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Lidl has been accused of ‘flag washing’ by making the Union Jack prominent on its NZ made meat.
German supermarket Lidl has been accused of “flag washing” on social media after allegedly making the Union Jack more prominent on lamb products imported from New Zealand.
But Kiwis on Twitter disagreed – asking whether it was the first time the poster had ever come across a New Zealand flag.
Steve Dresser, chief executive of UK retail consultancy group Grocery Insight, posted a photo of a pack of Birchwood lamb kebabs at Lidl saying it was “noteworthy that Lidl are featuring New Zealand lamb”.
“The Union Jack element of the NZL flag is most prominent on the label which is interesting….,” he said.
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It was the same with steak from Australia.
He said the “strategically placed element of the flag” would trick people into thinking it was a British-farmed and made product.
”In a sea of British flags on meat, it’s not clear enough that it’s not British product,” he said.
Some shoppers agreed it was misleading. One man said he’d also been caught out by the placement of the flag. Another said it was “disingenuous”.
But New Zealanders and even some British tweeters were quick to poke fun at Dresser, with many saying it was obvious it wasn’t the British flag.
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“I mean dude, that’s literally our flag. Not gonna say I’m happy about that (the Red Peak design should have won our referendum) but the Union Jack and stars are literally what our flag is,” one man commented.
”You’re kidding right? They’ve literally printed the NZ flag on the packaging. This is embarrassing,” another said.
”Have you just discovered what the Australian and Kiwi flags look like?”
Lidl’s website states it is committed to backing the future of British farming and 100% of its fresh milk, butter, eggs, cream, chicken and beef comes from British suppliers.
But in England and Wales, Lidl’s fresh meat is sold as Birchwood Farm, which does not actually exist.
In 2017 British farmers came out saying the practice of using a made-up farm obscured the true provenance of the food item by conjuring up an image of a traditional local farmstead.
Overseas supermarkets Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Marks and Spencer all use “fake farms” for their produce, dairy and meat.
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