Supermarkets running fewer sales stunts for meat products than a year ago

Supermarkets in the Netherlands have had fewer discount campaigns for meat products in the first six months of the year. This was concerning a drop of ten percent in comparison with the first six months of last year, said Wakker Dier after they researched advertising leaflets made by ten supermarket chains.

The animal rights organization also signaled that the number of reduced-price offers of meat substitutes has not risen for the last three years. Partly because of this, supermarket brochures still offer more discounted meat than vegetarian alternatives.

The supermarkets Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Dirk, Spar, Vomar, Lidl, Aldi, DekaMarkt, Plus, and Hoogvliet put a total of 720 offers in their leaflets. Since 2020, the number of discount promotions for meat has fluctuated, said Wakker Dier.

This varies per supermarket chain. Dirk showed a 30 percent reduction in the number of discount offers for meat in their weekly leaflets, while Plus had a 23 percent decrease. At Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, the number of discounted meat offers actually rose by 12 percent. Spar had the biggest increase, with a quarter more discounted meat offers.

Wakker Dier, a proponent of meat substitutes and better treatment of animals, said that the ratio with vegetarian offers is "still very skewed." In the first half of 2024, there were three times as many meat substitutes as offers for vegetarian replacements.

Aldi showed the widest inequality between such sales, with 11 reduced-priced meat offers for every vegetarian alternative. Albert Heijn had the most discount campaigns for vegetarian products compared to the amount of meat offers. The market leader advertised two meat products per vegetarian discount.