Supermarkets have made little progress in switching to better raised meat. According to a survey by Greenpeace, 86% of the products mainly come from category 1 and 2 livestock farming.
According to Greenpeace, little progress has been made in the transition of food retailers to meat from better rearing methods. According to environmental groups, the current proportion of meat coming from Type 1 and Type 2 livestock farming is 86%. She asked the supermarket chains Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Edeka, Kaufland, Lidl, Netto, Penny and Rewe.
Housing Type 1 Predominates beef market
The Livestock system is a voluntary labeling system that a large part of the German food retail industry has been using for private label fresh meat products since 2019.
Meat for Type 1 and Type 2 houses comes from animals raised in stables. In category 3 houses, animals have access to outdoor climate areas or receptacles. Category 4 housing means that animals have access to open areas at least part of the time.
By their own account, food retailers in the self-serve area are now labeling their fresh meat products as livestock-raised almost everywhere.
Greenpeace criticized Category 1 livestock for still dominating the beef market with 76%. However, here it has the largest percentage of organic produce, at 14%.
Metro and Norma have no meat labels
Metro and Norma did not respond to questionnaires and, according to Greenpeace, did not label their meat products. Christiane Huxdorff, an agricultural expert at Greenpeace, demanded: “The wholesaler Metro, which has extensive market power, must eventually begin to impose mandatory livestock labeling on its products according to the type of livestock.” “If If the whole trade has come together from the beginning, then the market has probably moved a lot faster in recent years.”
Hexdorf also called on retailers to “consistently” push to scale up better forms of livestock farming, rather than “waiting for harsh political implementation of labels”.
The federal government has introduced state livestock labels, which will first apply to fresh pork from next year. Subsequent expansion to other animal species and other areas, such as gastronomy and the entire life cycle of animals, will follow.
The label specifies five husbandry classes: “Stable,” “Stable + Space,” “Fresh Air Barn,” “Country/Pasture,” and “Organic.” Consumer advocates are calling for government labels to replace voluntary retail labels to avoid confusion.