Organic and regional products are an important pillar of our sustainability and product range strategy. We are therefore consistently promoting their expansion.
We have strong partners. In Germany, for example, REWE has been cooperating with the organic farming group “Naturland“ since 2009 and PENNY since 2023. REWE has also been a member of the Demeter organic association since 2020. As REWE Group, we joined NABU‘s “Gemeinsam Boden gut machen“ (Making up ground together) project in 2021. It has been supporting farmers in converting from conventional to organic farming since 2015. In 2023, we supported 12 farms, bringing the total to 102 since 2015.
We support regional producers and suppliers in Germany, for instance with the “REWE Local Partnership“ for fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat, and sausage. These direct relationships between stores, buying partners, and REWE-local representatives also establish contacts between stores, local producers, and suppliers.
1781
Since 2012, the nationwide REWE Regional brand for regional products label the region of origin on the packaging. In 2023, PENNY introduced the overarching regional brand “Marktliebe Regional“ for regional fruit and vegetables. Regional procurement and selling are also becoming increasingly important in other product groups. Since 2014, we have labelled a total of 1,781 products1 (2022: 1,697) with the “Regionalfenster“ products at REWE and PENNY in Germany.
100%
REWE Group in Austria is the only food retailer to offer 100 per cent fresh meat from Austria at BILLA. The regional private label for fruit and vegetables at BILLA, BILLA PLUS and Sutterlüty is called “Da komm ich her“ (I come from here!).
We promote organic
In Germany, REWE introduced the exclusive brand “REWE Wegbereiter” (Trailblazers) in 2023. As with PENNY’s Naturgut Junior Helden (organic heroes), the additional revenue from non-organic fruit and vegetables support farmers in their transition to organic farming. We work closely with Naturland in this project.
Regional products are highly valued by consumers and organic products have become mainstream. We are responding to this trend with our more sustainable offerings.
In Germany, no other food retailer offers more different private label products in Naturland quality or that of another organic association than REWE. Almost half of the REWE Bio (organic) range is Naturland-certified.
With up to 3,000 products for REWE and over 500 products for PENNY, we offer the largest selection of organic products in the German food retail sector.
With REWE Bio, we maintain the largest organic private label range in German food retailing and operate the largest organic contract farming for fruit and vegetables.
12.8%
In 2023, PENNY in Germany was able to increase its organic sales across all product groups by more than 12.8 per cent.
The range of organically grown plant products at toom Baumarkt DIY stores comprised 294 products in 2023 (2022: 635).
53%
Lekkerland was able to increase its organic sales by 53 per cent across all product groups compared to 2022. Lekkerland currently offers an organic product range consisting of 375 products.
Almost 100 per cent2 of conventional pork at REWE and PENNY in Germany already comes from Germany. The REWE Group in Austria is the only food retailer in Austria to offer only 100 per cent fresh meat from Austria at BILLA and BILLA PLUS.
REWE Bio celebrates organic anniversaries
Organic products continue to be an important pillar of our sustainability strategy for over 30 years. In 2024, we will have been cooperating with Naturland for exactly 15 years as a pioneer in the German food retail sector. For controlled organic quality – without genetic engineering, synthetic chemical pesticides, artificial fertilisers, added flavours, flavour enhancers and yeast extracts.
