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Management
- Foreword by Lionel Souque
- REWE Group Portrait
- Structure Employees
- Supply Chain
- Risk Management
- Initiatives and Memberships
- Principles and Guidelines
- Compliance
- Sustainability Strategy
- Stakeholder Dialogue
- Reporting Profile
- Materiality Analysis
- Economic Performance
- Taxes
- Cooperation with Politics
- Data Protection
- Digital Responsibility
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Green Products
- Management Approach Green Products
- Product-Related Risk Analyses
- Regionalism
- Focus Raw Materials – Food
- Focus Raw Materials – Non-Food and Services
- Organic
- PRO PLANET
- Animal Welfare
- Nutrition
- Packaging
- Circular Economy
- Water
- Biodiversity
- Climate Protection in the Supply Chain
- Ecological Aspects in the Supply Chain
- Child and Forced Labour as well as Child Protection
- Social Aspects in the Supply Chain
- Living Wages and Incomes
- Women in the Supply Chain
- Customer Health and Product Safety
- Promoting Sustainable Consumption
- Food Waste
- Energy, Climate and the Environment
- Employees
- Social Commitment
Brief Overview:
The REWE Group is committed to making efficient use of natural resources, such as raw materials and fuels, and to continuously examining its business processes to conserve these resources. The company
- aims to reduce its fuel consumption;
- aims to reduce the distance between warehouses and stores as well as emissions per kilometre through differentiated logistics concepts and the use of efficient vehicle technology and adapted driving behaviour.
Three areas of action have been defined in the Energy, Climate and Environment pillar of the company-wide Sustainability Strategy: Resource Conservation, Climate-relevant Emissions and Energy Efficiency. Measures in the area of Logistics and Mobility are assigned to the last two.
GRI 302: Energy
GRI 305: Emissions
Management Approach
Effect
As a food retailer, the REWE Group supplies consumers with fresh products, both through its sales lines in Germany and internationally. The company is aware that transporting goods involves fuel consumption. Fuel is consumed when transporting goods from the production site to the warehouse, from the warehouse to the store or, in the case of online orders, when delivering goods to customers. This consumption is reflected in energy consumption and in the release of climate-relevant emissions. The REWE Group is already reducing its energy consumption at corporate level through ideal route planning and driver training, and will make use of other potential opportunities to optimise logistics through use of alternative types of drive.
To reduce climate-relevant emissions in the upstream supply chains, for example from transportation of raw materials, the company adopted a climate strategy and climate objectives for REWE and PENNY in Germany in 2020. Further information, as well as projects and measures can be found in the section Climate Protection in the Supply Chain.
The REWE Group has already clearly reduced its energy consumption at corporate level through ideal route planning and driver training, and will make use of other potential opportunities to optimise logistics.
Principles
In its Guideline on Sustainable Business Practices, the REWE Group makes a commitment to efficient use of natural resources such as soil, air and water, as well as raw materials and fuels, and to continuously examining its business processes to conserve these resources.
Objectives
The REWE Group aspires to continuously reduce fuel consumption in its logistics operations when transporting goods. The company is also committed to making low-emission travel possible for its employees.
To make its progress towards achieving this objective visible, the REWE Group collects KPIs on its fuel consumption, for example.
In the reporting year, the REWE Group perceived external influences to be a particular challenge to achieving its objectives. For example, the planned expansion of the charging infrastructure was delayed due to bottlenecks in the supply of essential components. Furthermore, the energy supply crisis placed enormous demands on the employees responsible, because they had to firstly secure energy and, secondly, take on unplanned tasks. The company is taking countermeasures against this in the form of long-term energy purchases (see Energy).
Responsibility and Resources
The topic of Logistics and Mobility is the responsibility of the working group Energy, Climate and Environment. The working group is headed by Telerik Schischmanow (Member of the Executive Board – Finance). Dedicated units work on and expedite operational implementation in the regions and strategic business units.
Implementation
The REWE Group Logistics prioritises ensuring that the stores are always supplied in line with demand. A complex transportation and storage system guarantees availability, quality and freshness of products. At the same time, the REWE Group aims to keep fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from logistics as low as possible. To achieve this, the company is tackling the following issues: strategic reduction of the distance between warehouses and stores, high utilisation of vehicles and reduction of emissions per kilometre through differentiated logistics concepts and use of efficient vehicle technology and adapted driving behaviour.
A complex transportation and storage system guarantees availability, quality and freshness of products. At the same time, the REWE Group aims to keep fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from logistics as low as possible.
Fuel consumption for lorries and cars increased from 1,627 GWh in 2021 to 1,714 GWh in the reporting year.
Fuel consumption of the REWE Group (in GWh)
| Unit | 20201 | 20211 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuels (lorries/cars) | GWh | 1,591 | 1,627 | 1,714 |
| Share of fuel consumption (lorries/cars) in the energy consumption of the REWE Group | percent | 23.1 % | 23.3 % | 24.8 % |
Scope: All countries and companies of the REWE Group including retailers. Units that left the group before the reporting year were not taken into consideration.
1GRI 2-4: Due to the absence of consolidation units, the values were retrospectively adjusted to enable comparability of the data with the reporting year. In isolated cases where consumption values had been given incorrectly, these were corrected. If consumption data for lorries is not available, it is projected per business using calculated average consumption and kilometres driven.
Emissions from transportation have a share in the total greenhouse gas emissions of the REWE Group in Germany of around 38 per cent (2021: 37) and in Austria of around 36 per cent (2021: 36). The share of greenhouse gas emissions caused by logistics for the whole of the REWE Group amounted to 34 per cent in the 2022 reporting year. The absolute reduction between 2021 and 2022 amounted to 4,856 tonnes of CO2 equivalents.
Greenhouse gas emissions from logistics (incl. external forwarding logistics)
| Unit | 20202 | 20212 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute greenhouse gas emissions from logistics1 | t CO2 equivalents | 440,819 | 448,580 | 445,394 |
| Share of logistics in the total greenhouse gas emissions of the REWE Group1 | per cent | 32.5 % | 32.6 % | 34.0 % |
Scope: All countries and companies of the REWE Group including retailers. Units that left the group before the reporting year were not taken into consideration.
1The calculation of emissions intensity encompasses direct, indirect energy-related and other indirect emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3). For further information see section Climate Protection at Corporate Level.
2GRI 2-4: Due to the absence of consolidation units, the values were retrospectively adjusted to enable comparability of the data with the reporting year. In isolated cases where consumption values had been given incorrectly, these were corrected. If consumption data for lorries is not available, it is projected per business using calculated average consumption and kilometres driven. The conversion factors for the different energy sources are derived using the GEMIS material flow analysis model and the TREMOD transport emissions model.
Alternative power units in cars and lorries are one of the priorities for achieving a reduction in GHG emissions (for further information see section Climate Protection at Corporate Level). Testing them for operational capability, practicability and economic viability is therefore an important pillar of the sustainability efforts within the REWE Group Logistics. The REWE Group Logistics always keeps up-to-date with the latest developments in vehicle technology and types of power unit.
Alternative power units in cars and lorries are one of the priorities for achieving a reduction in GHG emissions.
In line with its business model, the REWE Group Logistics essentially transports food. There is therefore a low risk of chemicals or other hazardous substances being released from the transported products in the event of an accident. Any transportation accidents in logistics are recorded and followed up at the logistics locations.
Employees also use energy and produce emissions on their way to work. The REWE Group is also working on reducing emissions in this area in Germany, for example, through job tickets and by giving many employees the option of working flexibly on a regular basis.
Involvement of Stakeholders
The topic of more sustainable logistics has been assessed as essential by the stakeholders (see Materiality Analysis). They are informed annually about the effectiveness of measures taken via the Sustainability Report and in various dialogue formats (see Stakeholder Dialogue). This exchange allows stakeholders to provide important input on the issue.
Suppliers, retailers, partners and other stakeholders can submit their complaints or comments on this topic. For this purpose, the REWE Group has established reporting and grievance mechanisms. For more information, please refer to the Compliance section.
Measures and Projects
The REWE Group is committed to optimising its logistics and transportation processes through a variety of measures. These are presented for the reporting year according to the following priorities:
Storage Network Structure and Route Planning
New warehouses, reorganisation and vehicle utilisation
Along with improvements in the storage network, forecasting techniques and route planning are constantly optimised. For example, vehicle utilisation of the German lorry fleet was around 90 per cent of the vehicle capacity in use in 2022 (2021: 91).
Vehicle Technology and Alternative Power Units
Lorries powered by natural gas, diesel hybrids and electric lorries
Lorries powered by natural gas are a key part of the vehicle fleet in the REWE Region Mitte. The number of CNG (compressed natural gas) powered lorries amounted to 15 in 2022 (2021: 11).
The REWE International AG also works with options for alternative power units and, at the end of 2022, was using two diesel hybrid lorries (2021: 2) and six natural gas powered lorries (2021: 7) in Austria.
Between September 2018 and September 2021, a fully electric prototype lorry also supplied trade companies in the urban area of Vienna. Further tests with fully electric small-series vehicles were conducted in the Vienna area in summer and winter 2022. The e-lorry was developed and put into operation as part of the long-term partnership between REWE International AG and the Council for Sustainable Logistics (Council Nachhaltige Logistik (CNL)). The REWE International AG is also involved in the MEGAWATT-LOGISTICS project at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Universität für Bodenkultur (BOKU)). The objective is to devise solutions to the challenges of the switch to electric lorries.
Other fully electric small-series vehicles were tested in the urban area of Vienna in summer and winter of the reporting year.
New Euro 6 vehicles
To further reduce its emissions, the REWE Group also continuously replaces its vehicle fleet in Germany and Austria. It was able to replace older vehicles with lower emissions classes with new Euro 6 vehicles. The percentage of vehicles that satisfy the Euro 6 emission standard amounted to 92.9 per cent at the end of 2022 (2021: 92) for Germany and 88 per cent (2021: 83) in Austria (in relation to the total number of own lorries).
Furthermore, the average fuel consumption per 100 kilometres in Germany decreased again in 2022 by 1.11 per cent compared with the previous year – to 32.24 litres.
E-mobility for the delivery service
Highlight
To be able to supply customers efficiently through the REWE delivery service, the REWE Group is continuously optimising its approaches and concepts. It therefore has to meet urban challenges, such as increasing volume of traffic and the resulting congestion or traffic bans. The REWE Group therefore tested the use of electric vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes in the REWE delivery service at selected German locations in 2022. This test is to be expanded in 2023. One of the objectives is validation of electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure.
Another approach is delivery with electric bikes and trailers. In collaboration with a service provider, up to 120 deliveries have been made with cargo bikes at the Cologne location since 2021.
Multi-compartment vehicles
At the Lekkerland sales line, 263 (2021: 231) multi-chamber vehicles and/or vehicle combinations currently deliver products since the launch in 2013. There can be up to three different temperature zones inside these vehicles: Fresh (0–7 °C), deep-frozen (-18 °C) and ambient products. This multi-temperature logistics solution was awarded the Logistics Prize by the German Logistics Association (Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL)). It means customers, mainly petrol station shops and kiosks, can be supplied with their entire order in just one trip. This results in significant savings in lorry stops, kilometres and emissions.
Turning assistants for improved road safety
71 per cent of the REWE Group’s own vehicle fleet in Germany are equipped with turning assistants, which equates to a total of 585 lorries (2021: 500). As part of the safety partnership with the German Federal Ministry of Transport (Bundesverkehrsministerium), the REWE Group has only purchased new vehicles equipped with this technology for the vehicle fleet of REWE and PENNY in Germany since 2018 and of Lekkerland since 2019 (around 50 per cent of vehicles currently have an assistant) . All existing newer Euro 6 vehicles were retrofitted accordingly. The REWE Group is therefore setting a clear example for improved road safety and contributing to protecting pedestrians, cyclists and any other road users from often fatal turning collisions.
Mobility for Employees and Customers
Company bicycles
Highlight
To promote cycling, all employees of the REWE Group in Germany have been able to acquire a company bicycle as part of a deferred compensation model since 2016. The bicycles can be used for commuting to work and also for leisure. Since then, over 10,700 bicycles (2021: 8,000) have been leased by employees.
Job tickets
The REWE Group offers its employees reduced price job tickets for use on public transport. Since May 2023, around 150,000 employees from all participating combine companies across Germany have been able to order the monthly German ticket at a reduced price.
Mobility budgets
Eligible employees have the option of making individual use of “mobility budgets” – for example, they can choose a smaller car and use the amount they save for a higher provision model for their pension. Users of electric vehicles also receive a monthly bonus of up to 150 euros to cover the additional costs of electricity, in addition to their mobility budget. The monthly bonus amounts to 50 euros for hybrid vehicles.
Provision of electric charging stations for customers
Highlight
The REWE Group is contributing to the expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric mobility by equipping parking spaces at new stores in Germany that have been built in accordance with the Green Building concept, with an electric charging station. At the end of 2022, a total of 435 stores and administrative locations (2021: 370) charging stations for e-mobiles. Of these, 173 (2021: 150) were in Germany, 72 (2021: 68) in Austria and 190 (2021: 152) in CEE countries.
By the end of 2024, up to 2,000 fast-charging stations should also be added at a total of at least 400 selected REWE and PENNY stores in Germany and additional rental properties. The REWE Group also aims to provide up to 4,000 more charging points at existing rental properties and new buildings during the same period. Through several strategic partnerships, this should result in the creation of one of the largest and state-of-the-art fast-charging point networks in Germany. However, it was not possible to build as many charging points as planned during the reporting period. This was due to supply bottlenecks for essential components and challenges in relation to the necessary approvals from the network operators.
Electric vehicle charging points for employees
At its locations in Cologne, the REWE Group had 34 charging stations in 2022 (2021: 34), where employees can charge their electric vehicles. In Austria, the REWE Group offered its workforce 100 charging stations for 170 e-vehicles in the reporting year (2021: 100 charging stations for 137 electric vehicles).