Food awareness organisation, ProVeg International, has welcomed today’s announcement by Lidl in the Netherlands to permanently reduce prices on plant-based meat and dairy substitutes to make them equal or lower than their animal-based equivalents.
Lidl also announced today that it is the first supermarket to introduce partly plant-based minced meat, consisting of 60% minced beef and 40% pea protein, to motivate customers to lower their environmental impact. Half of Dutch citizens eat minced beef every week.
Jasmijn de Boo, global CEO of ProVeg, welcomed the move as a “hugely significant shift” in a major supermarket’s approach to food system change.
“We are delighted that Lidl is choosing to actively promote plant-based foods by both reducing the prices of the products and by creating a blended minced meat that cuts the CO2 of fully minced meat. Much work is being done by supermarkets to encourage the purchase of plant-based food but this move by Lidl in the Netherlands represents a hugely significant shift in the way supermarkets approach food system change.
“Shifting to more plant-based diets is vital if we are to successfully stabilise CO2 emissions and halt habitat and biodiversity loss around the world. Supermarkets play a huge role here and Lidl has shown what can be done to encourage this shift. We urge other supermarket chains to compete with Lidl with their promotion of plant-based foods.”
A survey carried out by ProVeg in 2023 found that the likelihood of people buying plant-based food over their animal-based equivalents increases dramatically when the prices of the plant-based products are cheaper. Earlier this year, another survey commissioned by ProVeg found that plant-based meat and dairy products are now cheaper overall than conventional meat and dairy products in nearly all Dutch supermarkets.
Lidl has the ambition to increase plant-based protein sales to 60% by 2030. The minced meat mix is available in all Lidl stores in the Netherlands from today in a package of 300 grams for €2.29.
Martine van Haperen, health and nutrition expert at Proveg Netherlands, said: “Lidl is taking two important steps. Price is the main obstacle for people to choose plant-based more often. The move to make plant-based products the same price or cheaper than meat and dairy removes that obstacle. Also, not everyone wants to eat meat substitutes or legumes. By introducing a hybrid product, simply on the meat shelf, they really appeal to the carnivore. They don’t even have to change their consumption patterns. This is a valuable addition that really gives Lidl the opportunity to influence the protein ratio.”
