After Aldi, Kaufland is now also announcing its intention to forego meat at the lowest level in the future.
That doesn't go far enough for animal rights activists.
Neckarsulm - The discounter Aldi announced only a few days ago that it would no longer sell meat from the lowest levels in the future for reasons of animal welfare.
Now Kaufland is following suit.
The timing of this revolution in the meat market is neither accidental nor undisputed: Both farmers and animal rights activists see the move critically - albeit for different reasons.
Aldi & Kaufland: From now on no pork from the lowest husbandry level
Kaufland announced on Thursday that, with immediate effect, it would no longer offer fresh pork where animal husbandry only met the minimum legal requirements.
The retail chain refers to the division into four levels:
Stable housing in level 1 only fulfills legal requirements.
The animals never leave the stable.
Level 2 “Stable Housing Plus” offers them a little more space.
Only from level 3 "outside climate" can the animals get out into the fresh air, from the fourth level "premium" they can also run outside.
Organic meat, for example, falls into this category.
Kaufland will only sell meat of level 2 or higher in the future - with the exception of imports of pork fillets.
Lidl announced the same step, the discounter, like Kaufland, belongs to the Schwarz Group.
Reaction to Aldi: That's why the change at Kaufland is no coincidence
It is no coincidence that Kaufland is now announcing the change. From the second half of 2021, a new regulation will apply in retail, which is intended to provide more transparency for customers. In future, pork products will have to be labeled with husbandry. Consumers can thus see at a glance how the animals were kept and can adjust their purchasing decision accordingly. That will make for a big change in the industry, says Patrick Klein from the Animal Welfare Initiative. "While at the beginning of the year around 80 percent of the pork came from level 1, 'in the foreseeable future' 60 to 70 percent of the offer will come from level 2 and another 10 to 15 percent from levels 3 and 4," says Klein.
Kaufland was also under pressure due to an announcement by the competition: Aldi recently announced as the first discounter that it would switch completely to meat levels 3 and 4 from 2030, and level 1 is to drop out of the program from 2025.
The discounter has a market share of 24 percent in fresh meat and thus has a great influence in the industry.
As early as July 2021, Rewe only wants to offer meat from level 2, Edeka claims to be removing level 1 from its range for the short term and level 2 for the long term.
Ban on cheap meat: Animal rights activists criticize, farmers remain critical
Aldi’s announcement initially attracted a great deal of applause.
Bavaria's Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber, for example, praised Aldi’s ban on cheap meat.
For animal rights activists, however, the step taken by Kaufland, Aldi and Co. does not go far enough.
A spokeswoman for the association said that level 2 does not yet guarantee standards that are acceptable from an animal welfare point of view.
Levels 3 or 4 are required for this.
The farmers' association is also skeptical of the announcement, but for different reasons.
"I am shocked when Aldi, as the inventor of the discount, goes on the offensive and announces a maximum increase in animal welfare standards," said Farmer President Walter Heidl.
The background to the statement is the fear that the farmers' association would then have a lower profit margin - and thus bear the costs of this change.
Elsewhere, animal welfare has already been improved by law: the killing of male chicks will be prohibited from 2022. So far, up to 45 million animals are killed every year because they cannot lay eggs and cannot cook enough meat.