LIDL Belgium
In a bid to surpass existing sustainability standards and address key supply chain issues, Lidl Belgium partnered with inclsve to develop an innovative and impactful product: the Way To Go cocoa bar.

What: Lidl is the largest international food retailer in Europe, based in Germany, and operates in 30 countries. In Belgium and Luxembourg, Lidl has over 300 stores and more than 10,000 employees. In 2016, the Belgian division developed an ambitious sustainability strategy covering 50 smart goals across 50 specific topics. For commodities like coffee, cacao, and fish, Lidl relies on existing international standards such as MSC and Fairtrade.
Challenge: Lidl Belgium aimed to introduce a product that addresses all relevant sustainability issues in its supply chain, exceeding current standards. Lidl enlisted inclsve to support them in evaluating its supply chains and selecting this new product.
Actions: inclsve assessed Lidl’s product portfolio and conducted due diligence on a shortlist of commodities. Based on this assessment, cocoa was chosen as the priority commodity. inclsve benchmarked bean-to-bar products and assisted Lidl in designing a ‘Living Income’ cocoa bar. inclsve also facilitated the creation of a project consortium to support the cooperative in Africa.
Results: This led to the development of a bean-to-bar product called Way To Go, initially sold in Belgium, benefiting 50 cocoa farmers. The following year, Way To Go was sold in all 30 countries, supporting over 1,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana by focusing on living income.