The Czech Minister of Agriculture, Zdeněk Nekula (KDU-ČSL), posted a tweet on Tuesday praising Lidl for reducing the price of flour to CZK 12.90 per kilogram. While the minister may have expected a more positive response, the tweet was met with criticism and ridicule from both the public and other politicians. However, Lidl customers took advantage of the offer and bought the flour in bulk.
The discounted flour that the German supermarket chain was selling for CZK 12.90 was the Belbake brand, which typically sells for CZK 21.90. The discount was only available through the Lidl Plus card or app, which offers various benefits and coupons to users.
The Minister of Agriculture thanked Lidl for their cooperation and for understanding what he had been trying to achieve. However, his tweet received a lot of backlash from the public and other politicians.
One politician, Miroslav Kalousek, responded to the tweet by saying, “Mr. Minister, why are you insulting us like this and making it impossible for yourself? You are making the whole government impossible.”
While the offer was only valid for one day, Lidl customers took full advantage of the discount. When the PragueIN.cz news team visited a Lidl store in Prague 3 on Thursday, the flour was no longer on offer and was back to its standard price.
One of the store assistants stated that the store often has short-term discounts, so customers need to be vigilant. Another employee informed the team that the discounted flour sold out quickly.
In addition to Lidl, other Czech retailers were also offering discounted flour. On the same day, the wholesale store Makro was offering the Ramill brand of flour for CZK 20, and Tesco had a sale on the Mlýny J. Voženílek brand for CZK 17.90.