Ballot box for confusing product names

By opening an online ballot box, De Vegetarische Slager calls on consumers to speak out in the #schnitzelgate discussion. In the 'Alternative Elections', which run parallel to the European elections, you can vote for the most confusing product names. It is in response to Europe's plan to ban misleading names for meat substitutes.

'Vegetarian Kipstuckjes' and 'Fish-free Tonyn'. If it is up to the European Parliament, these product names will no longer exist. Because they would misleading to be. At the beginning of April, the Agriculture Committee adopted an amendment that will soon prohibit companies from using names that refer to animal products for plant products.

European Parliament decides
Whether the ban will actually come into effect depends on the new European Parliament being elected on May 23. She still has to think about it. For that reason, De Vegetarische Slager is now drawing attention to this issue. The company wants to send a signal to the new European Parliament to be installed. "With the current product names, the consumer knows exactly what kind of 'meat' he has in the bowl. It lowers the threshold for choosing vegetarian alternatives, which is also very much needed to achieve the European climate goals," says Jaap Korteweg, founder of The Vegetarian Butcher.

With schnitzelgate.eu consumers can suggest and vote for confusing product names. "Because, if 'Vegetarische Kipstuckjes' are confusing because there is no animal chicken in them, then there are more examples that can be mentioned," says De Vegetarische Slager. For example, you can already vote for slavink, beef tomato, autodrop and round steak. On May 24, the most confusing product name will be announced.

Discussion in Europe
The #schnitzelgate debate has been going on for some time. The Vegetarian Butcher was first reprimanded by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) in 2012 for the naming of its products. Also in other European countries the discussion takes place. The Central Organization for the Meat Sector (COV) emphasizes that it has not started this discussion. "For us, this discussion is not black and white. After all, our supporters also include producers with hybrid and vegetable lines," said Dé van de Riet, spokesperson at the COV. 

Van de Riet can, however, understand people who have difficulty with certain names. "Precisely because the vegetable products are right next to the meat shelf and the producers do their best to make them resemble meat. Clarity is important for the consumer. It must be clear that what is in the packaging is also stated that way. This does not only apply to the name, but also to the ingredients, nutritional value and footprint."

According to the spokesperson, it is good that the government creates the frameworks, but it is up to market parties to interpret them correctly. "The market must be as clear as possible to the consumer. If regulation helps, we support it."

Ambition to become the biggest butcher
The Vegetarian Butcher is part of Unilever. The company has the ambition to 'become the largest butcher in the world' with vegetable products that can compete with animal meat in taste, structure and experience. The products of De Vegetarische Slager are now sold at more than 4.000 points of sale in 17 countries.

Jeanette Pennings

Jeannet has her roots in the flower bulb sector and she grew up on an agricultural company in the northern part of North Holland. As a generalist she reports for Boerenbusiness across all sectors. She is also exploring the possibilities of sponsored advertising.

j.pennings@boerenbusiness. Nl

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