Belgian retailers publish 2024 results on Living Wage gaps in banana supply chains
In 2022, five major retailers in Belgium signed a commitment to close the living wage gap in their banana supply chains by the end of 2027.
In 2024, retailers used the IDH Salary Matrix to calculate the living wage gap for 89% of their banana volumes, covering 355 plantations across Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala, and representing 33,232 workers. The average living wage gap for workers not yet earning a living wage was 19.43%, with 17.3% of workers and 53.87% of volumes showing a gap. For the first time, women recorded a marginally lower average gap than men (18.73% vs 19.65%), though a higher proportion of women remain affected overall (26.5% vs 15.6%).
In 2025, retailers shifted their focus to action, with several starting to make voluntary contributions to close gaps, together covering 73.56% of the volumes with a reported gap. Alongside this, retailers invested in data quality through joint verification and supplier training, and began exploring longer-term solutions, including a new social dialogue project in Santa Marta, Colombia, and a gender pay gap study with the Anker Research Institute. Looking ahead, the commitment will move to a cross-border structure covering the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK from 2026.
Read the report in English, please click here
For the French version, click here
For the Spanish version, click here
For the Dutch version, click here