there is a lot that can be done to. make up your mind. and today is a very polarized world there are still some things we can safely say unite us like food we all have to eat but we're only that simple who sells it and for how much is

a deeply disputed topic when it comes to food can cheap be good our focus this week on made. now here's something i've heard a 1000000 times but have trouble taking to heart you get what you pay for meaning the more you spend on something the better it'll be but that doesn't stop me looking for a bargain and potentially regretting it later but some sellers will have you believe you don't have to compromise like l.d. the german supermarket chain with thousands of stores all around the world my colleague chris down for save us went to find out how that could possibly be true. as one of the world's largest supermarket chains actually it's 2 chains not an easy route and they both pride themselves on that rock bottom prices and high quality product how does audi do it. it's 3 30 in the morning and all of compost is already at work he manages an ugly

north distribution center as big as a football stadium. the company rarely lets t.v. crews come to visit this is a rare exception. trucks will be loading here soon and everything has to go very fast it was the same yesterday afternoon and yesterday evening when the goods were assembled for distribution and keep up the pace this morning to. front load his truck and sets off on the 1st of 3 round trips today his 1st stop is the closest i'll do store 20 kilometers away. there are more than $10000.00 of these around the world. and they all get daily deliveries that stock rooms are small on purpose in order to keep down costs.

it's now 6 am store manager and father john bussey 5 colleagues have to restock as much as a 3rd of the shell. every morning the store opens in just one hour. i just i like to go to the gym when i have time but working here is fun and i automatically get lots of exercise. the staff tell me they get paid more than the average for the sector but the hourly chain has come under criticism for its employees heavy workload and long hours. $900.00 giza heads operations for the region in germany only stores report more revenue per square meter shop space than any other discounter he also roasts its own coffee. and started very early in the company's history it was probably hard to convince suppliers to sell coffee to what was then called the. coffee it's a really fun so they decided to produce their own coffee coffee is about and that's

been very successful. for some well known brands don't want to be seen to have their goods sold at super low prices at discount supermarkets. to get around that problem he sells a brand name goods under its own labels. this is where the other story began in essence the 1st store its 2 founders opened is still known as number one. mother had already run her own small corner shop then in 1945 her 2 sons cottontail obliged opened their 1st supermarket. this used to be the standard look unadorned pretty basic these 2 staff members met one of the brothers the pioneers of no frills grocery retailing. they just lay of howard on the floor and then lot more pallets with cans

of tuna or pineapples or peaches or whatever was available on the market at that time of year. and they just piled them high. price labels cut open the front of the cardboard boxes and that was that. skinny and i wish i knew mr albert many many years ago he would do his shopping here every fortnight and he would always take the rejects the dented hands and sat 1. 100 going on until the old place came along no retailer sold goods out of piles of cardboard boxes at super low prices with a tiny profit margin per item all that coupled with low overheads and higher efficiency was a recipe for success. karl until i ran out of the together overseeing its rapid growth until 1961 then the brothers parted ways each setting up his own company for 2 logos are very similar to you headed out

of the north. 2 decades ago both companies started setting up shop in foreign markets between them they now have more than $10000.00 super markets around the world. in recent years more attention has been paid to the design of the book is getting more sophisticated but that doesn't scare away the regulars if i live nearby that's one reason and then there's the range of goods and the prices you pause and. some things i'd buy it how the other things i wouldn't buy it. by most things i'll do the less they don't have something. i want to find out more about the cost of the modernization program i'm invited to an off the record chat at the headquarters of the not in essence the privately held company never reveals much about it in a workings and doesn't give me any numbers. what is public knowledge is that in

2018 it posted an operating loss in germany for the very 1st time reportedly because of high investment costs. tribal leader has more branches the competition and the pricing pressure of fierce. he is famous for its weekly special offers popular products at extra low prices but that's not at the heart of its strategy. we're market leaders when it comes to pricing because our customers always pay the best price on all our items so ruthless top quality at the lowest possible price. gets to rise of course other supermarkets and discount chains also leave your customers with great prices in germany the hottest price was probably over meat pork or chicken can end up cheaper than common or garden vegetables is that compatible with humane animal husbandry concerns shoppers can scan q.r. codes to find out more about the meat processing plants the farms and the livestock

. we aim for transparency customer should know under what conditions animals are bred. we require our suppliers to abide by all the relevant regulations and we check up on them. and. we have a large corporate responsibility department that does regular audits of our suppliers you can meet. in august with. corporate responsibility appears to have become important to know what. it says it receives and answers lots of questions from environmentalists. consumers are becoming more discerning and that's raising pressure on the retailer to show that it takes its responsibility seriously to ensure cheap and also mean humane.

plate last year around 10000 farmers with 5000 tractors made their way from across germany to converge here in the center of berlin they came to protest the government's new policies on the use of fertilizer now those regulations are meant to help protect the groundwater but german farmers say that will affect the harvest and they're furious our reporter karl went to see some of these farmers spoiler alert they're still angry. each of these combine harvesters cuts a 10 metre wide swathe through the fields of rapeseed for most of the year the expensive machines stand idle in the shed but during the harvest they're on the go almost all the time. trucks drive right onto the field to pick up the crop. that's efficient and saves time for the farmer. detail out for employees for people on his 900 hectare farm in eastern germany he

may use high tech machinery but he does not accept the label industrial agriculture . or other reasons of i reject the idea of i'm the son of a farmer and what we do nowadays is not industrial i don't think you can ever describe farming as an industrial interest i would call this modern agriculture it's a kind of solution but. once the crop is harvested fertilizer is spread on the field right away and another crop is planted. a regulation specifies how much fertilizer may be used so as to limit the amount of harmful nitrate in groundwater. in order to meet these requirements farmers have to use expensive measuring devices. the authorities check on compliance and penalties for violations can be severe.

lover is angry about the fertilizer regulation he says it makes it harder for him to farm the way he thinks is right. and every year the amount he's allowed to use is reduced. trail if that means a lower yield. but then the following year the yield is even smaller. we don't defend that yield is the basis for calculate. the amount of nitrogen fertilizer for the year after that. give it up at all minus 20 percent over and over again even if it's like giving somebody 20 percent less food every year on the books and video footage if that's how it works our fields are slowly starving. at some point we'll have no yield at all. farmers in the european union receive subsidies from brussels and deter love for his case that amounts to more than $200000.00 euros

a year but it's a gift he says he'd rather not receive he says crops should command higher prices food is simply too cheap with that machine equipment is getting more and more expensive as is diesel labor costs are rising as well of course that's a major factor in farming and we don't want to be left behind. while the rest of society earns more and more we farmers are less and less we're always being accused of demanding subsidies but we don't want them we want fair prices and that means at least 30 percent more for grain milk and pork then we could do without subsidies. no soup and so on if it's. teacher allow for his neighbor is also under pressure financially a new animal welfare law means he has to upgrade living conditions for his picks. to fund each case and his employee catarina who may keep the south who've given birth confined like this for 28 days so that they can't crush or otherwise injure

their piglets. now each stall has to be enlarged that means there won't be room for as many cells in total. employs 2 people to look after the pigs now he'll probably have to let one of them go. as is a reasonable make up it looks like we'll have to give up pig farming this shed was built for 185. we now have $120.00 and i think they each have a decent amount of space to if we have to rebuild and reduce the number even further it won't be economically viable like the following i can't do with just one employee what about weekends off and holidays i need at least 2 but i can't afford to pay too if we don't have enough sobs it just doesn't add up all together but it's so cut her greenhorn it is set to lose her jobs as situation death his operation to the new regulations on animal welfare.

there's been lots of rain lately and deter loafers combine harvesters have to stop earlier in the day. that's an annoyance for the farmer but what really makes him mad are all the regulations but he says are forcing him to change the way he farms are going to be lighted so far we've heard from the producers ad sellers and on the other side of the equation there's us the consumers it's our business they want and supermarkets are willing to go to great lengths to get it undercutting each other in the process what we all have to ask ourselves is what are the consequences of these price wars. meat milk fruit and vege who has the lowest prices every cent counts competition is

fierce among a handful of retail chains that dominate the global market. the world's biggest retailer is the american company wal-mart revenues this year are expected to amount to around $470000000000.00 euros heavyweights among discount stores include germany's group which owns the legal and chains with estimated revenues this year of 120000000000 euros followed by algae with 100000000000. in order to sell their goods cheaply retailers often put producers under pressure if you don't give it to me for such and such a price you're around. it's not just discount stores that push down the prices they pay so do more upmarket chains like $80.00 and they. if their suppliers won't sell to them for less they'll even kick out huge corporations such as nestle coca-cola and unilever. small farmers sometimes find their deliveries of fresh produce turned down agreed price is reduced retroactively or payments delayed by the retail

chains tricks like these have brought farmers out onto the streets in protest. but the retailers hit back they say there's no escaping fears international competition and in any case many shoppers can't afford to pay more for their purchases. if you ask consumers most say they would be willing to pay more for meat and milk but when it comes down to it a majority still choose the cheapest items. scandals over factory farming and exploitative working conditions on farms and in slaughterhouses have made cheap food a political issue. what's the answer break up the big retail chains have governments dictate prices. but that sounds like socialism. an act stricter laws to protect workers animals and the environment that could raise

prices. and equitable system of production and distribution is impossible given the pricing power of major retailers it's a power struggle and the outcome is anybody's guess. if you are like me use all of oil in basically everything it's affordable it's meant to be healthy plus it's a key staple in the so-called mediterranean diet which apparently helps you live longer consumers love it but many of those who make the oil can't seem to make a living from it the world's biggest all of oil producer is but the all of all farmers say being at the top doesn't mean much in the face of shrinking profits one farmer and i'm the c.e.o. whose family has made all of oil for a century so it upon himself to take his production into the future. khan is passionate about growing olives his trees grow on 100 hectares of land some of them are over 100 years old. they don't start in with this olive grove.

but you know these trees were planted by my grandfather in the 1920 s. . and since then he's restructured the olive groves so that he can live from selling all of the oil he planted the trees closer together and started watering them which used to be unusual now me again when alice harvests a 1000000 kilos of all of the year between october and february but their value is going down he said there but if you know the price of olive oil has fallen a lot that our profit margin is so small that many olive groves are no longer profitable or you want to can not on public. at today's market prices a kilo of the finest spanish olive oil only fetches 2 euros in the country 4 years ago it would sell for twice that like almost all the all of growers in the area began used to send all of his all of to one of the many cooperatives in the town of

plenty. but with so many other farmers doing the same his oil was getting lost in the mix which he found disheartening. i decided to return to my roots grandfather pressed the oil himself and sold it directly that's what my family and i wanted to. pass 2 years ago they decided to market the oil themselves in nearby. vega and miguel's brother take care of the business side julio posts ads on facebook and google at 1st they were only for the spanish market. yet i had no idea about e-commerce i had no idea how to sell a product online. it was an adventure and a challenge but as a. team we managed to put this beautiful project together we wanted the. business is getting better and better they've employed 2 people to stay in direct contact

with the customers at the beginning of the year they started discussing which new avenues they could take and decided they would expand into all of europe while spain was in coronavirus lock down the warehouse in plant to hania was receiving more and more orders it was funny we just wondered what would happen if we started taking orders from abroad. and it was an even better outcome than any of them had expected you don't get it but it was unbelievable i think i mean within 3 months 30 percent of our orders were coming from elsewhere in europe and in the book and have been especially from germany. money. the direct marketing worked out well but they're still not in control of all aspects miguel still stores his oil in the cooperatives tanks and he needs help extracting the oil from his all lives. more still not completely

independent from the cooperative we need help from them to press the olives we can do that without them and we need help filling the bottles. but he hopes to soon be fully independent again is already making more money than before the customers can buy quality all of oil directly from farmers in under luciana at a price that can compete with supermarket brands the new business model has already begun to bear fruit. and before we let you go it's confession time for me i. am terrible with plants so i one likely ever to own any kind of weekend garden house or allotment but for many people these gardens are a source of pure pride and joy this week we handed our orloff krieger a pair of hedge trimmers and told him to go wild he may have taken it literally

took one sec one sec this is all has to be trimmed the allotment laws are judge sauls for same talk talk talk talk talk talk. it came up on my hair gets away from my height got a c. it's ok how he's doing it all wrong i look. at the c.e.o.'s of i don't know what he thought but why don't you just to see if you're much better it had to move on that it's just a catholic. you

can find a lot months all over the world and london paris moscow everywhere. these are this one is 100 years code i was in 1000 and it's a pretty year so off the mall. it was. really lovely red cherries. some sherry's. did. have some things off much shouldn't have been grabbing the shops night as. early as. this main stroebel. yes but

if i have to talk to eric out because of well this shouldn't be that. much of a damn constant kill what will you do with so many cherries and gooseberries and all the rest it's a lot eat it all. you really want to know yes of course. i make jack and they preserve and i freeze stuff to eat in the winter this is do you know how good a store tastes in the winter. good i've got i can't imagine what i was for at that forest gatto with homegrown storm breeze and cherries little course. but my huts the most important thing i couldn't live without was house by sickness conviction. we have always saw me cutting the hatch do you think i have talent

saunderson talent yes really thank god really and if you want to do it even better i can show you how. i can. be often been a son's eyes and i often walk past gardens like these and wondered what kind of people and they appeal to you for the strange and. yet spies now i know this is just wonderful to get away from it all right from work in the office and steam on. the system for it's so relaxing. soon there will be pouncey is growing over that or was it potatoes or the harvest of my planters.

seems like olaf has a thing or 2 to learn about plant. just like me maybe erica can teach us both to grow our own food that's all from this edition of made i hope you enjoy the show by for now let's see let's talk.

and you you know yes yes we can hear you and i last 2 years german chancellor i want to bring you an angle a man called as you've never heard her before surprised you also would want to support the buddhist medical relief what moves i want to also talk to people who followed her along the way i admire those and critics alike ours. the world's most

powerful woman shaping public it's just the metal floss stuff. every day comes for us and for our pleasure. global ideas is on its way to bring you more conservation plays how do we make cities screamer how can we protect animals and their habitats what to do with the lower east. we can make a difference by choosing reforestation over the forest recycling over disposable smart new solutions for steam said no worries the earth is truly unique and we know that uniqueness is one allows us to live and survive good my dio's be a modern mental soup to global 3000 on t.w. and go mom. we're all set. to go

beyond the obvious places that will move. as we take on the world. where it all about the stories that matter to you. and if it does something. good to see what ever it takes if you are running. the system up to spinsterhood nothing w. . made for mines. small acts can inspire. the people making. going to africa fantastic right. join them as they set out to save the environment learn from one another and work together for a better future. thanks to you all for tuning in for good.

on d. w. . this is the w. news live from berlin the u.s. house of representatives begins debate on impeaching donald trump a 2nd time after last week's deadly capital riot democrats and some senior republicans to say he is a danger to the nation must be removed the president is denying allegations that he incited the violence. also on the program the largest mafia trial in over 30 years begins in italy with more than 300 defendants set to take the stand please speak to

the informants risking his life to put the mobsters behind. germany's health minister says the country won't be able to lift its coronavirus lockdown at the start of february the government is backing stricter travel rules in a bid to bring down infection numbers. as welcome to the program us president omar trump is on the verge of becoming the 1st leader of the united states to be impeached twice the house of representatives is in session to move forward with a vote to impeach the president several key with publicans now say they will back the move trump or face a single charge of incitement of insurrection over the storming of the capitol building by his supporters last week he denies that he encouraged encouraged the

violence. let's go straight to washington well burd chief paul is standing by in his what are you hearing how will this vote go today. well it is expected sometimes in the also noon in a couple of follows that the house will officially vote to impeach donald trump for the 2nd time because the democrats still have enough votes votes to do that but unlike his previous impeachment and this time they are all republicans who are also will vote in favor of this impeachment as for now we know about 5 republicans who have openly stated their stance to impeach president trump for his action inciting the storming of the capital last wednesday well if the vote goes that way what are the next steps then. yeah well this is assumption that the president will be impeached the articles will be sent to the senate to start

the impeachment trial but the expectation is that this trial would only take place after joe biden is in office and that rises some concerns because biden really wants to get moving on his political agenda he wants to put out a new ad code relief package and after all he has to confirm his cabinet and if the trial begins once he is an office all that will be put on hold. that's also talk about security we're seeing pictures today of the world looks like hundreds of members of the national guard inside the competition patrolling and also resting there on the floor tell us about those. yeah how it's years in washington it's really feels like living in a fortress i mean there are 15000 feds there is police everywhere police from the

neighboring states the city's city really is preparing for the worse and you can feel that pillow see if the speaker of the house also has installed metal detectors at the hollis chamber something actually which many republicans didn't once so these see washington d.c. is getting ready but what is also concerning and we have to keep that in mind is that all the 50 state capitals and the state how is are being targeted by trump supporters as well and the fear is that the focus being so much on washington that they will be very very vulnerable over the next couple of days. as washington bureau chief in a spalding thank you eunice. take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today the

u.s. has carried out the 1st federal execution of a woman in nearly 7 decades lisa montgomery was put to death by lethal injection in indiana and indiana prison shortly after the supreme court gave the go ahead in 2004 montgomery killed a pregnant woman and stole her baby. russian opposition leader alexei navalny says he plans to return home to moscow this despite new efforts to jail him for allegedly violating his suspended sentence of only has been recovering in germany after being poisoned with a nerve agent denies responsibility. a rare comic book cover featuring the belgian boy detective tintin is going under the hammer the blue lotus by the artist is expected to sell for up to 3000000 euros original tintin memorabilia is also being auctioned in paris later this week.

now the largest mafia trial in over 3 decades has started in italy the defendants include more than $350.00 suspected members of one of the world's most feared organized crime groups in their anger out there which used of offenses dating back to the $990.00 s. that include murder drug trafficking extortion and money laundering didn't use much sunda spoke to the lead prosecutor in the case and also to a mobster turned informant who now fears for his life. he has to move quickly the chief prosecutor of new connect with t.n.t. has powerful enemies illusion number one mafia hunter is leading the fight against the notorious calabrian network then that i get to know well many. there are men of the internet and get there within the public administration by attempt to manage it in whole or in part trying to succeed in dominating not only on the economic level but also on the administrative and political level.

teddy has been fighting them for more than 30 years and he has been preparing a strong message to send to the calabrian families and the public. over the next 2 years more than $350.00 mafiosi and accomplices will take this stand in the biggest mafia trial in decades here and especially build a bunker courtroom set up to accommodate them together with hundreds of lawyers and witnesses the family's reach and influence go far beyond. over the years its business model has evolved from fighting bloody wars in the streets to more sophisticated financial crime. scene that i'm getting now operates in the shadows for example by importing tons of cocaine from latin america and quietly buying power and influence over europe this and their twisted but strong sense of family are the main reasons why it's so hard to fight the family clans we haven't who are tells us now working with prosecutors he was raised to become

a powerful us. that if you start with guns as a child i make you shoot. if you carry guns and you're a kid and it's all a game to you. the kids have toyed guns but your guns are real you're not afraid of being beaten but of disappointing those who are training you when i've been to. smuggle drugs extorted people and even participated in murders but after the birth of his 2nd child he decided this life was no longer for him and turned against his own family. when it became known that ambushed me twice within 12 hours the 1st time i managed to escape the 2nd time i was armed and returned fire 3 people they tried to kill me several times and set fire to my wife's shop since then when i've been to has helped put hundreds of muffin you'll see behind bars he welcomes the efforts of prosecutors like but he is not the only one worried and

trying it i will fight back. but if i understood that if they knock me down all this great work and this great team will stop there are thousands and thousands of people who believe in me and therefore i am the last hope. so this also gives me courage and helps we have to carry on what ever it takes if i pulled out today i would feel like a coward. while this trial won't free calabria from the clutches of the mafia it is a real chance to bring attention to the cause of suffering for millions of people not just here in italy. germany is currently under lockdown until the end of january looks like that will go on for longer speaking in parliament health minister confirmed reports that blocked all measures would be extended into next

month but he said germany had ordered enough vaccines to immunize everyone against covert 19 this year so pace of fascination so far was due to supply problems according to spawn would soon be overcome that's listening to some of what he said . if you're leaving yes today in january 2021 we are experiencing a time of contrasts on the one hand we are in one of the hardest phases of the pandemic behind the daily figures there are people's feet families in mourning on the other hand never in history has a safe exene become available so quickly against a new virus that is a great success and a german success. in health in asean sponsored beaking that the same time span and many of his colleagues in the you have been criticized for the slow rollout of the immunization campaign throughout the book that's been

to brussels correspondent. how are your health ministers defending their strategy for the oxidation. with only 2 vaccines approved so far by the european medical agency of course scarcity is something that ministers point towards but there's also a number of other aspects and one in particular i launch about today from officials is that pfizer for instance insisted that they do not want to be made reliable for any problems that may occur with their vaccine during the negotiations between the commission when they ordered preorders vaccines and that is something that caused also major delays is what officials told me today overall not of course many say in hindsight things could have been done differently but with the information the commission had at the time a member states or rather happy what they have achieved and that there is enough vaccine for all of europe. about still greece for example is pushing for an e.u.

wide certificate for all those who have been vaccinated what does that all about. well it's quite interesting and it's an idea that's rapidly gaining ground in europe greece of course once to boost their tourism industry bring the aviation industry back into the air but there's also other member states for instance you have any of that already signed an agreement with the w.h.o. for a so-called ditch toll immunity certification even invited finland to join now the problem of course with such a difficult is that there is no we the more equality once there is you deny access for instance to certain flights to members of the public that are not vaccinated but nevertheless the debate has started but what the greek prime minister emphasized is that he wants a common standard a common approach and that is something that a number of member states would support that there is

a common approach if we're talking about such a certificate. it looks like america's government might extend to nationwide lockdown yet again despite rising figures during lockdowns at least well into february and possibly even further is this approach common across europe well dad i have a long list here of countries that are about are following similar steps you have france considering an earlier lockdown you have the number of netherlands that they extend their lockdown you have italy that extends their state of emergency even until april even belgium which has a lockdown lite i would say with shops still open it has been extending the measures even into march so a lot of movement on that front with the knowledge that the vaccination will only have an impact in 2 to 3 months time so the expression that there is light at the end of the tunnel despite all of this is something we hear a lot these days in brussels still pretty far away that lies thank you very much

government as our correspondent in brussels. time now for a quick look at some of the other developments in the pandemic british prime minister boris johnson says he wants to start a round the clock vaccination program as soon as possible he says 247 vaccine that vaccinations could begin as soon as there was adequate supply after a delay china is allowing a team from the world health organization to travel to the city of war to begin investigating how the pandemic start of that and japan has widened the state of emergency it declared for the tokyo area to 7 more regions the spread of covert 19 is causing fresh doubts on the capital's ability to host the olympic games this summer that's it from me other news team i'll have an update for you at the top of the out don't go away though up next is my colleague kate ferguson with the business news and don't forget you can always get all the latest news in information's in 30 languages on our website and that's. dot com and we're going to

follow us on twitter and instagram as well as in munich. thanks for joining us for. every journey begins with the 1st step and every language the 1st word illegal. in germany to be sure. why not.