Aldi Süd in German retail first

Aldi SÜD has become the first German retailer to compare its actual sales with an ideal diet, and has signalled a shift towards a healthier and more sustainable range of foods in its stores.

The German pioneer of the discounter concept released its latest Nutritional Report today, and showed that pioneering spirit once again with a full assessment of its food sales.

This so-called “Holistic Diet Mapping”,  developed by WWF Switzerland, discloses the proportion of various food categories Aldi SÜD sells to German consumers. Among groups like grains or fats are also the most important ones from a health and sustainability standpoint: protein-rich foods (like legumes or meat) and milk and dairy.

Transparency

Why is that important? The depth and transparency of this measurement means Aldi SÜD can track the proportion of plant-based proteins it sells versus animal based and we know that supermarkets can save money and offer their customers more food that is good for them and the planet by concentrating on this ‘protein split’.

It’s a great move, but another big discounter, Lidl, is one step ahead when it comes to target setting. While Aldi SÜD mentions expanding its plant-based assortment and plans to set a protein split target, Lidl, Europe's biggest retailer, has already committed to increasing the share of its plant-based protein sales by 20% across all markets within the next five years.

Discounters lead the way

Once again, German discounters are showing leadership and determination to make healthier and more planet-friendly food the easiest choice for consumers. 

This adds pressure to the full assortment retailer REWE, which earlier this year started to measure and report the animal/plant share in its overall sales, yet failed to zoom in on the food category with the biggest impact on the planet and our health: proteins.

Madre Brava urges REWE to join the race, measure (and rebalance!) its animal-plant split at the protein level.

We also need a level playing field, with retailers committing to one way of measuring things. So we’re calling on the German Food Retailers Association to agree on a joint methodology to measure the share of animal and plant proteins so retailers can put all their energy and effort into what really matters: rebalancing protein sales in line with the Planetary Health Diet.

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