Supermarket Wars: Domestic Meat Is Now at Half Price

A little over a week ago, Lidl put unrealistically cheap German minced pork on its shelves. It was to be expected that other chains would not let this move go unchallenged. Now, Aldi is launching a spectacular campaign against imported meat and selling Hungarian minced pork at half price for seven days.

Buy one, get two – this is the slogan of Aldi Hungary’s campaign against imported pork. With this initiative, the German discount chain wants to reinforce its message that it remains committed to supporting the Hungarian meat industry, reports Világgazdaság.

Since 2021, the company has offered fresh meat from only Hungarian breeding, slaughtering, and processing for all poultry, pork, and beef. In fact, it no longer only sticks to Hungarian meat in its permanent range, but

has increased the proportion of domestic meat in its seasonal and special offer products: 90 percent of these meats are now Hungarian-sourced.

In the last two years, the sourcing market has undergone many changes. Both suppliers and food retailers have been adversely affected by the dramatic rise in energy and packaging material prices, as well as by rising inflation. In parallel, there has been a resurgence of imported products that are often cheaper than Hungarian goods. Nevertheless, Aldi and its suppliers hope that consumers will choose Hungarian fresh meat and meat products more often in the future, rather than imported meat.

This is the aim of the special promotions Aldi is launching with its suppliers. The idea is that

Aldi offers minced pork from Hungarian sources at practically half price for a week.

This fresh meat that can be consumed for up to 10-12 days after production, depending on the type. This is partly because they are typically available on the shelves of the supermarket chain within 24 hours of packaging.

The seven-day campaign starts on September 14 and will run until September 21. It will apply to Aldi’s own-brand (Húsmester range), including the 500-gram fresh minced pork with 30% fat content.

If a customer buys two trays of this, they will only have to pay for one. In total, one kilogram of minced pork costs HUF 1,149 (EUR 2.97).

However, the rivalry between shops does not end there. Lidl is once again shocking the Hungarian market with imported meat. After German pork, this time it has flooded its stores with cheap Polish chicken and turkey meat. According to the Poultry Product Council, the leading chain in Hungary is causing damage to its suppliers and  domestic operators in the poultry market,

especially since Lidl promised in its previous commitment that fresh poultry and pork meat will only be delivered to its shelves from Hungarian suppliers.

In recent weeks, it has become clear that Lidl is no longer keeping its promises in the pork category. The German-based discounter then flooded its national network with cheap German minced pork, 10-30% cheaper than similar Hungarian products.

The Poultry Product Council has indicated that it agrees with the Hungarian pork sector, also criticizing Lidl’s current market behavior. They stressed that the future of the Hungarian meat sector may depend on fair and predictable cooperation between the retail chains and the domestic meat sector.

Via Világgazdaság, Featured image via Facebook/Aldi Magyarország