Soy

The cultivation of soy is linked to high rates of deforestation and land conversion in South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, according to WWF research.

The soybean is often called the ‘king of beans’ because it contains 38% protein which is approximately three times the amount of protein found in eggs, and twelve times the amount of protein found in milk. Due to this high protein content, soy is commonly used in animal feed.

Approximately 90% of the soy imported into Europe is used for animal feed meaning the poultry, meat, dairy, and egg sectors are also contributing these rates of deforestation and land conversion.

It is estimated that on average, a European consumer eats 87kg of meat and 260 eggs per year which requires 400m² of land for the soy cultivation alone. As populations grow, the demand and consumption of poultry, meat, dairy, and eggs grows, putting a significant strain on the world’s resources.

In 2018 we published our two-phased approach to sourcing soy responsibly. We are now focused on implementing phase 2 of our approach:

Phase 1

In 2018, we acted as a catalyst for change as we recognised the need to take immediate action in our supply chain and stimulate market demand for sustainable soy. We were the first UK retailer to certify their entire soy footprint. We purchased RTRS certificates on an annual basis through a ‘Book and Claim Direct Trade’ approach to cover 100% of our soy footprint. We will continue to purchase RTRS certificates until our total footprint is covered by physically traceable, deforestation and conversion free soy.

Phase 2

We are aiming for market transformation. This is why we are a founding signatory of the UK Soy Manifesto and are working collaboratively with our suppliers to source physically traceable soy. We want traceable, deforestation and conversion free soy to be the norm and in line with the UK Soy Manifesto we are aiming to achieve this by 2025.

We have committed to sourcing the soy used in our Vemondo (vegan and vegetarian) range from low risk deforestation and land conversion areas, meaning it must be from European sources and certified to Donau Soja or Europe Soya standards. 

As part of our soy strategy, we have committed to collecting our soy footprint data annually. Each year we work with 3Keel (a third-party consultancy) and our suppliers to collect data on the amount of soy used within the Lidl GB supply chain and understand where it comes from. Our data collection is a requirement for all our Lidl GB fresh poultry, meat, dairy, eggs, and fish suppliers and those that use soy embedded in our products. We rely on our suppliers to provide us with this data and are working with them to improve the consistency and accuracy year on year.

To promote transparency and track progress towards our targets, we have committed to publicly reporting our soy footprint and where our soy comes from.

UK MARKET REPORTING

For more information on the collective progress of all the UK Soy Manifesto signatories, please visit the UK Soy Manifesto website here.

For more information and reports on how the UK market is sourcing soy, please visit the 3Keel website here, where they publish reports annually.

HOW WE ARE SUPPORTING OUR SUPPLY CHAIN

We understand that we can’t achieve these commitments alone, and so we have taken actions to ensure our suppliers move towards vDCF soy with us:

• We inform our suppliers that we require soy used in animal feed from specific FEFAC benchmarked certification, via our commercial contracts
• We use CSR plans that we have in place with strategic suppliers to communicate and cascade the UK Soy Manifesto requirements
• We are working with suppliers to source vDCF soy or on innovative trials to remove soy from the supply chain
• As members of the Retail Soy Group, we have supported the development of e-learnings for capacity building across the supply chain. This e-learning can be accessed here.

¹Footprint covers Lidl GB suppliers 

²Defined as soy that can be shown at the point of import to the UK to be legally produced and not linked to deforestation or conversion of land with a cut-off date latest January 2020

³Certifications schemes including Cargill Triple S, CRS (area mass balance and credits), ADM responsible Soybean Standard v2, Proterra (mass balance and segregated), RTRS (mass balance, regional mass balance and credits), VLOG, ISCC Plus, USSAP

⁴There is more work to be done to understand the origin of the soy in our supply chain. We are working with our suppliers towards reporting this data more precisely

⁵The supplier engagement programme is only applicable to Lidl GB suppliers that are in scope of the soy data collection

⁶We are currently working on a 2023 communication plan for our suppliers