Whether regionality, animal welfare, organic or purely plant-based products - a sustainable and conscious diet is becoming increasingly important in the lives of people in Austria. BILLA is responding to this and setting new industry standards. Plant-based foods in particular are playing a key role here. For more than 20 years, the own brand Vegavita has been an integral part of the world of plant-based products. As a pioneer, BILLA has set a milestone with PFLANZILLA, Europe's first store of a traditional food retailer with a purely plant-based range. One highlight of the shop is the mushroom-based salmon fillet from Revo Foods, which is produced using a 3D printing process and is available in a supermarket worldwide for the first time. BILLA PFLANZILLA celebrated its first birthday with Revo Foods and the world's first mushroom-based salmon fillet from the 3D printer. © BILLA /Robert Harson Plant-based salmon fillet from 3D printer
According to NielsenIQ*, plant-based fish and seafood has the highest sales growth in Austria at more than 1,000 per cent and also the greatest potential due to the even smaller number of products in this category. BILLA has an innovation to match: the fungi-based salmon fillet from the Revo Foods 3D printer is available to customers exclusively at BILLA PFLANZILLA. The new product is similar in flavour and appearance to animal salmon and contains omega-3, pea proteins and vitamins. In addition, the fungi-based salmon fillet has a lower fat content compared to animal salmon. The Viennese start-up caused a sensation back in 2021 with smoked salmon "made from plants".

33 per cent more sales of lower-priced plant-based products at BILLA
BILLA is also a pioneer in the much-discussed price issue of plant-based foods with the aim of making plant-based products affordable for everyone in Austria. In November last year, BILLA reduced the price of a further 20 items in addition to the 30 equally cheap or cheaper products. This was done to ensure that all Vegavita products are on a par with or even cheaper than their animal counterparts. These price reductions have led to a 33 per cent increase in sales since their implementation. Future new Vegavita products for which there is a comparable animal product will automatically be placed at the same price level or, if possible, offered at a lower price.

Verena Wiederkehr, BILLA Head of Plant-Based Business Development / Copyright: © BILLA / Robert Harson Verena Wiederkehr, BILLA Head of plant-based Business Development: "Part of our plant-based strategy is to always keep an eye on prices - and we have done so from the very beginning. Our aim is to make plant-based enjoyment affordable for everyone. Putting animal products on an equal footing with their plant-based counterparts in terms of price is a key step in this direction and is very popular with our customers. This is demonstrated by the huge 33 per cent increase in sales of reduced-price plant-based products. We are clearly investing in the right place. It makes us proud to set an important example and, as a food retailer, to bear the resulting costs."

From left to right: Verena Wiederkehr (BILLA Head of Plant-Based Business Development), Michael Paterno (BILLA Management Board) and Daniela Schwarz-Knehtl (Head of BILLA Marketing) set a strong signal for plant-based enjoyment at BILLA. © BILLA/Robert Harso Every tenth milk sold is already plant-based
Plant-based milk in particular is becoming increasingly popular. Between 2020 and 2022 alone, sales of plant-based milk in Austria increased by 21 per cent. At BILLA and BILLA PLUS, every tenth milk sold is now a plant-based variant. Nevertheless, plant-based milk is still taxed at 20 per cent and animal-based milk at just 10 per cent. This difference amounts to between 15 and 25 cents per pack or litre, which is particularly noticeable in times of price increases and inflation. For Veganuary, BILLA set an example and gave its customers this extra VAT on all chilled and non-chilled plant-based variants in January - in other words, on around 100 products.

"Putting plant-based and animal-based milk on an equal footing for tax purposes would not only provide a financial incentive for our customers, but would also give them a real choice depending on their individual tastes. Especially in times of inflation, it is important to relieve the financial burden on our customers, just as various European countries such as France, the Netherlands and Finland have already enshrined equal VAT in law," says Wiederkehr.

Expanded BILLA GOOD FOOD Board focusses on plant-based and organic products
BILLA launched the BILLA GOOD FOOD Board (BILLA GOOD FOOD Board | BILLA) to support customers on their conscious nutritional journey. The board is made up of experts from the worlds of catering, nutrition, professional sport and lifestyle and has been sharing useful inspiration, tips and tricks on various platforms for almost two years. Content creator Simone Kemptner, blogger Lea Green and blogger Lara Selina Diebold are now part of the group of experts, which already includes Richard Strebinger, Adi and Simone Raihmann, Hank Ge and Jelena Maier. This year, the BILLA GOOD FOOD Board is focussing on conscious, purely plant-based and organic enjoyment.

BILLA celebrates plant-based enjoyment at a plant-based get-together. © BILLA/Robert Harson BILLA hosted a plant-based get-together at the Palmenhaus in Vienna
To mark Veganuary, BILLA organised an evening dedicated to plant-based enjoyment. In addition to purely plant-based food and drinks, guests were offered a programme with various activities. They made flower crowns with "We Are Flowergirls", got tattoos from "Happy Needles", decorated sustainable shopping bags with "We love Handmade" and created their own nut butter with the BILLA PFLANZILLA nut press.

Vienna tram station in Siebensterngasse "plants" people waiting with the help of augmented reality. © GEWIST Vienna tram station "planted" waiting people
Not far from the BILLA PFLANZILLA in Vienna, the tram station in Siebensterngasse in Vienna's 7th district was given the PFLANZILLA jungle look with a unique effect. When people stood in front of the augmented reality screen, they were virtually covered in jungle plants. People could take a seat on benches modelled on pieces of tofu.

Tastings at the Viennese PFLANZILLA
On 19 and 20 January, the Viennese BILLA PFLANZILLA became the venue for purely plant-based tastings with products from brands including Vegavita, Ja! Natürlich, BILLA Bio, Revo and Oatly brands - including insights tours with Verena Wiederkehr, BILLA Head of Plant-Based Business Development. Customers were able to bring along their suggestions for product ideas and help shape the PFLANZILLA range.

BILLA online shop celebrates Veganuary
The BILLA online shop celebrated Veganuary with many promotions on purely plant-based products. A separate tab showed the plant-based variety at a glance and from 16 to 18 January, customers received a 25 per cent discount on all products in the "purely plant-based" category.

BILLA PFLANZILLA: Lighthouse project in the heart of Vienna celebrated its first birthday in September 2023
As a flagship project of the plant-based strategy, BILLA opened BILLA PFLANZILLA in September 2022, the first store in the traditional food retail sector in Europe to offer a purely plant-based range. Since then, BILLA has covered a significant demand in the heart of Vienna as the first point of contact for plant-based enjoyment. More than a year later, the green and yellow shop's range now includes more than 2,500 plant-based products, with a further 800 added by the end of October. 16 per cent of the BILLA PFLANZILLA range is exclusively available in the shop, which covers more than 200 square metres, or in the BILLA online shop. Around 137,000 customers have been won over by the shop's range since it opened. The most popular product in their shopping bags is the plant-based nougat croissant. The most popular own-brand plant-based product is Vegavita Extra Pikant with sunflower protein, followed by Vegavita smoked tofu made from organic soya from Austria and Vegavita minced meat.

In November, BILLA opened a temporary PFLANZILLA pop-up store in Graz. It will be open until 24 February.

Source reference
*Good Food Institute Europe (GFI), "Austria: Development of the market for plant-based foods in the retail sector 2020-2022", published 2023