Over 90,000 Viennese are considered poor and often do not have enough money for basic supplies. In 2004, Vienna received its first social supermarket where people with a maximum monthly income of €800 were able to buy heavily discounted foodstuffs. More of these stores called Vinzi-Markt, will be opening this month.

Social supermarket founder Alexander Schiel is considering opening three more markets in the city after the massive success of his first shop. Soaring food-stuff prices have left many people no other option than heading to the supermarket which offers about a third off regular prices. Some items on sale in the supermarket are wrongly packaged or labelled but of faultless quality, and many items are on offer because they are almost at their expiry date. Bread is given away for free.

In order to shop at the Vinzi-Markt, customers must register and prove monthly earnings below €800. People receiving social subsidies, elderly people coping with minimum state pensions and students make the majority of the shop's customers.

Similar markets have been established in St. Pölten, Wiener Neustadt and Graz by Minister Wolfgang Pucher.