Albert Heijn has opened its electric vehicle charging infrastructure at distribution centres to strategic partners, allowing suppliers and carriers to charge electric trucks while delivering products.
The move marks the first time the Dutch supermarket has made its own charging facilities available to partners. It is designed to speed up the shift to zero-emission transport across the supply chain and reduce CO₂ emissions linked to deliveries.
Suppliers delivering to Albert Heijn distribution centres can now charge on site, removing one of the main barriers to switching to electric trucks. The retailer says this is the next step towards fully emission-free transport to and from its locations.
Albert Heijn has already met its 2025 zero-emission transport targets and is now working towards full emission-free logistics by 2030. Opening charging infrastructure to partners is intended to accelerate that transition across both the Netherlands and Flanders.
The initiative fits within the retailer’s wider supermarket sustainability strategy, where large grocery chains are increasingly using logistics infrastructure and supplier standards to drive Scope 3 emissions reductions across their networks.
Strategic partners Vogelaar Vredehof and Bakker Barendrecht are the first suppliers using the new charging facilities. Albert Heijn says more partners will be added from 2026.
According to the company, the rollout is taking place despite challenges such as grid congestion, limited availability of electric heavy vehicles and complex logistics planning. By offering charging at distribution centres, Albert Heijn aims to reduce downtime for electric trucks and make route planning easier for suppliers.
The supermarket currently supplies 30 zero-emission zones using electric vehicles and delivers to nearly 400 stores with electric trucks every day. Around 25% of Albert Heijn’s total transport trips are now electric.
In addition, 85,000 online orders from Home Shop Centres are delivered emission-free to customers each week. To support growing demand for charging capacity, a new charging plaza has also opened in Zwolle.
Albert Heijn says the approach shows how retailers can actively support suppliers in meeting stricter sustainability requirements. Similar expectations are increasingly being placed on supermarket suppliers as retailers raise environmental standards across logistics and sourcing.
The strategy is also expanding beyond the Netherlands. Since November, Albert Heijn has begun supplying its first store in Belgium with electric vehicles, starting in Mechelen. The retailer plans to extend electric deliveries across Belgium as part of its wider zero-emission transport goal for 2030.
By opening its charging infrastructure to partners, Albert Heijn is positioning its distribution centres as shared hubs for decarbonising grocery logistics, rather than placing the full burden of transition on suppliers alone.
