Lindt rejects selling chocolate at discounters Aldi and Lidl

Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli has refused a partnership with German discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, saying it would harm its products.

“Otherwise we will end up with more and more special offers and devalue our brand,” Chief Executive Officer Adalbert Lechner said in an interview published Thursday by German newspaper Die Zeit.

In other supermarkets, Lindt enjoys “premium placement that gives space to the brand,” Lechner said, while discounters sell the products at low prices. Lidl and Aldi declined to comment when contacted by the dpa.

Chocolate makers such as Lindt, Mondelez (Milka) and Ritter Sport are facing rising raw cocoa prices due to poor harvests and other supply issues.

This has notable consequences for consumers, with the price of chocolate having increased rapidly in recent years.

In October, customers paid an average of 77% more for a chocolate bar than in 2020.

According to market researchers such as YouGov, this has led to a decline in chocolate purchases.

Although prices on commodity exchanges have declined recently, they remain relatively high. Lechner doesn’t expect chocolate to become cheaper again in the near future.

“Even if the price of cocoa falls, I do not expect chocolate prices to fall,” he told Die Zeit newspaper.