CEO Giles Hurley

Holly Lane

Atherstone

Warwickshire

CV9 2SQ

customer.service@aldi.co.uk

alditeam@clarioncomms.co.uk (media team)

Dear Sir,

We are writing to protest in the strongest possible terms at what we believe is a deliberate attempt by Aldi to conceal the origin of its own brand Medjool dates in order to circumvent a consumer boycott of Israeli products.

The dates, marketed as Specially Selected Medjool Dates, are currently on sale in Aldi stores.

Uncharacteristically for Aldi products, the packaging does not show a place of origin nor does the bar code allow for an easy identification of the originating country as it appears without any numbers.

However, on further investigation, the bar code leads to the Aldi website where the product information clearly identifies the dates as originating in Israel.

We believe that the decision to leave out these two standard pieces of information is a calculated attempt by Aldi to hide the Israeli origin of its dates at a time when mass consumer boycotts are targeting Israel in response to the state’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The move appears all the more cynical in the run up to Ramadan when the consumption of dates by Muslims spikes in observance of their daily fasting regime.

We believe that this is a clear attempt by Aldi to hoodwink Muslims and other people into buying a product they would not otherwise purchase on ethical grounds. Withholding such information is also an attack on consumer choice as it denies consumers the ability to make an informed decision at the supermarket shelves.

We demand that you withdraw all of the offending products from your stores and ensure that in future all products are clearly marked with their country of origin.

Yours faithfully,

Massoud Shadjareh

Chair, Islamic Human Rights Commission