Lidl Supermarket to Promote Plant-based Products

According to German press reports, Lidl is planning to sell fewer products containing animal protein in the future, reports Index. The decision is motivated by climate protection and green transition, but the big question is how customers will receive the new policy. It is almost certain that Hungarians will be less happy about the news, as surveys show that they prefer animal-based products.

According to the German news site Bild, Lidl is of the opinion that we do not have another planet and that people should be encouraged to eat in a way that takes environmental considerations into account. They believe that natural resources will only be sufficient for ten billion people if meat consumption is reduced.

The supermarket chain hopes to make a significant difference, not least to its image, and to differentiate itself from its competitors in the market.

To promote plant-based food, Lidl will also run special theme weeks and will offer more plant-based products on the shelves to compensate for animal products, thus encouraging consumers to be more environmentally conscious.

Fortunately, the supermarket chain does not want to give up on meat-eating customers altogether, either, and they say they want to ensure a basic quantity of all foods and products.

However, the question is whether it is the right direction to take of selling fewer animal products in stores. Such a decision could even be counterproductive, as customers who eat meat and animal-based products and are not willing to give it up could easily move to another shop that sells enough of these products.

Hungarian consumers love meat and animal products, and find it very difficult to accept new lifestyles such as vegetarianism, veganism or, more recently, eating insects. The European Union is increasingly promoting the consumption of insects as a source of protein for people. This new lifestyle is called entoveganism, which is of course also based on environmental protection.

However, Hungarians are averse to eating insects. According to a survey by the National Food Chain Safety Office, less than five percent of consumers prefer to eat food made from insects. The proportion of those who resolutely refuse to eat insects is extremely high, at more than 70 percent.

Furthermore, one only has to look at the favorite foods of Hungarians to see that there is a strong meat-eating culture in Hungary.

According to a survey last year by tadam.hu, the two favorite dishes of Hungarians are battered chicken breast fillet and battered pork chops, The survey also showed that only 1.1 per cent of Hungarian households follow a vegan diet, while the proportion of those following a vegetarian diet is slightly higher at 4.4 per cent.

When it comes to meat, Hungarians are clearly not willing to give it up. As other research conducted by the Institute for Human-Environment Transaction at the Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Education and Psychology pointed out, Hungarians would like to live more environmentally consciously, but they do not want to give up animal-based food to do that. Respondents to the survey were asked to choose from seven intervention points to choose the ones they would most likely implement in their lives to become more environmentally conscious. Saving energy, i.e. using less electricity, gas, and water, came out on top. As it turned out, seeing last place on the list, Hungarians were the least willing to eat less animal-based food, i.e. give up meat and other animal products.

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