By publishing weekly price comparisons in its leaflet, Lidl fuels a small price war for fruits and vegetables. Competitors call the campaign “misleading and inaccurate.”
The lowest price on the market
“Every day, the freshest fruits and vegetables, at the lowest price on the market”: Lidl does not mince its words by publishing price comparisons with its main competitors for several weeks in its weekly leaflet. The hard discounter claims it can always offer the lowest price for the best quality by purchasing products directly from local producers, without a middleman.
Thus, in its leaflet from April 17 to 23, Lidl states that Colruyt is 0.01% more expensive, Aldi 7.70%, Carrefour 14.46%, Delhaize 22.04% and Albert Heijn 23.42%. On its website, the retailer publishes the details of the comparison, with the addresses of the stores visited and the complete list of products – there are more than a hundred references per store. But competitors are far from satisfied with the hard discounter’s campaign. In Het Nieuwsblad they call the comparison “misleading and inaccurate”.
Allegations
According to Delhaize, Lidl does not take quality differences into account. Aldi even accuses its rival of temporarily lowering prices at the time of price readings, only to increase them again later. Colruyt, which always guarantees the lowest price, also believes that price comparisons are misleading, because identical products are not always compared.
Lidl denies these accusations: “We understand that competitors are closely monitoring our campaign, because fruit and vegetables are very important for everyone. This is why we carry out all our actions with rigor. Whoever says such a thing must be right,” said spokesperson Isabelle Colbrandt.
According to a comparison carried out by the newspaper itself, it is not Lidl but Colruyt which is the cheapest for fruit and vegetables. The difference with Aldi is minimal. Albert Heijn, Carrefour and Delhaize, on the other hand, are significantly more expensive.
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By publishing weekly price comparisons in its leaflet, Lidl is fueling a small price war for fruit and vegetables. Competitors call the campaign “misleading and inaccurate.”
