UK | Lidl will spend £6 billion on top of an original five-year commitment to invest £15 billion in British food and farming.
Lidl GB is on track to invest a total of £21 billion in the British food industry by the end of FY24, exceeding its five-year commitment of £15 billion by 40 percent. This equated to an additional £6 billion and underscored the retailer’s ongoing support for British agriculture and food production.
In the last financial year alone, it invested around £5 billion. The investments covered a range of sectors, and Lidl GB has long championed British agriculture.
Currently, two-thirds of the discounter’s products within its permanent range are from British suppliers, with 100 percent of its fresh everyday milk, butter, eggs, cream, pork, chicken, and beef is British.
“As we celebrate 30 years of Lidl in Great Britain, it’s a fitting time to reflect on how far we’ve come. We’re most proud of the strong relationships we’ve built with British suppliers, who have grown with us over the years,” said Richard Bourns, Chief Commercial Officer at Lidl GB.
“Now more than ever, we remain committed to supporting British farmers, ensuring we’re a dependable partner to those who put quality, home-grown food on Lidl shelves nationwide. By continuing to invest in British agriculture, we’re helping to ensure our suppliers can thrive in the future, providing the British-sourced products our customers love all year round.”
Lidl’s commitment to British produce has been enhanced by its model, which offers an extensive own-brand range for approximately 90 percent of its product offering, compared to 56 percent across the sector, meaning it has direct relationships with more than 650 suppliers nationwide.
Throughout 2024, the discounter announced a series of sector-specific investments into the British food industry, including:
October: Lidl announced an investment of £1 billion in the British free-range egg industry. This was built on existing financial incentives to address the shortage of British free-range egg farms, with farmers in its free-range egg producer group benefitting from long-term cost-of-production contracts and guaranteed minimum volumes.
July: Lidl committed to investing £1.5 billion into the British beef industry over the next five years as part of its broader commitment to sourcing 100 percent British beef.
Alongside this, it announced a market-leading sustainability programme in partnership with its British beef suppliers, offering financial rewards to its Sustainable Beef Group members for adopting sustainable practices.
April: As the fourth-largest retailer in the fresh pork category, Lidl announced a £500m investment in the British pork sector following a £14m injection in 2022, doubling down on its 100 percent everyday fresh British pork commitment.
This was alongside launching a pork producer group to aid industry collaboration, investing in farm initiatives to decrease emissions, and funding research into welfare enhancements.
January: As many farmers were facing challenging weather conditions, Lidl revealed an investment of over £70 million in British root veg suppliers through long-term contracts, offering farmers certainty and security to invest in their operations.
Building on the success of Lidl’s Grassroots programme, the discounter has launched a Grassroots Farming Conference to strengthen ties with British farmers across more sectors, including the pork, dairy, and beef industries. The inaugural conference will occur at Harper Adams Agricultural University in February 2025.
