SPRING

Alternatives accepted by retailers

To provide transparency to their suppliers, some retailers have shared a list of responsible water management standards which they accept in place of the GLOBALG.A.P. Sustainable Program for Irrigation and Groundwater Use (SPRING).

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Comparable water standards accepted by retailers

What is meant by an alternative to SPRING?

Some retailers consider other responsible water management schemes (listed per retailer below) adequately comparable to the SPRING add-on. To minimize the audit burden, producers who follow one of the alternative water management standards do not need to additionally comply with SPRING. Please note that this does not represent GLOBALG.A.P. benchmarked status.

Disclaimer

This list contains water standards that are considered comparable to SPRING criteria by these retailers. This decision is managed by the respective retailer. The retailer controls the inclusion or exclusion of the standards and therefore takes responsibility for the list.

GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH cannot and will not be held responsible for any decision taken and works only as a depository for such information. Although all reasonable care has been taken in checking and updating the information on this website, it takes no responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the information provided. This is especially true for all (direct or indirect) links on this topic. The information provided may be expanded, removed, or altered without any prior notice.

Please contact the respective retailer directly for questions, comments, and requests for inclusion.

Accepted alternatives listed by retailer

ALDI Nord SE and the ALDI SOUTH have introduced SPRING as a mandatory add-on to the GLOBALG.A.P. IFA standard for selected fruits and vegetables from water critical regions. To minimize the audit burden, producers who follow one of the alternative water standards do not need to additionally comply with SPRING to supply ALDI Nord SE or ALDI SOUTH.

The list of alternative water standards, the fruit and vegetables to which the requirement applies, and the list of water critical regions to which the requirement applies is determined by ALDI Nord SE and ALDI SOUTH. These retailers control the inclusion or exclusion of the standards, products, and regions and therefore take responsibility for the lists.

What are the accepted alternative standards?

Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS)
Fairtrade
On the Way to PlanetProof
Organic standards (including EU- and US-organic and standards of organic farming associations)
Rainforest Alliance
SCS Sustainably Grown (provisional)
SIZA Environmental (third-party audit)

To which fruits and vegetables does this requirement apply?

Fruits

Apples
Avocados
Bananas
Blueberries
Grapes
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Strawberries

Vegetables

Carrots
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Peppers
Potatoes
Tomatoes

In which regions does this requirement apply?

The ALDI "List of water critical regions" is based on publicly available WWF Water Risk Filter risk scores (2019 data), aggregated at regional/provincial level. ALDI’s approach to identifying regions as "water critical" was based on an overall basin risk score of ≥3.5.

ALDI will aim to update this list on a regular basis to reflect latest data from the WWF Water Risk Filter. For more information, please visit www. riskfilter.org. You can download a complete list water critical regions according to ALDI here.

To which ALDI subsidiaries does this apply?

Both ALDI Nord SE and ALDI SOUTH. The ALDI SOUTH Group is launching this new approach to water management at ALDI SOUTH in Germany, HOFER in Austria, and ALDI SUISSE in Switzerland. The information contained on this page is therefore relevant to producers supplying these entities. Please contact the retailer with any questions.