German supermarket charges ‘true costs’ of meat and dairy on our climate

A leading German discount supermarket has raised prices on a selection of its products to reflect their real cost on the environment and people’s health.

In the week-long experiment in over 2,000 locations of the Penny chain, a range of nine products, mainly dairy and meat, were priced at what experts from two German universities have deemed to be their true cost, in relation to their effect on soil, climate, water use and health.

The “real costs” campaign has seen the price of wiener sausages rise from €3.19 to €6.01, mozzarella go up by 74% to

€1.55, and fruit yoghurt increase by 31% from €1.19 to €1.56.

On average, environmental costs of €1.15 were added to organic products in comparison to non-organic products where an additional €1.57 was added. “The prices of our food, which are incurred along the supply chain, do not reflect the environmental costs,” Penny’s chief operating officer Stefan Goergens said.

The production, processing, transport, and the consumption of food creates costs, so-called “hidden costs” which are not reflected in retail prices, Penny said.