Good idea, bad implementation?
Lidl introduces new “rescuer bag” with “less perfect” fruit – but customers report “rotten goods”
Apparently, the contents of the rescue bags vary a lot – and so do the reactions of customers online (symbolic image)
© xmonticellox / Imago Images
Lidl now offers rescue bags full of fruit and vegetables with “small blemishes” in its branches – for only three euros. However, the customers are angry and disappointed with the action.
Around 11 million tons of food end up in German waste every year. The Federal Statistical Office reported this to the EU Commission in June 2022. According to the Lidl Group, many of these losses are avoidable. For this reason, thediscounters are now introducing the “rescuer bag” throughout Germany.
With the bag from the “Save me” concept, “obviously less perfect but edible fruit and vegetable products […] be given a second chance”, says Lidl.
Up to five kilograms of fruit and vegetables at a standard price
For only three euros, customers can buy a “rescuer bag” in all Lidl branches in Germany. Each bag is filled with different types of fruit and vegetables or items where the packaging has been damaged. A “rescuer bag” can be filled with up to five kilograms.
“Food belongs on the plate and not in the bin,” says Christian Härtnagel, CEO of Lidl in Germany. “Every piece of food that is not thrown away is a success for us, the environment and the climate.”
Muddy and moldy fruit disappoints customers
In the comments below Lidl’s post, customers are divided about the new offer. Many Facebook users are enthusiastic about the campaign. “Almost everything was from Lidl’s organic range,” says a happy customer about the contents of her “rescuer bag”.
At the same time, numerous customers share their negative experiences with the selection. Another customer felt that her bag was “a bottomless cheek”. Most of the goods she bought were moldy and muddy – “so scruffy that it wouldn’t even be accepted by the food banks. These aren’t ‘minor blemishes’,” she writes.
Cooperation with the food banks should continue
At the beginning of the year, Lidl tested the rescue bag in its more than 3,200 branches in Germany. Nevertheless, the food discounter emphasizes that it will continue the 15-year collaboration with the Tafel. “With the rescue bag, we are creating another building block for our sustainability strategy in addition to delivering food to the food banks,” says Härtnagel.
Sources: HNA, Press release Lidl