Press Release 16th January 2025

BILLA: Equal tax for animal milk and plant-based varieties long overdue!

Plant-based enjoyment has long been more than just a trend - it stands for sustainable development. This is illustrated by a look at the latest figures: In Austrian food retail, sales of plant-based meat products rose by 24 per cent in the first 48 weeks of 2024, while sales of plant-based dairy products increased by 11 per cent.

A woman in a black blazer and purple dress holding a sandwich stands in front of a counter displaying various baked goods. Signs advertise a product for 2.99 with labels indicating it is vegetarian and organic.

Verena Wiederkehr, BILLA Head of Plant-Based Business Development, with the new plant-based Vegavita schnitzel roll, a Ja! Natürlich organic roll and a soya schnitzel from Austria. / Copyright: © BILLA, Reproduction for PR purposes free of charge

Download

At a glance

BILLA is giving its customers the extra VAT on all plant-based drinks in January
Expansion of the plant-based range at BILLA PLUS: doubling the PFLANZILLA worlds to 39 locations
Vegavita's plant-based schnitzel roll with 100% Austrian soya schnitzel now available at the hot counter in all BILLA PLUS stores
Animal-free cream cheese from German start-up Formo to be rolled out to all BILLA stores in Austria

In terms of sales, these categories are growing significantly faster than animal products at 14 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively (source: NielsenIQ). As a plant-based pioneer, BILLA is also seeing exciting developments: One in ten milk cartons sold at BILLA contains purely plant-based ingredients. Nevertheless, these are taxed at 20 per cent in Austria - in contrast to animal milk (10 per cent). Countries such as Denmark, France and Ireland already treat plant-based drinks equally in terms of taxation.

Verena Wiederkehr, BILLA Head of Plant-Based Business Development: ‘It is not in keeping with the times and simply unfair to customers that the plant-based variants are taxed twice as high as animal milk. We at BILLA have been calling for equal taxation for over two years. The issue of price is the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers. This puts purely plant-based products at an unnecessary but immense disadvantage. We would of course pass on a tax reduction 1:1 to our customers.’ To mark Veganuary, BILLA is sending out a strong signal of fairness and is giving its customers the extra VAT on all plant-based drinks in January. This means customers can save 10 per cent on their purchase.

BILLA customers can now enjoy a purely plant-based schnitzel roll

The Austrian dietary recommendations for 2024 include a food pyramid without meat and fish and with pulses as a separate category for the first time - a clear signal of the increasing relevance of plant-based nutrition. With this in mind, BILLA is continuously expanding its range of animal-free products. New highlight: the Vegavita schnitzel roll, with a Ja! Natürlich organic roll and a soya schnitzel from Austria, now available at the hot counter in selected BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores (from 16 to 22 January for €1.99 in promotion, then at the regular price of €2.69). A plant-based croissant, refined with a creamy pistachio filling and pistachio biscuit dough, is also available at BILLA PLUS for €1.99 from 16 to 25 January. In addition, the number of PFLANZILLA Worlds, which offer around 150 purely plant-based products, was doubled to 39 BILLA PLUS locations last year.

Tradition meets innovation: plant-based fresh cream enjoyment from Formo is rolled out to all BILLA stores

‘In autumn, we announced that we would be rolling out Formo's delicious plant-based cream cheese counterparts to our BILLA stores at the beginning of 2025 and we are keeping our word,’ says Wiederkehr.

Formo relies on koji protein, which is known from Japanese cuisine and has characterised it for centuries. The protein is obtained through micro-fermentation and impresses with its flavour, consistency and environmental friendliness. The fresh cream ‘Frischhain’ is available in natural, herbal and tomato flavours.