Meat consumption in Germany has been falling for years, and vegetarian alternatives are on the rise. However, if you look at the advertising brochures of supermarkets and discounters for the current barbecue season, there is little evidence of this. An evaluation by the environmental organization WWF shows that customers continue to be lured there with cheap grilled meat from factory farming. Organic meat and vegetarian products, on the other hand, are rarely offered at a discount.
From the end of April to May, the WWF evaluated 54 advertising brochures from Aldi, Lidl, Edeka, Rewe, Kaufland, Netto and Norma for its “Grillfleischcheck”. It advertised a total of 705 meat products such as steaks, chops or sausages and only 34 meat substitutes, and there were also 58 advertisements for grilled cheese and feta. “In this way, the food retail trade provides a high incentive to buy sausage and meat products instead of actively supporting and advertising future-oriented climate and resource-friendly nutrition,” criticizes the WWF.
After all, the number of meat products in advertising brochures has fallen somewhat compared to previous years. In 2022 and 2021, the WWF also examined the brochures in the same period and found more than 900 meat products in each.
However, animal welfare plays almost no role in the discount offers. If you only look at the meat and sausage products that were offered at the promotional price – that was 330 – then there were only ten organic products (keeping level 4) and twelve products of keeping level 3. For most meat products, the grocers named the keeping level im Prospectus rather not at all, which suggests that these fall into the cheap categories. The WWF experts assume that 93 percent of the discounted meat products come from conventional husbandry types 1 and 2.
According to the study, meat substitute products are not only offered at a much lower discount. In absolute terms, they are usually more expensive than the meat offerings. “80 percent of the discounted meat products are cheaper than meat substitutes,” writes the WWF. And 75 percent are also cheaper than grilled cheese and feta. Pork usually has the lowest price per kilo.
In the eyes of the WWF, the design of the price campaigns is not only bad for the environment, but also not in the interests of consumers. “The food retail industry is discounting what consumers want,” explains WWF nutritionist Elisa Kollenda. The change in diet had long since reached the population, and in 2022 meat consumption had fallen to a record low. “At the same time, retailers continue to use their price and advertising incentives almost exclusively for meat and sausage products and thus fail to meet consumer needs,” says Kollenda.
The WWF calls on the supermarkets to focus their discount campaigns on healthy vegetarian grilled products and to refrain from temptation offers for meat. In addition, politicians should also make their contribution by reducing VAT on fruit, vegetables and legumes. Healthy and sustainable food should not be a privilege for higher earners.
