Fundamental change: the 5D rule will apply to Aldi, Lidl, Rewe and Edeka in the future

Created: 2022-02-09 13:56

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

Supermarkets and discounters are planning a fundamental change in pork.

The 5D rule will soon apply here.

Something should also change with milk.

Munich - Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) announced plans by the traffic light coalition in mid-January to increase the price of pork in order to support pig farmers.

Apparently grocers are now showing the first signs of a change in this direction.

Discounters and supermarkets such as Rewe, Edeka and Aldi want to switch to the so-called 5D rule for pork in the future, but also take further steps, as reported by hna.de *.

According to this, the primary aim is to promote animal welfare and support German agriculture.

5D rule for discounters and supermarkets - "From birth to processing everything in Germany"

But what does the 5D rule actually mean?

Many might ask this question.

Aldi provided a suitable explanation: "The entire value chain for fresh pork - from birth to processing - will take place in Germany." Both Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord should only have pork from German origin from the end of 2022 and thus the 4D rule can be replaced by 5D.

While rearing, fattening, slaughtering and processing will continue to take place in Germany, imports from abroad should also be eliminated.

Means: Only pork from German pigs should be offered.

This is what the fifth D stands for.

Rewe and Penny want to initiate the complete change even earlier than Aldi.

"By the summer of 2022, Rewe and Penny will convert around 95 percent of the conventional fresh pork range to German origin," explained the Rewe Group in a press release in August last year.

At this point, Hans-Jürgen Moog, Head of Purchasing at the Rewe Group, drew attention to the ongoing crisis in German pig farmers.

With the commitment to the 5D rule and the increase in minimum price payments, the company is reaffirming the "commitments for a long-term and sustainable strengthening of domestic agriculture".

The 5D rules have been in effect at the Lidl discount chain since the beginning of 2022. Even a changeover to processed sausage products is to follow.

Specific impact of the 5D rule on prices is still unknown, but most likely the change will bring higher prices in line with the announcement by Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir.

Among other things, because other regulations should apply in addition to the 5D rule.

Supermarkets and discounters want to be guided by "animal welfare" when it comes to meat and milk

As early as 2019, grocers introduced the "four-stage husbandry labeling".

Level 1 "Stable housing" only corresponds to the legal requirements, while there is a little more space in Level 2.

The animals only have more space and contact with fresh air at level 3. At level 4 there is even an outdoor run.

Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord announced their intention to stop selling meat from the first and second tier, i.e. animals from stables, by 2030.

From 2030, only meat of levels 3 and 4 should be offered.

In addition to Aldi, Rewe, Lidl, Edeka and other retailers now also want this rule to apply to their milk range.

Associations such as the German Animal Protection Association, the German Farmers' Association and Greenpeace welcomed the planned steps.

However, criticism came from the consumer organization Foodwatch.

"The announcements by the retail chains do not change the slightest thing about the blatant abuses in animal welfare that still prevail in German agriculture," it said.

Consumers could not heal the "sick system" by resorting to a higher level of husbandry.

What is urgently needed is an "animal health strategy" and legal improvements in animal protection at European level.