Albert Heijn Pure and Honoust assortment of Ecological products

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn, market leader in The Netherlands, launched an own premium brand range of “Pure and Honoust” products. (In Dutch: Puur & Eerlijk). Products have been cultivated, manufactured and purchased with respect to the people, animals, nature and environment.

Albert Heijn Puur & Eerlijk Sustainable Categories

The Albert Heijn Puur & Eerlijk range consists of five categories. These five categories are: AH Puur & Eerlijk biological food, fairtrade, sustainable fishing, free-range animals and ecological products. All the product groups are grouped under one brand name and one type of, environmental-friendly, packaging. The sustainability of the AH Puur & Eerlijk products are guaranteed by independent external organizations.

Purely ecological
The new range of AH Puur & Eerlijk ecological products save the environment, reducing the packaging to a minimum and the building material are selected to be disolved earlier.

Two Ecological Certificates

The AH Puur & Eerlijk ecological brand have 2 ecological certificates: Nordic Swan and De Blauwe Engel (“The Blue Angel”). Both international certificates work together with the "Nederlandse Milieukeur", but have stronger regulations.

Regulations De Blauwe Engel Certificate
De Blauwe Engel is the German alternative of Nordic Swan. This quality mark also judges if the product is less damaging to the environment. The quality mark is one of the oldest and most famous ecoloical quality marks, founded back in 1978. The knowledge based is on the years of experience can be seen in the checks and strong regulations. Just like Nordic Swan the products with the quality mark of De Blauwe Engel save the environment.

Conditions Nordic Swan quality brand
An ecological product with Nordic Swan logo states that this products is one of the most environmental friendly products possible. The conditions to obtain a Nordic Ecolabel look at raw materials, production, materials and even the life cycle of the products. The production, quality and the functionality need to cumply high environmental standards. These criteria differ per group of products.
Source text and pictures: http://www.ah.nl/artikel?trg=assortiment/article.inleiding.ecologisch

Fresh market concept Marqt in the city centre of Amsterdam

After the opening of the first Marqt store in the city centre of Amsterdam, this new retail chain recenlty opened the doors of the second ecological supermarket, this time in Haarlem. Marqt is a new retail concept where real food is the central focus.

They have 5 basic principles in their formula: the real food is original, made with respect for the environment, real fresh, made with passion and tastes good.

The partners are selected under these criteria, all professionals with heart for their products and businesses. The products mainly come from the region and because of the selection of their providers the products directly come the Marqt supermarkets without loosing anything of their freshness.

In the design of the fresh market you can see a lot of wood, metal, stone and the colours black and white, every material is choosen because of the sustainability. The fresh produce are presented in wooden boxes. Central in the store you can see a kitchen island and the fresh square with meat, fish and cheese. Next to the fresh produce this fresh market offers a wide range of prepared meal solutions.

When you are visiting the city of Amsterdam or Haarlem this new concept is for sure worth a visit.