European supermarkets urged to adopt 60% plant-based protein targets

Meat and dairy sales make up almost half of food retailers’ emissions

European supermarkets should adopt targets to increase the share of plant protein they sell in order to reduce their Scope 3 emissions, says a report by non-profit Madre Brava.

On average, emissions from the supply chain represent 93 per cent of a supermarket’s total emissions and 47 per cent of these come from meat and dairy, the report says. Europe’s supermarkets should adopt targets for 60 per cent of protein sales to come from plant-based products — a figure that would align with environment and health recommendations, it adds. 

The EAT-Lancet Commission, which comprises 37 scientists, developed a recommended diet to enable people everywhere to eat a healthy diet within planetary boundaries by 2050. Plants should make up 60 per cent of a person’s protein, with animal products, including meat, fish and dairy accounting for the remaining 40 per cent, concludes the EAT-Lancet Commission’s 2019 report.

Meanwhile, European Commission data shows that meat and dairy products are responsible for 70 per cent of the emissions linked to EU food and drink consumption. Meat accounts for 40 per cent of these emissions, followed by dairy at 24 per cent and fish at 4 per cent.

Netherlands leads way

The Netherlands is leading dietary plant protein adoption in Europe, Madre Brava finds. In 2020, the country’s average dietary split was 60 per cent animal protein and 40 per cent plant protein. The same year the Dutch government launched a national strategy targeting a 50-50 split by 2030.

In 2022, Dutch food retailer Albert Heijn committed to inverting the 2020 national split and achieving a 60 per cent plant-based and 40 per cent animal-based protein split by 2030 across its stores. The adoption of planet-based targets “reduces emissions and the consumption of land and water, increases the energy efficiency of our food production, and is better for biodiversity”, a company spokesperson tells Sustainable Views.

Albert Heijn’s move has spurred similar commitment by some of its competitors, Madre Brava says, with all major supermarkets in the Netherlands — Albert Heijn, Aldi Nord, Dirk, Ekoplaza, Jumbo, Lidl and Plus — having committed to the same target.

Madre Brava managing director and co-founder Nico Muzi tells Sustainable Views there has been a 16.4 per cent drop in meat sales since 2020 in the Netherlands.

Lidl, which operates across 31 countries, has established protein-split targets across six European nations (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, France and Switzerland). If it continues to roll out these targets to all the countries it operates in, it would be the first supermarket chain to commit to aligning its protein offerings with human and planetary health goals, says the Madre Brava report.

A Lidl spokesperson tells Sustainable Views the company bases its protein strategy on the EAT-Lancet Commission’s planetary health diet.

Sales targets versus split targets

Several supermarkets, including French retailer Carrefour and British supermarket Tesco, have committed to increasing sales of plant-based products. In 2022, Carrefour set a goal to increase its European plant-based product sales by 65 per cent by 2026. This was exceeded in one year, with sales reaching €514mn in 2023, according to Carrefour. The company’s 2023 sales review also announced a revision of the target to reach €650mn in sales annually by 2026.

Tesco, meanwhile, has pledged to triple its plant-based sales by 2025, compared with 2018.

While Madre Brave welcomes these sales targets, it says they should be a “stepping stone” for companies — rather than committing only to increasing plant-based sales, they should also commit to reducing animal protein sales. 

Muzi says the global North and other regions with meat-heavy diets, such as Australia and Brazil, must reduce their overall protein consumption —especially meat because of its environmental impact. “If your company is solely focused on increasing plant sales, you have an incentive to just sell a lot more proteins in general. And that’s not what we need,” he says.

Price parity

According to Madre Brava, offering price parity across animal and plant protein options is the “most impactful” measure that supermarkets can take to increase the adoption of plant-based proteins. A 2022 report by US-based non-profit the Good Food Institute found that, on average, plant-based meat alternatives are 43 per cent more expensive than their meat equivalent (based on 2020 data).

Another effective measure is to locate plant-based options near to their meat equivalent in the store. Sales of Lidl’s own-brand plant products jumped 30 per cent in the six months following October 2023 after they were moved next to meat alternatives and price matched, Muzi tells Sustainable Views.

Lidl will increase the proportion of plant-based sources of protein in its offering by 2025, says a company spokesperson. Since 2023, it has been calculating and reporting the proportion of animal protein sources sold compared to plant-based protein sources. From 2024, this will be disclosed in the company’s annual sustainability reports, the spokesperson adds.

Thomas Bonrath, spokesperson at German retailer Rewe Group, which is featured in the Madre Brava report, tells Sustainable Views that “plant proteins are an important part of the solution to reduce negative environmental and social impacts in value chains”. Rewe opened its first fully plant-based supermarket in Berlin in April.

German wholesaler Metro says it is reviewing its Scope 3 commitments but a specific protein split target is not part of this evaluation. It does, however, report on the number of alternative protein products available in store, a spokesperson says. 

A spokesperson for German supermarket Edeka says “promotion of plant-based alternatives” is important for the company’s climate goals, and that it is exploring the potential for protein split targets. German retailer Kaufland also says it is “working on” a plant-based target.

Other supermarkets featured in the analysis have not responded to requests for comment.