Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Ahold Delhaize 

8 April 2026

8 April 2026 waren we bij de aandeelhoudersvergadering van Ahold Delhaize, het moederbedrijf van Albert Heijn. We waren daar om ze te vragen hoe ze er in de toekomst voor zullen zorgen dat ze geen producten van gestolen Palestijns land meer verkopen. 

Hun antwoord? In het kort: dat doen we al. Maar hoe komt het dan dat we nog steeds Israëlische producten in de winkel vinden, waarvan we weten dat de kans groot is dat die producten deels uit de illegale nederzettingen komen? 

Dus we komen binnenkort bij ze terug! Volg ons op instagram om op de hoogte te blijven.

Lees hieronder onze hele vraag en het antwoord van Ahold Delhaize. 

vraag 

The European Court of Justice established already in 2019 that products originating from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories may not be labeled as “Made in Israel”. In 2024, the International Court of Justice concluded that Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territories is unlawful and affirmed that all states have a duty not to assist in maintaining this illegal situation. Consequently, in the Netherlands, the government is preparing legislation banning trade with illegal settlements, based on a parliamentary motion adopted in September 2025.

At the same time, multiple independent investigations have found that Israeli agricultural suppliers do not distinguish between products originating from within Israel’s internationally recognized borders and those from illegal settlements. This makes traceability effectively impossible when getting products from Israeli producers and distributors. 

However, Ahold Delhaize, specifically its subsidiary Albert Heijn, is still not auditing its suppliers from Israel, because it considers Israel a “Low Risk” country, despite obvious high risk indicators.. Not only can’t Albert Heijn guarantee that it’s not selling produce from illegal settlements, it’s extremely likely that produce from illegal settlements does end up in its supermarkets. 

Given this legal and factual context, and in light of Ahold Delhaize’s own stated commitments to human rights and responsible sourcing, (1) what concrete steps has the company already taken, and (2) what steps will it take going forward, to ensure full compliance with international, European law in its supply chain by auditing its Israeli suppliers? Differently put: How will Ahold Delhaize make sure that in the future no food from stolen Palestinian land will be sold in Albert Heijn? And will Ahold Delhaize until then suspend sourcing from all Israeli suppliers to make sure it commits to these international legal frameworks & its own compliance?

Antwoord 

Claude Sarrailh - CEO Europe & Indonesia, Member Management Board Ahold Delhaize:

"First and foremost, it's very important for us we've been sourcing that our brands comply with applicable laws of the different countries where we operate, including, of course, in the Netherlands.

We have very strong guidelines concerning Israeli settlements and occupied territories. So it's very important for us to work out all these occupied territories with suppliers who are not operating over there.

Furthermore, our brands have established due diligence procedure to identify suppliers that may be subject to sanctions and ensure we don't work with them. Regarding products which are coming from Israel, we simply apply regulation on signaling as well all the product which would come from Israel. It's not that we have many, but we have some. And they are definitely labeled in the stores as products coming from Israel. And we have the due diligence in order to ensure that it's not coming from occupied territory within Palestine."