Sustainability Strategy

Principles

As early as 2008, the REWE Group integrated the principle “We are aware of our responsibility and act sustainably” into its mission statement and established strategic sustainability management. For the REWE Group, this means: It assumes responsibility for its employees, ensures fair treatment of partners and suppliers, promotes more sustainable product ranges, acts in an environmentally and climate-conscious manner and is committed to a sustainable society.

In 2010, the Executive Board of the REWE Group laid down in its Guideline on Sustainable Business Practices the claim “Sustainability is not a fleeting trend at the REWE Group. Rather, it is a fundamental element of its business strategy". This created a binding framework for action that forms the basis for the comprehensive sustainability commitment of the commercial company.

With this early commitment, the REWE Group was a pioneer in Germany in bringing the topic of sustainability out of the niche to the centre of society.

In its Declaration of Principles, updated in late 2022, the company undertakes to strengthen human and environmental rights and prevent and minimise violations and take remedial action. This commitment applies both to its own business operations and to the global supply and value chains.

Furthermore, in October 2022, the Supplier Code of Conduct of the REWE Group was updated to comply with its corporate due diligence in the supply chain. It applies as of 1 January 2023 and outlines the minimum standards that suppliers must observe and comply with when doing business with companies of the REWE Group. Furthermore, it takes into account the requirements of the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (LkSG).

With its commitment to sustainability, the REWE Group contributes to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Eight of these goals are particularly relevant for the REWE Group and are outlined in the section Sustainable Development Goals with regard to their potential effects and the value chain.

Responsibility

Sustainability is anchored at the highest level of the REWE Group's corporate management. Since the start of the sustainability strategy in 2008, the CEO is fully responsible for the topic of sustainability.

An Executive or Managing Director oversees each of the four sustainability pillars, which the company introduced in order to implement its sustainability strategy (see section Implementation and Areas of Action). Mr Schischmanow, responsible for the pillar Energy, Climate and Environment, was appointed to the Group Executive Board by the Divisional Board Member on 1 July 2022. Ms Buechel, responsible for the pillars Employees and Social Involvement, will take up her role on the Group Executive Board on 1 January 2023.

The Corporate Responsibility Department is responsible for the implementation of the sustainability strategy for the entire REWE Group and acts as the central interface between the sales lines and in contact with external stakeholders. The Sustainability Goods Department, which is part of REWE Group Buying, is responsible for the pillar Green Products in the Retail Germany Division. Additionally, there are also cross-sales-line working groups for each sustainability pillar (see section Implementation and Areas of Action).

With this organisational structure, the REWE Group aims to strengthen the sustainability organisation within the individual sales lines and continuously integrate sustainability into the business processes.

The responsibilities in the sales lines are presented as follows:

In the implementation of its sustainability strategy, the REWE Group specifies clear objectives and tackles complex problems. In doing so, it has often been a pioneer for new approaches which are now the general standard. In the implementation of its sustainability strategy, the REWE Group engages in close dialogue with its stakeholders and enters into binding and long-term partnerships. After all, improvements can only be made if everyone is working towards common objectives. As a result, the share of more sustainable products and services continues to expand and sustainable consumption is made accessible to ever larger parts of the population.

In order to implement its sustainability strategy, the REWE Group introduced four sustainability pillars in 2008:

• Green Products
• Energy, Climate and Environment
• Employees
• Social Involvement

Within these pillars, areas of action define the material topics of the sustainability strategy.

When implementing the sustainability strategy, the individual sales divisions are given a great deal of creative freedom in order to ensure the best possible fit with their respective strategic orientation and individual business model. For all sales lines, the areas of action of the REWE Group’s four sustainability pillars and the Guideline on Sustainable Business Practices provide a code of values for their commitment to sustainability. Within this strategic framework, each sales line focuses on the topics that are relevant to it.

The sustainability strategy of the REWE Group and the sales lines are subject to a regular review that considers all available information, including surveys of customers, competitor analysis and analysis of political debates. In 2018, a comprehensive materiality analysis was conducted for this purpose, in which consumers, employees and professional stakeholders were surveyed (for more information, see section Materiality Analysis). The materiality analysis was updated in 2020. The results of the analysis and the update were also taken into account in the prioritisation of the topics for 2022.