How Lidl Belgium tackles protein shift, food waste, and fair trade

Climate protection, the circular economy, animal welfare, and avoiding food waste are the pillars of Lidl Belgium’s sustainability strategy, which is summarized in a new sustainability magazine.

“Accelerating transition together”

In a new sustainability magazine, Lidl Belgium looks back on its most important achievements and the progress made in 2023 and 2024. For example, the discounter was the first supermarket chain in Belgium to equalize the price of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products with their animal counterparts, in order to remove the barrier to a healthy and climate-friendly diet. By 2030, Lidl aims to double the sale of plant-based proteins in its Belgian stores. This target is in line with the Planetary Health Diet, healthy dietary recommendations for humans that are also good for the planet, according to research by EAT-Lancet.

Food waste also remains an important focus: Lidl has already saved more than six million products through its affordable Good Taste Zero Waste packages, and up to 13,000 tons of imperfect vegetables are saved annually by processing them into fresh S’oups soups. And with its own Way To Go brand, Lidl is proving its pioneering role in fair trade: thousands of cocoa farmers in Ghana and coffee farmers in Honduras receive a structural premium on top of the Fairtrade minimum price, which contributes to a livable income.

“With this magazine, we want to show not only what our ambitions are, but above all what we have actually achieved over the past two years,” says Isabelle Colbrandt, head of corporate affairs at Lidl Belgium. “By openly sharing our figures, we offer our customers, partners, and stakeholders the insight they need to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable retail sector together.”