Lidl stops selling tobacco in new stores

Discounter Lidl has decided to stop selling tobacco products in its new and refurbished stores in Belgium. Belgian legislation will ban supermarkets from selling tobacco from 1 April 2025.

Soepele overgang

In doing so, Lidl expects a smooth transition to the new regulations. “We have decided to already apply the new legislation in our new and renovated stores. It does not seem logical to us to include tobacco products in the assortment of these shops for such a short period”, Lidl Belgium & Luxembourg spokeswoman Isabelle Colbrandt explained. In March, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke announced Belgium would ban supermarkets larger than 400 sqm from selling tobacco products from 1 April 2025.

In doing so, Lidl Belgium is following the example of its Dutch branch, which decided in 2018 to be the first supermarket in the country to phase out tobacco sales by 2022, even before the Dutch ban on tobacco sales in supermarkets came into force.