Lidl sets new standards in the food industry.
The packaging of unhealthy food should look completely different in the future.
Dortmund – Lidl is breaking new ground in marketing and wants to make a contribution to promoting healthy eating.
The discounter is the first German food retailer to stop advertising unhealthy food for children.
But the company leaves three exceptions open.
Lidl is changing its own brand packaging – healthy eating is the overarching goal
From March 1st, the discounter Lidl has committed itself to follow the strategy of promoting healthy eating with deeds.
Lidl no longer wants to advertise own-brand products with a high sugar, fat or salt content to children.
Unhealthy foods for children are therefore gradually being packaged differently.
Specifically, the change means that the packaging should no longer be designed in a children's look, as RUHR24 reports.
Products with comic figures or toys for children are therefore taboo.
The company is thus following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The packaging can only be made attractive for children if the products meet the WHO criteria for healthy food.
This means that Lidl is also indirectly obliged to adapt food to the WHO content specifications, as the discounter Aldi has now announced.
Lidl changes food advertising – because of “rampant malnutrition with sometimes fatal consequences”
However, there are also three exceptions to the marketing rules for children's products.
The Lebensmittelzeitung
reports that campaign items for high-volume events such as Christmas, Easter and Halloween can still be advertised for children
.
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Lidl wants to become a pioneer when it comes to healthy eating (symbolic photo).
© Michael Gstettenbauer/Imago
In addition to changed packaging advertising, the plant-based range and whole grain products are also to be promoted.
Lidl sees great potential in the vegan own brand "Vemondo" in particular to make a contribution to "conscious nutrition, more sustainable consumption and a healthier lifestyle".
Consumer advocates generally react positively to Lidl's marketing initiative.
The organization Foodwatch considers the procedure to be long overdue.
Because due to "rampant malnutrition among young people, sometimes with fatal consequences", more retailers should commit to the scientific recommendations of the WHO.
Lidl changes food packaging - discounter goes beyond legal regulations
So far, supermarkets and discounters have only had a voluntary self-commitment for food advertising.
According to this, no ingredients should be advertised in foods that are not considered part of a balanced diet.
The age limit for advertising regulation is currently 14 years.
Lidl, on the other hand, has opted for an age limit of 16 with its package of measures "in order to also include the target group of young people," the company told the
Lebensmittelzeitung
.
The introduction of modified product packaging for private labels is to be completed by the end of 2025.
Consumer advocates have been calling for a fundamental ban on advertising sweets for a long time.
The Central Association of the German Advertising Industry and the German Confectionery Association strictly reject this demand.
Rather, they advocate improved media and nutritional education in childhood and adolescence.
List of rubrics: © Michael Gstettenbauer/Imago