Lidl, Norma and Netto are among the German retailers that agreed to no longer sell American lobster after being pressured by the Albert Schweitzer Foundation and other animal rights organizations, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) German office.
The organizations are opposed to the trade and consumption of live lobster, and, according to the USDA, German retailers are “quite responsive” to animal rights concerns partly because the market is so competitive and price sensitive, the USDA reported in a notice on Wednesday. Germany’s retail market is dominated by discount retailers.
Though Lidl, Norma and Netto Stavenhagen are discount retailers, they do offer lobster products, especially over the holiday season. At USD 3 million, Germany represented less than 2 percent of total U.S. lobster exports to the European Union in 2011, but that doesn’t include inter-EU sales, so the figure is likely higher than USD 3 million, according to the USDA.
