Lidl has opened a global innovation and cooperation centre in Portugal which enables customers to participate market studies, focus groups and recipe tastings.

Called Lidlab, the centre will cover the development of both food and non-food private label goods.

Lidlab will occupy two spaces near stores in Linda-a-Velha in Oeiras and Agramonte in Porto, with customers near these stores seeing a banner in the Lidl Plus app where they can find out more about ongoing research initiatives and register to take part.

Based on their availability and preferences, registered customers will be invited to take part in testing activities.

This includes sensory testing which involves blind tastings of Lidl and competitor products.

Testers evaluate products on factors including taste, aroma, texture and appearance. The Linda-a-Velha Lidlab has six dedicated tasting booths, while tastings at the Agramonte location are held in the focus group room.

In Portugal, Lidl said that around 80 per cent of the products it sells are from its own product range.

The company says it prioritises locally sourced products and local producers where possible.

“As we celebrate 30 years in the Portuguese market, we are giving our customers a more decisive role in shaping our private-label products,” said Bruno Pereira, purchasing manager at Lidl Portugal. “Beyond contributing to the improvement of their favourite items and the creation of new ones, customers will help Lidl maintain its reputation for offering a wide, high-quality product range at the best price—standing out from the rest of the market.”

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