Colruyt has angered many people this week. The reason ? An advertisement published Monday recalling the benefits of proteins of vegetable origin, thus inviting consumers to prefer them to those of animal origin.
“We are multiplying initiatives to help you find alternatives to animal proteins. In this way, we contribute to a better environment and healthier foodwrote Colruyt in a Facebook post. To help you, Colruyt Group intends to play a pioneering role and multiply innovative initiatives: Belgian mussels and soya, cricket bars, hybrid burger (product developed 100% in-house).”
Faced with this message, several Belgian meat producers reacted, protesting once morest the channel and the content of its message: “Breeding in Belgium is really a breeding that is part of a circular economy, which is very importantexplains Manu Laruelle, cattle breeder, at the microphone of RTL Info. The cows are more or less for seven months of the year in pasture and these pastures are the best carbon sinks that exist in the world.”
Nicolas Perreaux, veterinarian with a specialization in the food industry, also denounces Colruyt’s remarks. “In Belgium in 2020, the average meat consumption per capita was 10 kilos. So, for more than 20 years, you might eat Walloon meat to compensate for a flight to Thailand by plane. This makes it possible to rethink the scales of magnitude of this meat production, which is often made the scapegoat today for global warming.”
Several consumers also reacted angrily to the post: “I boycott the signs that sell us insects!”, writes someone, “Selling a ray by destroying another world, the one that made you rich… It’s pathetic”, protests another. The messages of anger are numerous: “Disappointed and angry”, “When Colruyt wants to try to ride a wave to the point of making himself look ridiculous. It doesn’t matter, I’ll go get it from a local craftsman”, “you have no conscience” …
Colruyt ended up responding to the critics: “With this campaign, under no circumstances are we speaking out once morest meat. We are aiming for a more balanced ratio between the consumption of animal and vegetable proteins and moving towards a flexitarian diet“, they said.
