ALDI SÜD Reveals Its Food Range is Now 56.4% Plant-Based

The discounter has also been working to publish the plant-based share of its food range; this year, it is using WWF’s expanded calculation method. The results, published in the chain’s Nutritional Report, indicate that 56.4% of the range is plant-based, while 43.6% is animal-based, VegConomist reports.

ALDI SÜD says it supports the idea of taxing plant-based alternative products at a reduced VAT rate of 7%. The retailer has also revised the recipes for products such as cereals and frozen pizza to reduce their sugar and salt content. Additionally, all own-brand products are now labelled with the Nutri-Score, making it easier for consumers to choose healthy options.

“ALDI SÜD is living up to its significant influence on its customers’ diets by disclosing the plant-based portion of its product range and promoting consistent measurement using the WWF method,” said Dirk Liebenberg, Head of Corporate Engagement at ProVeg. “This step provides the entire industry with an important impetus for greater transparency and collaboration to make it easier for consumers to adopt a more plant-based diet. It is now crucial that the industry sets ambitious goals and measures for this. Because with ambition, an impetus becomes the industry standard.”

“Important lever for greater sustainability”

Climate advocacy organisation Madre Brava has praised Aldi SÜD’s transparency; the discounter is reportedly the first German retailer to compare its actual sales with an ideal diet. However, the organisation notes that Lidl is one step ahead when it comes to target setting, having committed to increasing the share of its plant-based protein sales by 20% across all markets within the next five years.

Madre Brava is now putting pressure on the major supermarket chain REWE to follow suit. REWE began measuring and reporting the animal/plant share of its overall sales earlier this year, but it is not measuring the percentage of protein sales derived from each source.

“Conscious nutrition is an important lever for greater sustainability and personal health – as a basic provider, we embrace this responsibility,” said Dr. Julia Adou, Director of Sustainability at ALDI SÜD. “The Nutrition Report shows how we make this accessible to everyone with clearly defined measures and a wide range of products.”