Supermarkets in Germany offer a cheaper plant-based grocery basket compared with an animal-based counterpart, a new study by ProVeg has revealed.
On average, the price difference between the baskets this year is 16% – 9 percentage points down compared to a year ago.
The study also revealed differences in basket prices between retailers. For example, Lidl's plant-based shopping basket is cheaper than the animal-based one, while at REWE it is slightly more expensive.
"A plant-based shopping basket with no extra charge compared to its animal counterpart is a novelty," stated project manager Virginia Cecchini Kuskow.
In contrast, Edeka emerged with a strikingly high price difference of 60% as it noted that there are no own-brand products available for pizza, minced meat, and fish fingers.
Nevertheless, Edeka, together with Lidl, set the benchmark for the lowest price in seven product categories, closely followed by Kaufland.
The Study
This is the third consecutive year ProVeg has compared plant-based and animal-based shopping baskets with everyday products from twelve categories.
These include cold cuts, bratwurst (sausages), burgers, fish fingers, cream cheese, minced meat, yoghurt, sliced cheese, cooking cream, milk, pizza, and schnitzel.
The study was conducted at six leading retailers in Germany: Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Edeka, Kaufland, Lidl and REWE.
The data, collected between August and September of this year, took into account the cheapest plant-based alternative and the cheapest animal counterpart in a similar packaging size in 30 supermarket branches in nine federal states across the country.
Other Findings
In nine of the 12 product categories examined, prices for plant-based alternative products have fallen compared to the previous year, ProVeg noted.
In the sliced cheese category, prices fell by more than 40%, while fish fingers and cooking cream saw prices climbing.
Data showed that plant-based milk alternatives are cheaper than cow's milk at all retailers, although they are disadvantaged in terms of taxation.
Four out of 10 consumers in Germany regularly use plant-based alternatives, according to a report by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Food prices in the country have increased by a third since 2020, and by 2.3% since October 2023.
"Plant-based alternatives are now cheaper than animal products in several categories. Given the ongoing inflation, they represent a real ray of hope for heavily burdened households," added Kuskow.
