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The German discounter makes headlines with an environmental campaign. At the same time there are two kilos of chicken thighs for six euros. That causes criticism.
If you let your gaze wander through the shelves of the German supermarket chain Penny this week, you will be amazed: instead of bargains, there are hefty price premiums – and a guilty conscience.
For example, the discounter charges the “true prices” for nine selected products and also offsets the environmental costs that arise in the production of the food.
“Food for Future” at the discounter
Researchers from the University of Greifswald and the Technical University of Nuremberg have calculated the “real prices”. Based on the climate movement “Fridays for Future”, Penny speaks of “Food for Future”:
Penny expects the campaign to result in a drop in sales in the “single-digit million range”, as Stefan Görgens from the discounter’s board announced. “Many of our customers are suffering from the high food prices,” he emphasized.
“But we have to face the uncomfortable message that the prices of our food do not reflect the subsequent costs that arise for the environment and society,” he added. Penny wants to make this transparent.
With his action, Penny wants to create “awareness of this fundamentally important topic”. Because if no action is taken, the costs for the environment, for example due to climate change, would be significantly higher in the long term.
Praise and criticism
Consumer and environmental protection associations praise the action. But it should not remain a one-off experiment. The supermarket chains are just as responsible as politicians, argues the environmental organization Greenpeace.
The consumer organization Foodwatch, on the other hand, describes the campaign as a pure PR gimmick. The criticism: While Penny raises the prices for hand-picked products, the discounter is waging an aggressive price war on other foods that are harmful to the climate and the environment, such as meat.
Two kilos of chicken thighs for 6 euros
An example: The 400-gram pack of “Wienerli” costs a handsome 5.99 euros this week (by German standards). The XXL pack of chicken thighs is currently available for the same price:
SRF Germany correspondent Alexandra Gubser also has a lot of advertising on her own behalf: “The campaign only affects nine out of 3000 products at Penny.” Customers would therefore still have the choice to reach for alternative, cheaper groceries. “But the discounter can upgrade its own brand in this way – that’s simply called PR.”
After all, science hopes to gain knowledge from experiments. Researchers now want to investigate how consumers react to the new prices – and also show possible courses of action for politicians. The discounter wants to donate income from the more expensive “true price” to a sustainability project.