In France, it is impossible to pay for your shopping at Lidl with meal vouchers. A choice made by the group to guarantee customers low prices on its products. According to the hard discount brand, accepting these tickets would cause losses, indicates CNews .
Administrative costs too high
It is the processing of these titles that would cost too much: 4%, according to our colleagues. While the profit margin is around 3%, or even less. A calculation which would not be interesting, therefore, for the brand.
To avoid losing money, Lidl would have to increase its prices if the brand were to accept meal vouchers. But this is the complete opposite of the policy of this supermarket chain, which is to “offer the best value for money to [ses] clients “.
Outcry
At 1er January 2024, restaurant vouchers should no longer be able to be used to pay for food shopping in a supermarket, as has been the case since September 2022. On this date, the daily ceiling had increased from €19 to €25 and the list of eligible products has been expanded. A measure which was to end on December 31, 2023.
-Enough to provoke many reactions while food prices remain very high. A petition titled “Allow meal vouchers to continue purchasing basic groceries” has surpassed 20,000 signatures in just three days. It was finally closed since the government calmed things down, in the face of the outcry caused by the announcement of the end of the system.
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One more year
The exemption was extended for one year. “This will continue throughout 2024,” assured on M6, Tuesday November 14, 2023, Olivia Grégoire, Minister for SMEs and Commerce. And to add: “Nothing will change for the French. » The measure could be made permanent. “Beyond the extension for one year […]I am ready for us to open the discussion on the more general use of these tickets to buy food”declared the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire on Europe 1 And CNewsWednesday November 15.
This government decision was poorly accepted by restaurateurs, who regret that the government is sending “a very bad signal to [leur] occupation “. “In 2023, there will be a shortfall of 200 million euros for our restaurateurs”estimates chef Thierry Marx, recalling that this year, “mass distribution saw its meal voucher market share increase by more than 6%” When “that of restaurants decreased by 3%”.
