Aldi wants to ban cheap beef, pork, chicken and turkey from its range from 2025. The discounter announced this on Friday. It is about “a promise for more animal welfare”.
According to this, Aldi wants to completely dispense with fresh meat from stables in keeping category 1 by 2025. By 2030, the entire range of fresh meat should only come from husbandry forms 3 and 4.
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In housing type 3, the animals have access to fresh air, for example through an open stall. They also have more space and do not receive genetically modified feed. Housing type 4 stands for the highest level. Here the animals can stay outside and have even more space than in housing type 3. Organic also falls under this level.
“We are introducing a change of attitude with our animal welfare promise,” said Lars Klein, Head of Marketing at Aldi Süd. “Animal welfare should be a matter of course in retail and affordable for everyone,” emphasized the manager.
With its announcement, the discounter is putting its competitors under pressure. The Rewe Group (Rewe, Penny) also stated on Friday that it is aiming not to offer any fresh meat from pork, beef and poultry at husbandry levels one and two by the end of 2030. From July, processed meat products – sausage products, canned food, convenience foods – are also to be gradually converted, and by the end of 2025 50 percent of the processed segment is to correspond to at least level two.
Keeping level one only corresponds to the legal requirements. The animals often have little space and no contact with the outside world. However, around 90 percent of the grocers’ own fresh meat brands currently come from this level. Housing level two gives the animals a little more space, activity material and cows must not be tied up.
Aldi: We are taking a considerable risk
With his advance Aldi is taking a “considerable economic risk”, emphasizes Klein. Because you don’t know whether customers are willing to spend more money on better quality. How expensive meat will be in the future cannot be said at the moment, emphasized the communications director of Aldi Nord, Florian Scholbeck. However, the aim is to remain the price leader.
Together, Aldi Nord and Süd have a market share of 24 percent in meat sales in stores. Klein appealed to competitors to follow Aldi. “We can’t do it alone,” said the manager. Industry, politics and consumers are also asked to enforce more animal welfare.
Market leader Edeka (Edeka, Netto) stated on request that the proportion of higher forms of husbandry had increased significantly in recent years. “The EDEKA association is already planning to dispense with keeping level 1 in the short term and in the longer term on keeping level 2 for fresh meat,” said a spokesman on request. For competitive reasons, however, they do not want to name the specific goals at the moment.
Why the transition is taking so long
Scholbeck emphasized that the long transition periods should give slaughterhouses and producers planning security. Because Aldi purchases large quantities, sufficient lead time is necessary. “We would like to do it faster,” he said, but the schedule is realistic, but “sewn to the edge”.
Already today, 15 percent of the fresh meat sold by Aldi comes from keeping levels three and four, by 2026 the proportion is expected to increase to a third. The discounter currently sources 85 percent of its fresh meat from Germany, and this is also to be expanded.
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Aldi’s advance has met with much praise. “Aldi shows politicians where the journey should go,” said the President of the German Animal Welfare Association, Thomas Schäfer. Now others would have to follow this step. Green agricultural expert Renate Künast also criticized Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU): “Once again, trade with the“ change of attitude ”is overtaking Minister Klöckner and the agricultural policy of the Union,” said the ex-Agriculture Minister.
