Aldi and Lidl: “Hybrid meat” in the refrigerated shelf - customers need to know that now

Created: 01/11/2022, 07:27 AM

From: Marten Kopf

Aldi, Lidl & Co. - with the "change of posture" Aldi has been focusing on more animal welfare for some time - and is promoting more conscious nutrition.

This is exactly where competitor Lidl is now one step ahead.

The discounter Aldi * is well known for innovative innovations.

As the largest food retailer in the world, the group naturally plays a pioneering role in many business areas.

Not only, but also in terms of animal welfare.

That may sound surprising, after all, there are hardly any other places where so many tons of meat are sold every year as in supermarket branches, despite everything, the rethinking towards better animal welfare continues incessantly.

It was only at the end of last year that Aldi finally put an end to what is unfortunately a common and cruel procedure *, which most customers rarely give a thought to when shopping.

To this end, the plan is to switch to "5D" this year *, which means: In future, every single step of the entire value chain for conventional fresh pork (i.e. birth, rearing, fattening, slaughtering and cutting / processing) will take place in Germany, such as HEIDELBERG24 * reported some time ago.

And although Aldi is leading the way on so many points, perhaps its biggest competitor Lidl is now a small but important step ahead of the top dog - if only by a few days.

Because founder Dieter Schwarz's group, based in Neckarsulm in Baden-Württemberg *, has been focusing on a trend since January that is increasingly affecting the entire industry: namely, the trend towards less meat.

Lidl: “Hybrid meat” for more conscious nutrition

Since January 10, Lidl has been offering food made from meat or sausage of German origin in over 3,200 branches nationwide with - and this is the real highlight - a vegetable content of up to 40 percent in its range. It could justifiably be called a kind of “hybrid meat”. These include wiener sausages with carrots or chicken meat sausage with soy protein. There are also minced meat and beef burger patties with jackfruit. For those who have never heard of the latter in particular: The jackfruit comes from the jackfruit tree, a plant belonging to the mulberry family, which is mainly found in tropical areas.and is particularly valued by vegetarians and vegans in this country because of its similar consistency and taste as an alternative to steak or goulash.

With these very special meat and sausage products, the company claims to support customers who want to reduce their consumption of animal products and their ecological footprint without completely giving up meat.

In addition, the combination of animal protein and vegetable protein should contribute to a more conscious, meat-reduced diet, so the self-set goal.

“Hybrid meat” at Lidl: Aldi Süd is following suit

And what does Aldi do?

Of course, the discounter is following suit - albeit not until a few days later.

At Aldi Süd, for example, salami made from poultry and beef will be on the refrigerated shelves from January 14th, also supplemented with vegetable ingredients.

In fact, the idea is not really new, other retail chains have had very similar products in their range for several years, Rewe and Kaufland * for example.

Lidl's sudden change of heart is surprising, after all, at least Kaufland, like Lidl, belongs to the Schwarz Group.

So you could have made use of the experiences of your colleagues earlier.

In the end, however, the sales figures - in other words: the customers - will of course be decisive.

(mko) * HEIDELBERG24 is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA