Aldi Germany wants to take a step quickly in animal welfare

The German branch of supermarket chain Aldi has announced that it wants to accelerate its move away from 'traditional' fresh meat on the shelves. Meat from animals from stables that only meet the legal requirements will be banned from the fresh meat shelves as early as 2025.

The stricter requirements will apply to fresh meat from beef, pork, chicken and turkey, but not yet for special and frozen items. Although the goals are ambitious and require high investments, the group believes that this measure will do well. "For animal welfare, for the future of the participating companies, for customers and simply out of conviction," the company said in a statement. By announcing its intentions early, Aldi hopes to give livestock farmers and meat processors sufficient time to make the necessary adjustments.

German 'haltungssysteme'
Similar to the Better Life star system of the Animal Protection, Germany has a method to provide consumers with insight into what kind of life the animals have had. It is a 4 point system, in which animals come from form 1 from companies that only meet the legal requirements, while animals from form 4 come from organic companies.

Pigs that live in stables according to form 2 have access to slightly more space (0,85m2 instead of 0,75m2) and organic derivation material. A number of stricter requirements apply to pigs that are kept according to type 3 farming. Finishing pigs must have at least 1.05m2 available per pig present. Also, diversion material must be available in the form of organic material, for example straw.

Outdoor climate in the stable
The largest investment, however, requires the climate requirement that this way of operating requires. The conditions state that there must be an 'outdoor climate' in the barn. At the very least, these farms should have open front stables, which allow fresh outside air to reach the pigs.

In 2030, Aldi only wants to sell fresh meat from animals that come from farms with farming methods 3 and 4: farms with open climate sheds or organic farms. In 2025, meat will already be banned from the fresh meat shelves with only the legal requirements (form 1). The period 2025 to 2030 will be a transition period during which meat is still sold according to the requirements of form 2.

Caring for livestock farmers
The interests of livestock farmers in Germany are concerned about the announced requirements. They are afraid that livestock farmers will be charged and that insufficient added value will be created in the meat to be able to pay all these costs. 

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