In addition to the announcement of BILLA’s second vegan store which opened today, the retailer has just announced that “customers can expect new prices in the Vegavita range in all BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores across Austria to make plant-based possible for everyone”.
With the goal of making plant-based products affordable for all Austrians, BILLA says that all future products added to its own-brand range Vegevita at BILLA and BILLA PLUS, and have an animal-based counterpart, will automatically be priced at the same level or, if possible, at a lower price.
A promising trend yet to be seen in UK or NA
The move follows the initiative taken firstly by Lidl in October and followed by Kaufland days later, as well as Penny and Aldi Süd which have reportedly also begun to drop the prices of vegan products on shelves. We are yet to see any pricing initiatives from the rest of mainland EU or the UK, however, let’s see what Veganuary has to bring in a matter of weeks. If UK retailers follow suit, there’s the chance that North America may then follow. Such forward thinking would be beneficial not only for business and public relations but for the planet and the health of consumers, not least the animals.
Plant-based enjoyment for everyone (especially flexitarians)
“We want to make affordable, plant-based enjoyment possible for all customers. Especially flexitarians, who are always integrating plant-based options into their diet. Unfortunately, however, many plant-based products are still more expensive than comparable animal products for various reasons – items such as plant-based milk continue to suffer tax disadvantages and plant-based start-ups are barely able to keep up with established market players in terms of price at the beginning of their production.
“More equality in the shopping bag is needed immediately. That is why we have now matched the prices of all products from our own plant-based Vegavita brands that have an animal counterpart. This means that over 50 Vegavita products are now at the same price level or even cheaper than their animal counterparts,” says Verena Wiederkehr, BILLA Head of Plant-Based Business Development.