Principles and Guidelines

The REWE Group has defined fundamental principles, norms of behaviour, the Guideline on Sustainable Business Practices and a number of policies related to raw materials for the purpose of integrating responsible business practises into both the company and its supply chains.

With the goal of “The Best Performance – for Customers, Retailers and Employees”, the fundamental values of REWE Group were formulated in the Mission Statement drawn up in 2008:

• We act independently according to the ideas of community!
• We work for the customer. We are at the heart of the market!
• We welcome new directions. Standing still means going backwards!
• We act with integrity and treat one another with respect! We keep our word!
• We strive to find the best solution, make considered decisions and act consistently!
• We are aware of our responsibility and act sustainably!

Rules governing the upstanding behaviour of all employees and managers including the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board are specified and bindingly formulated in the Code of Conduct of the REWE GroupCode of Conduct of the REWE Group. The code is also designed to serve as a guide to those who work with REWE Group.

The basis of sustainable commercial operations at the REWE Group is the Guideline on Sustainable Business Practices on Sustainable Business Practices. This guideline specifically describes the fundamental value “We are aware of our responsibility and act sustainably!” As such, it provides binding orientation to employees, managers, business partners and suppliers.

In its Declaration of principles on human rights, the REWE Group has pledged to strengthen human rights and prevent violations of human rights. This commitment applies both to its own business activities and to those of its global supply and value chains.

Specific guidelines define standards

The guidelines of the REWE Group serve as a key instrument that the company uses to make supply chains of critical raw materials more sustainable. They outline the company’s strategic approach to the issue and act as a binding framework that governs business relationships with contract partners in the store-brand supply chains of the REWE Group. They also describe processes and define requirements, standards, measures and goals that serve as the foundation of responsible business activities in the company in terms of society and the environment. The REWE Group had approved the following guidelines through the beginning of 2022:

• Guideline on Living Wages and Incomes: Focuses on improving the wage and income situation in the supply chain (download).
• Guideline on Fairness: Promotes human rights and the improvement of working conditions download (download).
• Guideline on Women in the Supply Chain: Concentrates on protecting and promoting women in the supply chain (download).
• Guideline on the Prevention of Child Labour: Focuses on preventing and eliminating child labour (download).
• Guideline on Water Protection in the Supply Chain: Addresses the responsible use of water in supply chains (download).
• Guideline on Fish and Seafood: Sets standards for wild fish and aquaculture-raised fish and defines demanding transparency criteria. It also outlines the company’s plans to switch store-brand products to certified sources (download).
• Guideline on Coffee: Focuses on the creation of an increasingly sustainable coffee sector and describes the company’s successful switch to certified sources for its store-brand products (download).
• Guideline on Cocoa Products: Focuses on the increasingly sustainable procurement of cocoa and describes the company’s nearly completed transition to certified sources for its store-brand products (download).
• Guideline on Juices: Is designed to improve social, environmental and commercial conditions in juice production, describes the obligations of business partners and outlines plans to switch the company’s store-brand products to certified sources (download).
• Guideline on Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil Products: Addresses the procurement of increasingly sustainable palm oil products in ways that extend beyond the requirements of established standards and describes the successful switch that store-brand products have made to “mass-balance” quality (download).
• Guideline on Organic Products: Outlines the process being used to bolster organic store-brand products by applying standards that, in many ways, are more demanding than the requirements that govern the EU organic logo (download).
• Guideline on Soy in Animal Feed: Requires imported soybean meal to be non-genetically modified and calls for the examination of potential replacements with domestic protein sources as a key requirement. The guideline also describes the transition to certified products (download).
• Guideline on Tea Products: Focuses on the creation of increasingly sustainable tea production and describes the company’s nearly completed transition to certified sources for its store-brand products (download).
• Guideline on Animal Welfare: Describes the company’s commitment to keeping animals in a manner appropriate to their species and the planned transition of the company’s store-brand products to certified sources (download).
• Guideline on More Sustainable Textiles: Defines the social and environmental standards that apply to the suppliers of textile products and outlines the planned transition of textiles to cotton produced by certified sources (download).
• Guideline on More Sustainable Textiles: Defines the social and environmental standards that apply to the suppliers of textile products and outlines the planned transition of textiles to cotton produced by certified sources (download).
• Guideline on Natural Stone Products: Is designed to improve the social and environmental standards that apply to the production of natural stones and describes the planned transition of the company’s store-brand products to certified sources (download).
• Guideline on More Eco-friendly Packaging: Describes how the REWE Group intends to make the packaging used in its store brands more environmentally friendly (download).
• Guideline on Climate Action in the Supply Chain: Explains how the REWE Group actively helps to protect the climate and intends to continuously reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain (download).
• Guideline on Circular Economy: Explains how the use of resources in the value chain can be reduced through the application of a recycling economy (download).

In August 2021, the REWE Group issued its Code of Conduct, a document that governs commercial due diligence in the supply chain. The code outlines the minimum standards that suppliers must observe and obey in their interactions with the REWE Group. The REWE Group’s approach to more responsible supply chains was also released in 2021. This document expresses the company’s clear strategic commitment to reducing and preventing social and environmental impacts and describes how the group of companies identifies, evaluates and addresses the impacts that its store-brand products have on people, animals and the environment. Other guidelines are scheduled to be released or updated in 2022.

Information on the status and goal achievement for the guidelines is reported in the sections Raw Materials in Focus – Food and Raw Materials in Focus – Non-food.