Aldi leaflet Real Bread Week

Source: Aldi

Aldi’s latest leaflet invites shoppers to ‘spend less dough this Real Bread Week’

Aldi has been accused of hijacking a charity’s initiative and using it to promote products outside the scope of the organisation’s campaign.

The discounter is under fire from the Real Bread Campaign for referring to its annual Real Bread Week in a marketing leaflet without otherwise mentioning the charity or seeking its permission.

The campaign’s mission is that real bread should by legal definition be made without chemical raising agents or other additives. It wants the principle applied to, but not limited to, sourdough.

Aldi’s leaflet for its latest Specialbuys this week invites shoppers to “spend less dough this Real Bread Week (16 February-25 February) with our quick and simple recipes, perfect for sharing”. Products shown on the accompanying pages include olives, tzatziki and houmous.

The breadmaking recipes featured include one for ‘fluffy flatbreads’ which falls outside the Real Bread Campaign’s definition as it involves a chemical raising agent, according to campaign founder Chris Young.

Young used X (formerly Twitter) to attack Aldi for using his campaign to advertise products other than ‘real bread’.

“@AldiUK, we see you’ve appropriated our charity’s annual #RealBreadWeek to advertise olives, houmous, cooked chicken, cheese etc without our permission or even mentioning us,” posted Young.

Young told The Grocer: “While it’s good to see Aldi encouraging people to make their own real bread, the company is seeking to profit from a charity’s initiative by appropriating it for their marketing.”

Aldi has not commented in response, though the discounter is understood to have been in contact with the Real Bread Campaign to discuss its concerns.

Aldi is not the first supermarket to have attracted the ire of the Real Bread Campaign. In December, Lidl renamed a loaf from Sourdough Rye Crusty Bloomer to Crusty Wheat & Rye Bloomer after the Real Bread Campaign took up a complaint from a customer about the product’s description.

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