with 1,500 branches. The entry into the Czech market (2003) was accompanied by affairs over the deforestation of protected trees. The expansion into the Baltic markets was stopped for the time being in 2006 due to lack of success and renewed in 2014.

The first branches were opened in Croatia on November 23, 2006. On March 29, 2007 Lidl opened the first branches in Slovenia and accompanied the market entry with a large advertising campaign on television, in print media and with posters. In 2010 it entered the Canary Islands, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

Lithuania

Lidl opened in June 2016 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius

Lidl has been represented in Lithuania with UAB Lidl Lietuva since December 2002. In 2006 the activity was stopped in the whole of the Baltic States . It was not until 2010 that more active investment was made. According to the company, a total of 25 to 30 branches is targeted (according to other sources up to 100). A total of up to 202 million euros is to be invested. The assortment should include 1,600 articles, half of them from Lithuania. On July 20, 2016, the company had 1,585 employees. Lidl board member and Lidl HR manager Christine Rittner was responsible for the preparations for the market entry in the Baltic country from 2014 as chairwoman of the Lidl Lithuania management board . The director of the Lithuanian joint-stock company (UAB) is Radostin Dimitrov Roussev-Peine.

The company's head office is located in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius , in the Viršuliškės district .

The area of ​​land near Kaunas bought by “Lidl Lietuva” in 2013 is 143,000 m², on which the central warehouse has been maintained on an area of ​​42,800 m² (13,000 m² of which for cold storage ) since April 14, 2016 . The BREEAM -certified logistics center was built for 29 million euros in the village of Ramučiai in the district of Kaunas . The investments amount to 40 million euros.

The first 15 stores opened on June 2, 2016. The rows of shoppers started at 6:30 a.m., although the shops didn't open until 8 a.m. The first buyers to visit the Lidl market in Fabijoniškės were guests of honor from 7:30 a.m. These included the “Lidl” advertising face basketball player Arvydas Sabonis , the Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius , the Lithuanian economics minister Evaldas Gustas and diplomats from the German embassy in Vilnius . Before the store opened in Alytus, around 200 people were gathered, some in an aggressive mood. In Kaunas, waiting customers pitched tents the day before the opening. There were also rows of shoppers on the second “Lidl” opening day ( June 3, 2016) before the shops opened.

Austria

Lidl has been represented in Austria since 1998 by Lidl Österreich GmbH based in Salzburg. Lidl Austria operates around 230 branches and three logistics centers ( Laakirchen , Wundschuh and Müllendorf ). In 2018, the construction of a 6 hectare logistics center near Großebersdorf began , which will replace the center in Müllendorf in Burgenland from 2021 .

With more than 4800 employees, Lidl Austria achieved net sales of around 1.2 billion euros in the 2016/2017 financial year. The market share in the Austrian food retail trade was around 4.2% in 2016.

Romania

In 2011, Lidl bought the 107 branches operated by Plus in Romania and changed the flag to the Lidl concept by October. To finance this expansion, a loan of 200 million euros was approved by the EBRD in 2010 .

Switzerland

Lidl Switzerland headquarters in Weinfelden

In March 2009 the first branch was opened in Switzerland . Lidl Schweiz AG is based in Weinfelden . The distribution centers are in Weinfelden and Sévaz and another one may be built in Roggwil BE .

United Kingdom

After entering the market in 1994, expansion was strongly promoted. Today the company has around 760 stores in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Like its competitor Aldi Süd, the company benefited greatly from the 2008 financial crisis that was strongly felt in the country and has since expanded its market share from 2 percent to just under (2019) 6 percent. Against the background of Brexit , the proportion of locally produced products was steadily increased, which contributed to the success. In addition, the prices are sometimes much lower than in the more established British supermarket chains. In the years to come after 2019, the company would therefore like to further increase its number of branches (e.g. in London by 40 stores).

United States

In June 2017, Lidl USA opened the first ten US branches in the states of Virginia , North Carolina and South Carolina from its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia . Within a year, more than 100 additional Lidl stores should follow on the east coast of the USA, with which Lidl  wants to follow up on the expansion plans of the competitor Aldi Süd for the USA. Due to the location, which is not attractive for consumers, the overly generous design of the stores and logistics routes that are too long, the costs of entering the market exploded (estimated: over 1 billion euros). The expansion was therefore stopped and the plans for new markets revised. Therefore, only around 71 stores had been opened by 2019. However, expansion into other states is firmly planned. This included the acquisition of 27 " Best Market " supermarkets in the states of New York and New Jersey .

Roman Heini has been responsible for the national company since 2019; he was previously Germany's manager at Aldi Süd. Heini ordered the US range to focus more strongly on typically American products and on a more American store concept than before.

According to Klaus Gehrig , the company expects a period of ten to twelve years until the company has established itself as a serious alternative with consumers, as in Europe.

Lidl's slogan in the USA was initially Rethink Grocery (for example: Think groceries), but now Think Grocery (for example: Think groceries).

Companies

structure

Lidl has the legal form of a foundation & Co. KG , to which about 600 different regional and service companies are subordinate. The Lidl Foundation and the German management have their corporate headquarters in separate buildings in Neckarsulm.

Lidl operates 39 regional companies in Germany, which in turn (as of 2019) look after around 3,200 branches. In every regional company there are different departments, such as logistics or sales. A regional manager is responsible for all areas of a regional company and leads them. The regional manager is supported by the sales manager standing under him.

The sales managers report to several sales managers, each responsible for a sales district of five to six branches. A sales manager is also a disciplinary superior and manages up to 100 employees. In a Lidl branch there is a branch manager who is responsible for the level of training and the allocation of the branch staff as well as for the disposition of goods, accounting and the achievement of the relevant branch key figures.

Production plants

In 2008, Schwarz Produktion GmbH & Co. KG acquired the Mitteldeutsche Erfrischungsgetränke group of companies in order to be able to produce beverages themselves and to create an internal recycling loop for PET bottles. At the time, the acquired group of companies was the second largest German manufacturer of soft drinks and has been producing drinks for Lidl as well as for the Schwarz company Kaufland since then. As a subsidiary of Schwarz Produktion GmbH & Co. KG, the group of companies serves as the parent company for the subsequent production facilities for Lidl products and a deep-freeze warehouse at the main location in Übach-Palenberg near Aachen:

In 2008 Solent GmbH & Co. KG was founded in Übach-Palenberg. The company produces chocolate and related confectionery as well as nuts and dried fruits, and most of the Fin Carré range is produced there. With in-house production, Lidl is further expanding its range of chocolate.

Bonback GmbH & Co. KG is also located in Übach-Palenberg . The subsidiary has been producing baked goods for the Lidl branches since 2012. It is intended to continuously expand production.

Since July 2017, Bon Gelati GmbH & Co. KG has been producing various types of ice cream as a further subsidiary in Übach-Palenberg, which are delivered to various Lidl branches across Europe.

In 2019, the foundation stone was laid in Rheine for a coffee roastery complete with logistics infrastructure, which, as a further subsidiary of Mitteldeutsche Erfrischungsgetränke, is to supply the Lidl branches with own brands from the end of 2021. This copies the step of the competitor Aldi.

marketing

Lidl is one of the largest advertisers in Germany (budget for 2005 according to Nielsen 397 million euros). In addition to traditional forms of advertising such as handouts and newspapers, the company also relies on the Internet. Until October 2008, television was only used for trainee commercials and in 2007 in cooperation with the pre-paid provider Fonic.

Since October 2008, own-brand products have also been advertised in TV commercials under the Lidl slogan “Lidl is worth it”. Lidl has been following a new advertising strategy since February 2015, whereby the focus is no longer primarily on the low price, but on the quality of the products. Together with the visual upgrade of the branches, the company would like to leave the pure perception in the discount segment. Due to the increased brand listing of the German competitors Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord that followed, this step can be described as successful.

staff

Lidl employs over 170,000 people, including more than 70,000 in Germany. The average length of service of employees at Lidl is 6.3 years, above the industry average of 3 years. Every fifth employee has been with the company for more than 10 years. In 2005 and 2006, 1,000 new trainees were hired in training campaigns. Lidl offers, among other things, training to become clerks in retail, office clerks, specialist warehouse clerks or specialists for warehouse logistics. In addition, Lidl offers a high school graduate program as well as courses in areas such as logistics and retail in cooperation with various dual universities.

range

Inside view of a Lidl branch

Food is the discounter's core range. With over 1,600 food items in the fixed range and hundreds of other promotional items, Lidl is unusually broad in this area in Germany; For a long time, competitor Aldi only sold 700 food items.

In addition to branded and occasionally no-name items (fruit, fresh meat), Lidl also offers own-branded products, as is common with discounters. These are for example: Milbona (milk and dairy products), Dulano (sausages), Sondey (baked goods), Linessa (low-calorie foods), Freeway , Saskia (drinks), Bellarom (coffee), Maribel (jam), Landjunker and Oldenländer (fresh meat) and since 2006 Bioness (organic food); Renamed to Biotrend for trademark reasons since 2009 .

Lidl offers a range of freshly baked prebake baked goods with at least 30 different products nationwide and in many branches worldwide . According to company representatives, this is deficient due to the additional staff and effort required, but is seen as helpful for overall sales due to the resulting increase in customer frequency (and comparable offers from the competition).

At Christmas and Easter, Lidl offers its own premium product line under the name "Deluxe". In 2013, due to the high demand, the range was expanded to more than 150 products - from fresh and frozen items to canned goods and spirits. For some time now, Lidl has also had an extensive range of wines - both in the branches and in the online shop. The offer includes wines from Germany and Europe as well as from overseas, the price range is similarly broad.

In addition to food and other everyday products, Lidl offers promotional items from various non-food areas that change every week , including textiles, household and electronic goods and leisure items. The computers that have been offered under the Lidl-PC logo for several years in changing cycles have achieved greater awareness . Since space has to be created in the branches every week for new promotional items, some unsold goods are stored in specially rented warehouses. The value of the returns stored there is said to be more than 100 million euros. In special sales in current and former Lidl branches, the goods are sold at reduced prices. Furthermore, special promotions are carried out regularly in the branches. In 2005, the discounter sold the so-called Lidl ticket together with Deutsche Bahn for the first time , with which two single journeys in second class on any domestic German route (including long-distance transport) were possible at a price of 49.90 euros.

Lidl is also represented on the Internet with various service portals. The offer includes a photo service, flower delivery, a travel portal and, since November 2008, an online shop. Non-food items for home and garden can be ordered in the online shop. For a while, packaged food (such as canned food) and highly perishable products such as drugstore items were also available in the online shop, but due to the effort, these have no longer been available since the end of 2017. The decision was made after the "Lidl Express" project planned for the beginning of 2017 in Germany was stopped by the head of the Schwarz Group, Klaus Gehrig , in which groceries that had already been ordered in advance were picked up online and a small Lidl assortment as well could have been bought on site. the Germany boss of Lidl, Marin Dokozic, was replaced in 2018. In the company, online food retailing is not yet considered to be profitable. A later market entry would not be disadvantageous for the company, says Klaus Gehrig.

The Lidl offers temporarily included the Greenpeace magazine , which Lidl distributes in a large part of its circulation . The cooperation between Lidl and Greenpeace quickly came to an end, however, because Greenpeace did not want to discredit the independence of its tests and because Lidl products had also been examined for pesticide contamination. The shark steaks, which were temporarily in the Lidl range in 2005, were removed from the range after protests.

Lidl worked with the network operator Telefónica Germany until September 2015 under the Lidl Mobile brand . The prepaid brand Lidl Connect has been offered in conjunction with Vodafone since October 1st, 2015 . Both voice and data tariffs as well as various packages are offered. In 2020, the brand was the test winner of the mobile communications customer barometer in the Mobile communications provider Germany category of the trade journal Connect .

Since April 2018, Lidl has introduced four-stage husbandry labeling for fresh meat in Germany. The stages range from conventional animal husbandry through two intermediate stages to organic farming . For the last reason, there is little demand for products labeled as animal-friendly and therefore more expensive. Bioland products have been available since November 2018 .

responsibility

Since June 1, 2006, Lidl has been the first discounter in Germany to have its own Fairglobe brand, including fair trade products, especially coffee, tea, chocolate and sugar from developing countries. Lidl says it purchases 100 percent certified cocoa for its products and works with internationally recognized seals such as UTZ-Certified and Rainforest Alliance . According to the company, chocolates of the own brand "Fin Carré" have been made from UTZ-certified cocoa since 2012 and have been Fairtrade certified since 2016 . Lidl is a founding member of the Sustainable Cocoa Forum, an initiative supported by several federal ministries and civil society to promote sustainable cocoa cultivation. In addition to economic and ecological aspects, the aim is in particular to improve the living conditions of those involved in cocoa cultivation and to increase the proportion of sustainably produced cocoa.

In 2012, Lidl supported the German Cancer Aid with a customer campaign. Krebshilfe received cents per item as a donation from the sale of a seasonal quality brand in the weeks before Christmas. The campaign raised a total of 400,000 euros, including a company donation.

Deposit machine in a Lidl store with "donation button"

In addition, Lidl had all deposit machines in Germany equipped with a "donate" button. With this, the deposit value can be donated to the board immediately.

Since January 2012, Lidl has been one of the first German retail companies to support sustainable cultivation by participating in the “ Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ” together with non-governmental organizations and plantation operators. Lidl Germany is also a founding member of the “Forum Sustainable Palm Oil”. In the merger, business and politics work together with the WWF to increase the proportion of certified palm oil and palm kernel oil.

In September 2013, Lidl signed the industry agreement for the Animal Welfare Initiative together with representatives from agriculture, the meat industry and the food trade. The concept is based on voluntary action by the producers, the effort for additional animal welfare services is rewarded. The Animal Welfare Initiative advocates more space for animals when they are kept.

Lidl supports the commitment of brot.Zeit eV The association offers school children the opportunity to strengthen and exchange ideas together before the start of lessons. This takes place as part of a common breakfast time. Lidl provides breakfast items free of charge.

Lidl Germany and Lidl Switzerland announced in September 2018 that in future all bananas will be certified by the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International instead of the Rainforest Alliance . However, falling sales drove Lidl to offer bananas without a fair trade seal in all branches again from summer 2019 .

Lidl Switzerland has been testing an electric truck with an 18-ton payload from E-Force One since 2018 . In autumn 2019, Lidl marketed its global sugar and fat reduction strategy for own brands in Germany with the help of a "Lidl spoon". The teaspoon was curved so that it reduced the fillable volume. For coffee and tea drinkers, the spoon should add a smaller amount of sugar to the drink by adding the same number of teaspoons. With a purchase of 25 euros or more, the spoon was free, in the online shop it was available for 1 cent (+ shipping costs) and sold out after a short time.

criticism

Working conditions at Lidl

Lidl has come under criticism several times over the years. The subject was often the working conditions of the employees. Trade unions, especially Ver.di , accused the company of systematically preventing the formation of works councils . ver.di published a black book about Lidl in 2004 , which contains further points of criticism regarding the personnel policy. At the end of July 2006 the black book Lidl Europe was also published . In 2004 Lidl received the alternative negative award Big Brother Awards , which is presented with the participation of the Chaos Computer Club , in the working world category . From August 2005 to summer 2006, the globalization-critical Attac network, together with the Linkspartei.PDS, carried out a nationwide coordinated campaign against the working and production conditions of the discounter, which met with a wide response. In 2008 Günter Wallraff published the article Our daily bread in Zeitmagazin , in which, in addition to the poor pay, he criticized the working conditions as well as safety deficiencies and hygiene conditions of a supplier company. Lidl responded to the publication with a public statement.

In 2010 Lidl was one of the first grocery retailers in Germany to set an internal minimum wage; it was 10 euros an hour. This rose to 11 euros by August 2013, to 11.50 euros by June 2015 and was 12 euros from March 2017 to March 2019. Since then, it has been set at 12.50 euros. According to the company, the working time of Lidl employees is documented and paid to the minute using an electronic personnel time recording system.

Lidl is increasingly investing in expanding its human resources work. In 2014, a further training offensive started to equip the branch managers with extended management and leadership skills in order to develop them further to branch managers. The background to this is the increased demands placed on the store managers in the form of higher customer demands, the more extensive product range and more complex and faster everyday business.

In its Code of Conduct , Lidl defines the basic rules of conduct to which the company is committed. According to this, Lidl rejects any form of child labor and respects international human and labor rights . At the same time, Lidl defines its expectations of its contractual partners and their suppliers with regard to the entire supply chain. All partners must contractually guarantee that they follow these principles or ensure that they are adhered to.

Decoy offers

In 2005 the discounter was convicted by the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court for decoy offers in the non-food sector after a lawsuit filed by the headquarters to combat unfair competition (judgment of June 30, 2005, Az. 2 U 7/05), because advertised products sold out after just one hour whereas for massively advertised products a stock for at least two days has to be kept. In 2011 there was a further ruling by the Federal Court of Justice in a similar matter based on a lawsuit from the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center .

Working conditions at suppliers

In 2007 Lidl joined the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). The members of the BSCI have committed themselves to a code of conduct that is intended to regulate the working conditions within their production chains. However, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the code of conduct is permanently violated in the supplier factories.

Although the textile workers in Bangladesh are only paid 17 euros a month (the equivalent of 10 euro cents hourly wage), Lidl has its Livergy brand manufactured in these Bengali textile factories, as was documented in a local SWR TV report. The company advertised with the claim that the clothes it sells were "fairly produced".

Lidl is one of the signatories of an international agreement for fire and building protection in Bangladesh. In addition to the existing Lidl commitment, the retail company is working with numerous companies, international trade union associations and non-governmental organizations for the long-term implementation, control and improvement of fire, building and health protection measures at textile factories in Bangladesh.

In 2014 the Stiftung Warentest established that the Lidl Fairglobe orange juice, which bears the Fairtrade logo, was under no circumstances produced under conditions that could be described as fair. Rather, the plantation got a deficiency for working conditions and environmental protection.

privacy

According to research by the news magazine Stern , Lidl had its own employees systematically monitored by detective agencies for several years in over 500 branches. During the monitoring were u. a. Toilet visits by employees are logged and occasional customers are also filmed when they enter their PIN . The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, Peter Schaar , assessed this procedure as a serious breach of data protection . On April 4, 2008, the Lidl management initially announced that it would be reducing camera surveillance in all Lidl branches in Germany, but shortly afterwards announced that it would be increasingly relying on video surveillance again under the supervision of the former Federal Data Protection Officer Joachim Jacob . The company had to pay a total of 1.462 million euros in fines for spying on its employees, with a fine of around 350,000 euros for not appointing company data protection officers in all 35 sales companies.

After the relevant files were found in a garbage can, it was announced in April 2009 that Lidl had recorded the reasons for the illness of the employees. The group reacted to this with the temporary release of Germany boss Frank-Michael Mros . Lidl confirmed that medical files had been common practice in the company and that work with the lists had been discontinued until December 2008. In August 2009, the company was fined 36,000 euros as a result of the data scandal.

In 2009, Lidl developed a data protection concept that extends to all areas of the company - this also includes the fact that cameras have not been used in the branches since then.

Right to exchange or withdrawal

A study by the German consumer association (vzbv) published in September 2012 showed that Lidl in many cases - and apparently systematically - withholds rights from customers to which they are legally entitled according to the German Civil Code .

Sale of gold coins

On November 20, 2013, the ARD magazine plusminus broadcast a report on gold coins sold by Lidl via the Internet. A pair of coins cost 2500 euros; its material value was around 520 euros at the same time. On request, Lidl wrote that the offer is aimed "at collectors [...] and not at customers who want to purchase coins as an investment". It is a coincidence that Lidl withdrew the offer shortly after the request.

Patent infringement

In 2017, Lidl started selling a device for the production of plant-based milk substitutes in Spain . The patent for it (in the original ChufaMix - Veggie Drinks Maker ) was with Andoni Monforte. After the Lidl replica of the device, the Valencian's company had to accept a drop in sales of around 30%. The selling price of the original produced in Spain was 40 euros, that of the presumed Lidl plagiarism with components of Asian origin was around 5 euros. Lidl Germany and Lidl Spain did not comment on this with reference to the ongoing proceedings.

Handling resources

Lidl has been criticized in Switzerland for its disposal. Food would including packing in biogas plants disposed of, from where the by MikroPlastik loaded digestate ends up in the fields.

literature

  • Andreas Hamann, Gudrun Giese: Black Book Lidl. Cheap at the expense of the employees. ver.di, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-932349-12-1 .
  • Andreas Hamann u. a .: Schwarz-Buch Lidl Europe. ver.di, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-932349-21-0 .

Web links

Commons : Lidl  - collection of images
 Wikinews: Lidl  - in the news

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Change in the Lidl leadership. In: Presseportal.de. April 2, 2019, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Consolidated Financial Statements as of February 28, 2018 in the electronic Federal Gazette
  3. ↑ Schwarz Group has a turnover of more than 100 billion euros. Retrieved May 14, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Heilbronn address books, accessible at http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Kategorie:Adressbuch_für_Heilbronn
  5. ↑ Kaufland is fighting the digital revolution in retail ( Memento from March 5, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) (March 5, 2018)
  6. ↑ Dieter Schwarz is 70 years old today. (No longer available online.) News for the Economy. Information for decision-makers in the Heilbronn-Franken region, September 24, 2009, archived from the original on February 6, 2013 ; accessed on April 16, 2017 .
  7. ↑ The Lidl story , a ZDF documentation from June 20, 2019, accessed on June 23, 2019
  8. ↑ Our history , company history according to the company website, accessed on September 24, 2019. The first Lidl discount store no longer exists today.
  9. ↑ Karsten Kilian: Branded Products . Markenlexikon.de, accessed on April 16, 2017.
  10. ↑ (suc): Lidl boss takes his hat. Karl-Heinz Holland moves to the top of the discreet discounter. In: Spiegel Online. September 24, 2008, accessed June 14, 2013 .
  11. ^ Martin Buchenau: Change of boss at Lidl. In: Handelsblatt . October 9, 2008, accessed June 14, 2013 .
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