Vegan at Aldi and Lidl (Germany): What to Buy and What to Scan
Vegan at Aldi and Lidl (Germany): What to Buy and What to Scan
You are in the middle aisle at Aldi with a basket, the pack says “rein pflanzlich”, and the Zutatenverzeichnis on the back is a wall of German. Two things decide whether it goes in the basket: which own-brand line you are holding, and whether the ingredients back up the packaging. Here is the aisle-by-aisle version.
Key Takeaways
- Lidl’s vegan own brand is Vemondo. Aldi’s is MYVAY, and both Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd use it, but the two companies run separate ranges.
- Lidl says it carries more than 1,000 vegan products, around 650 of them substitutes. Aldi Süd counted more than 1,400 products labelled vegan in its 2024 range.
- Discounters are the cheapest place for tofu, oat drinks, pulses and plain pasta, and Lidl prices most Vemondo products level with the animal version.
- A plant-based look proves nothing. Look for the V-Label vegan or the Veganblume, then read the Zutatenverzeichnis.
TL;DR: At Lidl, buy vegan from the Vemondo range, and at Aldi from MYVAY, then check the pack for the V-Label vegan or the Veganblume. Outside those lines the traps sit in bakery, sweets, crisps, pesto and ready meals, where Gelatine, Molke, Lab and Schellack hide.
The own-brand lines to know before you walk in
Lidl’s vegan own brand is Vemondo, and Aldi’s is MYVAY. Both Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd sell MYVAY in Germany, but they are separate businesses, so the range depends on which one you shop at.
Lidl says Vemondo covers around 650 plant-based substitutes and more than 1,000 vegan products in total, and it won the 2024 V-Label Awards in Germany as an own brand (Lidl, retrieved 2026-09-24). Aldi Nord names oat and almond drinks and soy yoghurt among its MYVAY products (ALDI Nord, retrieved 2026-09-24), and Aldi Süd used MYVAY for its January 2026 Veganuary highlights (ALDI Süd, 14 January 2026, retrieved 2026-09-24).
| Retailer | Vegan own brand | What it carries | Logo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lidl | Vemondo | Around 650 plant-based substitutes, over 1,000 vegan products (September 2026) | V-Label vegan |
| Aldi Süd | MYVAY | Over 1,400 products labelled vegan in the 2024 range, food and cosmetics (January 2026) | V-Label vegan or Veganblume |
| Aldi Nord | MYVAY | Vegan range listed by category: meat and fish, milk and cheese, ready meals, sweets (retrieved 2026-09-24) | Vegan logo on the pack |
Aldi Süd counts a product as vegan when it carries the V-Label vegan or the Veganblume, and Aldi Nord lists its vegan range by category (ALDI Nord, retrieved 2026-09-24). Read the rows as dated snapshots.
Aisle by aisle: what to buy and what to check
| Aisle | Safe picks | Read the label for | The trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakery and bread | Plain rye and sourdough loaves | L-Cystein (E920), Milch, Butter, Ei | Milk rolls and Buttercroissant use butter, milk or egg |
| Pasta and rice | Plain durum wheat pasta, rice, tinned pulses | Ei, Eierteigwaren | Fresh egg pasta and anything sold as Eierteigwaren |
| Sweets and gum | Fruit gums with Pektin, vegan chocolate | Gelatine, Schellack (E904), Karmin (E120), Bienenwachs (E901) | Gummy bears and Weingummi are gelatin, shiny coatings often Schellack |
| Crisps and snacks | Plain salted crisps | Molkenpulver, Magermilchpulver, Sauerrahm, Aromen | Cheese and sour cream flavours use milk powder |
| Pesto and sauces | Tomato passata, oil and vinegar dressings | Lab, Parmesan, Pecorino, Sardellen, Honig, Butterschmalz | Pesto Genovese contains Parmesan, set with animal rennet |
| Ready meals and frozen | Frozen vegetables, tinned beans | Sahne, Butter, Käse, Hühnerfett, Fleischbrühe | A vegetarisch label allows milk, egg, honey and beeswax |
| Drinks and juice | Plain oat and soy drinks | Molke, Magermilchpulver, Honig | Juice and wine can be clarified with Gelatine, which is never declared |
A German government guide lists the same traps: Gelatine in gummy bears, yoghurt and pudding, Schellack (E904) on sweets and gum, Karmin (E120) from scale insects, L-Cystein (E920) in bread, and flavourings in crisps that can come from game and poultry without naming the animal (Landkreis Germersheim, retrieved 2026-09-24). Its summary line says it best: a product without meat, milk and eggs is not automatically vegan.
The German words that decide it
- Gelatine: gelatin, from animal skin and bones.
- Molke, Molkenpulver, Süßmolkenpulver: whey and whey powder, from milk.
- Magermilchpulver: skimmed milk powder.
- Butterschmalz: clarified butter.
- Ei, Eiklar, Eigelb: egg and its parts.
- Honig: honey, vegetarian in German guidelines but not vegan.
- Lab: rennet, used to set many cheeses.
- Schellack (E904) and Karmin or Cochenille (E120): insect-derived glaze and red colour.
- Aromen: flavourings, which can be animal-derived without saying so.
German guidelines place milk, eggs, honey, beeswax and lanolin on the vegetarian side of the line and outside the vegan definition, which is why “vegetarisch” is not a green light for vegans (BMEL, Leitsätze für vegane und vegetarische Lebensmittel, new version 10 September 2024, retrieved 2026-09-24).
For the individual calls, see whether gelatin is vegetarian, whether shellac is vegan, whether E120 carmine is vegan and what rennet actually is. The German common ingredients guide lists the country words, and hidden animal ingredients in German food covers traditional dishes.
What is genuinely good value
The plain staples win: own-brand tofu, oat and soy drinks, tinned pulses, dried lentils, plain pasta, rolled oats, peanut butter, frozen vegetables and hummus. They cost the least per gram of protein and carry the fewest surprises. Vegan ready meals and meat alternatives are convenient, not cheap.
Lidl says a large part of the Vemondo range has sold at the same base price as its animal equivalent since October 2023, and reports that vegan item sales rose by more than 30 percent (yumda, 14 August 2025, retrieved 2026-09-24). That parity is why a discounter basket beats a specialist vegan shop.
Aldi Süd’s January 2026 Veganuary prices show the level: 0.79 EUR for the MYVAY Bio-Mandeldrink, 1.49 EUR for MYVAY falafel or Gemüsebällchen and 1.89 EUR for The Wonder Chunks, valid 19 to 24 January. Those were promotion prices on those dates, so check the shelf (ALDI Süd, 14 January 2026, retrieved 2026-09-24).
Why a plant-based look is not proof
A brand name is not a vegan claim. Lidl’s own page notes that in some Lidl country companies Vemondo also covers vegetarian products, which can contain animal milk (Lidl, retrieved 2026-09-24), so check the logo on the pack.
Vegan and vegetarian are different claims, and traces do not break a vegan one. The German guidelines allow unintended carry-over where it is technically unavoidable, and they warn that “vegan” is not the same statement as “milk-free” or “egg-free” (BMEL, Leitsätze, retrieved 2026-09-24). That difference matters if you avoid milk for allergy reasons, not ethics.
In the 2025 national nutrition report, 7 percent of respondents said they eat vegetarian and 2 percent vegan (BMLEH Ernährungsreport 2025, retrieved 2026-09-24). So start in the vegan own-brand section, check the logo, read the Zutatenverzeichnis for the words above, and scan the barcode when there is no logo. Let the label do the work, not the packaging design.
Check before you eat. The Verify Veg app scans a barcode or reads an ingredient list from a photo and flags ingredients against your diet (vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher, Jain and more). Download on the App Store - Android is coming soon.
Written by Samir Narain, founder of Verify Veg. Verify Veg helps people check packaged food against their diet by scanning barcodes and reading ingredient lists from photos.
Note: Verify Veg provides ingredient-based compatibility checks, not certification. Product ranges and recipes change, so always confirm with the brand or vendor.