Materiality Analysis

From food retailing to DIY stores and tourism – the business operations of the REWE Group cover a broad range of areas. The potential material sustainability topics that could affect the company are just as varied. In addition to such instruments as Product-related Risk Analyses, materiality analysis is a method that the REWE Group uses to identify material topics and set priorities in its policy-development work. Two considerations play a major role in these efforts: the views of internal and external stakeholders and the impact of the company’s business operations on people, animals and the environment.

In 2020, the REWE Group revised its materiality analysis to reflect new conditions. The results of the analysis conducted in 2018 served as the basis of this work. The original 18 sustainability issues in the area of corporate responsibility were reviewed in terms of their currency and relevance. In addition, considerations were given to focal points that had not yet been addressed. In this work, the list of topics was compared with various frameworks, including the GRI Standards and the German Sustainability Code. To improve comprehension, the terminology used to describe selected topics was revised. As a result, the topic “conscious diets” was broken down into two segments: “promotion of healthy diets” and “expansion of the range of sustainable products” to simplify the issue. The result of the work was a consolidated list of 19 sustainability topics.

The REWE Group also added five other topics to these 19 issues. However, these issues were not included in the analysis because they affect overarching management concepts that are particularly relevant for the business activities of the REWE Group or because the company would have to disclose information about these topics to meet the requirements of the GRI standards. The five topics are:

• Sustainability in company management
• Integrity and compliance
• Fair business relationships
• Stakeholder dialogue
• Business performance

In a second step, the REWE Group conducted an online survey of consumers, employees and other expert stakeholders. A total of 6,150 respondents in Germany and Austria* rated the relevance of the 19 topics. The respondents considered the following issues to be particularly relevant to the REWE Group:

• Animal welfare
• Increased environmentally friendly packaging
• Climate protection
• Fair working conditions in the REWE Group’s own companies
• Environmental aspects in the supply chain

The topic of animal welfare was rated as a higher priority than it was in the last survey conducted in 2018.

In addition to prioritising the 19 topics, the respondents had an opportunity to express their specific expectations about their own top issue. In regards to the most highly relevant issue of animal welfare, respondents expressed a desire in particular for a larger selection of animal-based products created under very good livestock farming conditions. Another key expectation was the delisting of animal-based products created under poor livestock farming conditions.

In terms of increased environmentally friendly packaging, a large number of respondents cited the need to avoid plastic, reduce packaging volume, increase reusable solutions and make environmentally conscious improvements in packaging.

The respondents viewed the topic of climate protection as a cross-sectoral issue. They expect the REWE Group to base all decisions on climate protection. Many of the respondents rated short delivery routes resulting from the use of a larger range of regional products as an important factor.

The respondents were also asked to rate the REWE Group’s performance in terms of their own “top issue”. Overall, at least half of the respondents gave the REWE Group’s performance regarding each of the 19 topics a grade of C. The respondents were most satisfied with the company’s performance in education and training: 77 per cent gave the company a grade of C or better in this area. The topics that ranked two and three on the performance list were expansion of the range of sustainable products and occupational health and safety. The REWE Group’s performance in the areas of more sustainable logistics, digitalisation and sustainability as well as animal welfare received the lowest scores.

The results of the materiality analysis were presented to top management in a range of committees and working groups. They will be used along with other information in the company’s annual review of its sustainability strategy (for more information, see the segment Sustainability Strategy).

* Number of respondents to the consumer and employee survey by group: 3,848 Germany (external), 655 Germany (internal), 505 Austria (external), 1,144 Austria (internal). The groups were weighted to calculate the overall result.

See defining report content and topic boundaries