Overview

• Lidl has cut prices on about 500 products in its largest single reduction, with Aldi permanently marking down over 1,000 items and Norma trimming costs on several hundred articles.
• The retailers state the measures aim to relieve shoppers facing high living costs, with some individual discounts reaching up to 35%.
• Farmers’ groups led by Westfälisch-Lippischer Landwirtschaftsverband president Hubertus Beringmeier warn the timing risks undercutting producers already grappling with rising input and environmental compliance expenses.
• Online consumers remain skeptical of the cuts, reporting that short-lived cent-level reductions are often offset by price increases on other items.
• The Verbraucherschutzzentrale Baden-Württemberg has initiated proceedings against Aldi over its use of “example prices”, alleging the practice violates German pricing regulations.