Carrefour Belgium shares its progress on the protein shift

According to Carrefour, it is the first retailer in Belgium to transparently measure and disclose its so-called “protein split”—that is, the ratio of plant-based to animal-based proteins. The goal of 60% plant-based by 2030 is still a long way off.

Accurate methodology

Carrefour is the first Belgian supermarket chain to use ProVeg International’s “Protein Tracker,” a precise, reliable, and comparable methodology for tracking the ratio of plant-based to animal-based proteins. The retailer is doing this in collaboration with ProVeg Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, all major supermarkets already measure their plant-based progress using this method. After all, to accurately track the protein shift, it is important that food suppliers all use the same measurement method and that all items sold over the counter are included in the protein analysis

42.2% plant-based

The current result for Carrefour Belgium: 42.2% plant-based protein versus 57.8% animal protein, the retailer reports on LinkedIn. This puts the supermarket chain slightly behind the average in Flanders, which, according to the latest figures from the Green Deal Protein Shift 2.0, was projected to be about 42.6% plant-based versus 57.4% animal-based by 2024.

The goal is for Flemish residents to derive about 60% of their protein from plant-based foods by 2030, but that seems very ambitious. Wallonia’s Protewin protein strategy also focuses on increasing plant-based protein, though it does not specify a concrete figure.