Aldi surprisingly lowers prices for minced meat and steaks – other supermarkets are likely to react

Created: 07/05/2022 05:03

By: Thomas Schmidtutz

Aldi branch: The discounter heralds a new round of prices for fresh meat.

© Imago/Michael Gstettenbauer

Because of the high inflation, more and more consumers limit themselves.

This also puts pressure on business with meat.

The discount giant Aldi now wants to boost sales again.

Food - Just in time for the hot phase of the barbecue season, the discount giant Aldi surprisingly reduced the prices for fresh meat on Monday.

A company spokesman said on behalf of Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd in Essen.

Only in the spring did the two sister companies raise the prices for sausage, meat and dairy products significantly.

Now the discounter is taking back part of the increases.

Aldi is considered a pacesetter in the industry.

In view of the latest step, other retailers such as Lidl, Kaufland, Edeka or Rewe could now follow suit with price reductions.

Aldi: Minced meat, sausages and steaks are becoming significantly cheaper again

The price reductions are noticeable in the wallet, especially during the barbecue season: the price for 500 grams of mixed minced meat fell from 4.59 euros to 3.99 euros.

Bratwurst from pork in the 400 gram pack was reduced from 3.49 to 2.99 euros.

The price for a kilo of beef steaks fell from 27.99 euros to 24.99 euros.

But consumers can also make good use of relief.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, meat had become particularly expensive in the first five months of this year.

In May 2022, meat was 16.5 percent more expensive on average than a year earlier.

For comparison: The prices for all groceries had risen by 11.1 percent in this period.

But the upward trend seems to have been broken for the time being.

"After there was initially a significant increase in the market at the beginning of the year, we are currently seeing base prices falling again, especially for pork," reported Aldi.

This is not least due to the still high overcapacities in Germany.

Inflation: Germans eat less meat

There are a number of reasons for the overcapacity in meat production.

Meat consumption in Germany has been declining for some time.

According to the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food, it was 55 kilograms last year.

Ten years earlier it was 7.8 kilograms more per person per year.

Instead, the business with vegan and vegetarian meat substitutes is booming.

In addition, the high inflation is apparently spoiling the desire for sausages, chops and steaks for many people at the moment.

"Despite the good barbecue weather, demand is not really picking up yet," observed the agricultural information service AMI.

According to a representative Forsa survey published a few weeks ago, 42 percent of people in Germany have reduced their meat and fish consumption in order to cook more economically.

In addition, the previously flourishing export business of the German meat industry is still suffering from the outbreak of African swine fever.

also read

Gas crisis in Germany: New law could now give consumers a nasty surprise

Forms for property tax 2022: Elster has to pay attention to a number of things

The bottom line is that the meat industry in Germany lost further sales last year.

The larger companies with at least 20 employees still made 40.6 billion euros in sales.

That was 8.8 percent less than in 2020 and even 11.2 percent less than in the record year 2019, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.