Shopping: Aldi Süd: no more low-maintenance sausages

As of this week, customers at Aldi Süd can no longer buy sausage products from the lowest production level. The discounter announced that this is a step towards the complete conversion of the range to levels 3 and higher.

The other major food retailers in Germany still offer sausage from production form 1. From the end of 2025, Aldi Nord no longer wants to sell such products from the lowest husbandry, as the company explained upon request. Rewe and Penny are planning to do this by the end of the year, at least for pork and poultry meat.

At the discounter Lidl, the switch to higher levels for sausage products is almost complete, it was said. Edeka, Kaufland and Netto also want to reduce the share of level 1, but did not specify a time period.

Less meat from the lowest level of husbandry

The farming system is a voluntary labeling system for meat and processed pork, beef and poultry products. There are four levels with increasing requirements for keeping animals. Level 1 “Stable keeping” only corresponds to the legal minimum requirements.

The large retail chains want to completely convert the entire range of fresh meat from their own brands in Germany for beef, pork and poultry to the higher husbandry levels 3 and 4 by 2030. The prerequisite is sufficient availability of goods, as several companies emphasize. At level 3, animals have more space and contact with fresh air, at level 4 they have opportunities to run outside.

According to the industry, there is a movement towards meat products in supermarkets with better animal husbandry conditions. For pork from the self-service shelf, 1.5 percent still came from level 1 in 2023. The sponsoring company announced this at the Green Week agricultural trade fair in Berlin. There was no longer any meat from turkeys and chickens from the lowest farming methods. When it comes to beef, however, more than three quarters still come from level 1.