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The Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo, which also has 33 stores in Flanders, is stopping offers for fresh meat in its own country. The chain wants to help customers towards a more plant-based diet.
Source: BELGA, DE TELEGRAAF
Yesterday at 09:36
From the end of May, there will no longer be offers for fresh meat, such as chicken, beef and pork, in Dutch Jumbo branches and online. Meat products such as salami or ham are not covered by the new scheme.
“By stopping meat promotions, we are taking an important step towards our contribution to the protein transition from animal to more plant-based food,” says CEO Ton van Veen. “We realize that acceleration is necessary and have therefore been the first in the market to take this step.”
By 2030, the company wants 60 percent of the proteins they sell to be plant-based, and a maximum of 40 percent to come from animal proteins. They point to advice from the Dutch Health Council, which concludes that the shift to a diet with more vegetable than animal proteins is good for health.
Jumbo acknowledges that social pressure played a role in the decision. Earlier this week it was revealed that the number of meat offers at Jumbo rose to a record high in the Netherlands last year, although the chain disputes those figures.
Animal rights organization Wakker Dier has been campaigning against promotional stunts with cheaper meat since 2010. She is very satisfied with the “courage that Jumbo shows with this”, a spokesperson said on Friday. “Meat offers drive up meat sales enormously. And the animals pay the price with poor living conditions.” Wakker Dier now hopes that other supermarkets will follow suit.
There are mixed reactions to the measure on social media: some welcome it, while others find it too patronizing and hypocritical.