Dutch Supermarket Jumbo To Ditch Meat Promotions

Dutch supermarket Jumbo will no longer offer promotions on fresh meat products from the end of May. The move is part of Jumbo’s efforts to help customers shop more sustainably.

The supermarket chain plans to make half of the protein on its shelves plant-based by 2025, increasing to 60 percent by 2030. In aid of this goal, which is in line with Dutch Health Council dietary guidance, it has a campaign to promote plant-based recipes to customers.

The move to end fresh meat promotions is a first among Dutch supermarkets. Animal rights group Wakker Dier has praised Jumbo for its “ambition.”

More plants

Dutch supermarket meat promotion — Adobe Stock Meat promotions have boosted meat sales say campaigners

Wakker Dier has been campaigning for supermarkets to embrace “more plants” in their products since 2010. Meat promotions in particular have stood in the way of this goal, according to Wakker Dier. Such promotions keep prices for meat low, forcing farmers to produce meat as cheaply as possible.

These promotions “are driving up meat sales enormously,” said Collin Molenaar, campaigner at Wakker Dier in a statement. “And the animals pay the price for this with poor living conditions.”

Campaigning by Wakker Dier led recently to Jumbo and six other brands in the Netherlands, including Knorr and Koh Thai, to commit to make 50 percent of the suggested recipes on their product packaging meat-free. Leading Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn said it would add plant-based ideas to its packaging, but would not commit to removing meat from half the recipes.

However, in 2022 Albert Heijn pledged to make more than half its range of proteins plant-based by 2030. It said it would make these options equal to or cheaper than the animal-based equivalents.

Should the UK follow suit?

Matthew Glover, founder of Veganuary, praised Jumbo and told Food Manufacture that UK supermarkets should think about following its lead. They should leverage “their influence to promote healthier, plant-based alternatives and contribute significantly to the global effort against climate change and animal mistreatment,” he said.

Research by UK food waste organization Feedback revealed that British supermarkets are fuelling demand for meat with promotional offers. Another study in 2022 found that four major UK supermarkets use multi-buys and reduced prices to to sell more meat. This was in spite or their pledges to promote sustainable eating to improve diets and tackle climate change.