To promote the global green agenda, major European grocery chain Lidl will seek to reduce the amount of meat products sold in its stores in favour of “alternative” protein sources.
Lidl’s purchasing director for the German market, Christoph Graf, said this week at a Berlin ‘Green Week’ event that the discount supermarket retailer will seek to move away from selling meat because “there is no second planet”.
According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, the grocery executive stated that meat consumption in the West needs to be reduced in order to meet the demands of a global population.
While Graf claims that his decision to phase out meat should not be interpreted as an attempt to dictate how customers live their lives, he does hope to “motivate” shoppers to purchase more plant-based protein options.
He continued, “I believe that the younger generation is happy when we deal with the topic.”
Greenpeace member Christiane Huxdorff praised the grocery chain’s anti-meat commitments, saying, “Lidl has recognised the signs of the times and is truly taking responsibility for the products sold in its stores.”