European supermarkets race to lead global protein transition
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Lidl and Ahold Delhaize battle it out to become first retailers in the world to align protein offerings with human and planetary goals
New research by Madre Brava has assessed the 15 largest European supermarket chains on their climate and protein transition ambitions. The analysis reveals that while all retailers have targets in place or plan to set them by the end of this year to reduce emissions from the food they sell, retail giants Ahold Delhaize and Lidl race to become the first retailers in the world to align their protein offerings with human and planetary health goals.
Europe’s largest supermarket, Lidl, is committing to rebalance their animal and plant protein sales across all its 31 countries where it operates globally. Lidl has already publicly committed to increasing the share of vegetal protein sales, both wholefoods and plant-based products, and decreasing the share of conventional meat and dairy sales in six European countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland.
Ahold Delhaize group has confirmed to Madre Brava that by the end of 2024 all their food retail brands across Europe will set targets to sell more plant proteins and fewer animal-sourced foods. Dutch largest supermarket Albert Heijn, owned by Ahold Delhaize group, has already committed to rebalancing their protein sales to achieve a 60% plant / 40% animal protein split by 2030 – from a 44.1% plants / 55.9% animal protein split in 2023.
Since meat and dairy are the largest source of emissions in a supermarket’s operations, targets to rebalance protein sales are critical to achieving net-zero climate goals too. As French retail giant Carrefour told Madre Brava: “A shift from animal proteins to vegetal proteins will be necessary to achieve our Scope 3 [emissions] targets.”
Nico Muzi, managing director of environmental advocacy group Madre Brava, said: “Consumers across Europe want to cut down on meat. Supermarkets can support this shift to healthier, more sustainable diets by making wholefoods and plant-based products cheaper and more accessible. So, we call on all major European food retailers to commit to rebalance their protein product sales in line with human and planetary health goals. This is not only good for people, animals and planet; it’s good business too.”
Globally, food is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after fossil fuels. In the European Union, food is the main cause of climate change linked to consumption, accounting for 38% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
Supermarkets sell most food Europeans eat and, therefore, are responsible for the emissions and other negative externalities created by these sales. A whopping 93% of a supermarket’s total emissions come from their ‘Scope 3’ emissions – that is: the products they sell. Scope 3 emissions are emissions from the entire value chain, which originate from agriculture, food processing, food waste, and transport. Animal-based products take the lion’s share: meat and dairy alone make up 51% of all Scope 3 emissions of a food retailer – the highest-emitting product categories.
In the Netherlands, the seven largest food retailers' commitment to increasing the share of plant protein products has contributed to a substantial decrease (16.4%) in meat sales in retail stores since 2020. This shift demonstrates the potential impact of supermarket policies on consumer behaviour and emissions reduction.
However, despite some progress, many major supermarkets are failing to move adequately towards plant-rich diets. Ten out of the 15 of Europe's top supermarket chains are not doing enough to tackle the significant emissions produced by meat and dairy products.
A recent Profundo study for Madre Brava found that if supermarket giants Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Lidl, and Tesco replace 50% of their beef, pork, and chicken sales with a mix of legumes, tofu, and plant-based meat alternatives by 2030 (excluding dairy, lamb, eggs or fish), these four supermarket giants alone would save emissions equivalent to taking 22 million cars off the road or almost every car in Spain (27.7 million tonnes of CO2e per year). They would also save an area of land the size of Portugal (91,000 sq km) and water equivalent to 228,000 Olympic-size swimming pools every year (570 million cubic metres).
Plant/animal protein split targets are beginning to deliver on their promise to help consumers buy more plant protein products at affordable prices and reduce their meat purchases. The shift to more plants and fewer animal foods offers significant health benefits for consumers while contributing to sustainability goals.
