A plant-based basket of staple groceries costs less per kilogram than a comparable animal-based basket at all nine major supermarkets in the Netherlands, according to new price research from ProVeg Nederland. Consumers save an average of 18% when buying the plant-based basics, rising to 30% at the cheapest chain.
The study compared the lowest-priced plant-based meat and dairy alternatives against the lowest-priced animal equivalents, in packaging up to one kilogram, at Albert Heijn, Aldi, Dirk, Ekoplaza, Hoogvliet, Jumbo, Lidl, Picnic, and Plus. The basic basket included mince, burgers, butter, milk, yoghurt, and cheese. ProVeg found that even small packs of plant-based products often carry a lower price per kilo than animal products sold in bulk, a shift it links partly to supermarket private label pricing and partly to inflation hitting animal products harder.
The largest relative saving was recorded at Plus, at 30%, followed by Dirk at 28% and Lidl at 24%, while Ekoplaza showed the narrowest gap, at 5%. Plant-based burgers, chicken-style pieces, and vegan mince were priced most favourably against their animal counterparts, at 31%, 29%, and 21% respectively.
Martine van Haperen, food industry expert at ProVeg Nederland, said, “The idea that plant-based products are expensive holds many people back from eating healthier and more sustainably. By pricing plant-based alternatives slightly lower than the animal version, the sustainable choice also becomes the cheapest choice. We are seeing more and more supermarkets consciously acting on that.“
Figures from GFI Europe cited in the research show cheaper plant-based private label products grew revenue by 12% in 2025, while pricier branded products fell by 12%.
Not every category has closed the gap. In 13% of cases, the plant-based version costs at least twice as much as the animal one; plant-based mayonnaise averages four times the price of egg mayonnaise, and the cheapest plant-based yoghurt costs roughly double the cheapest dairy yoghurt.
Lidl was the only chain to place in the top three on both the basic and extended baskets, the latter adding items such as chicken-style pieces, shawarma, sausage, schnitzel, and mayonnaise. ProVeg attributed this to Lidl’s policy of pricing plant-based meat and dairy variants at or below animal equivalents in comparable pack sizes.
