We set clear requirements for suppliers, promote animal welfare through standards and our involvement in various initiatives, and want to transform the agricultural and meat industries, as well as the food retail sector, with innovative approaches.
We are committed to improving animal welfare standards, for example, as a founding member of Initiative Tierwohl (Initiative for Animal Welfare) in Germany. Every year, 753 million farm animals benefit from improved husbandry conditions. REWE and PENNY in Germany have been working since 2024 to make the five new levels of husbandry system labeling – from level 1 (“stable”) to level 5 (“organic”) – visible on their products nationwide in accordance with the state animal husbandry label.
We are committed to continuously improving the husbandry criteria beyond the objectives of husbandry system 3. Particularly with poultry, we ensure the use of slow-growing breeds and demand the implementation of CO2 stunning in our fresh meat supply chains for poultry. We are currently developing our roadmap to achieve our 2030 objectives (see objectives and KPIs).
By the end of 2024, all 372 REWE service counters in Bavaria stocked almost 100 per cent fresh meat3 from husbandry system levels 3, 4 and 5. REWE Nord has converted the poultry range at the service counter in almost all stores to at least husbandry system level 3.
1800
We are constantly expanding our organic and regional product ranges (see focus topic Organic and Regionalism), as well as plant-based alternatives. REWE offers over 1,800 vegan private label and branded products.4 In Austria, BILLA and BILLA PLUS offer a total of 1,792 purely plant-based private label products.5 With its private label “Food for Future”, PENNY has created a purely plant-based offering with about 180 items6 in its product range.
We are completely converting our private label products in barn and free-range systems to gender determination inside hatching eggs (selection).7
We are pioneering. In our dual-purpose chicken project, launched in 2023 in the Southwest region, organic eggs come from chickens that are also raised for meat in order to avoid the killing of male chicks. In 2024, these organic eggs were tested for suitability for the REWE Bio brand at 111 REWE stores in Baden-Württemberg and the Palatinate. We are currently examining the establishment of a supply chain for young rooster meat, which is currently marketed by the producer Hönig Hof itself.
At the DERTOUR Group,
- we check providers for compliance with established animal welfare standards. A portfolio analysis was carried out in 2023. Based on the resulting risk profiles, 150 remote audits have been carried out on an ongoing basis since then. On-site audits are also planned.
- we are, for example, fighting against poaching in the Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa with the “Tiere für Tiere” (Animals for Animals) project using wildlife detection dogs.
- we have been supporting our project partner DEKAFOK, which is committed to protecting sea turtles in Turkey, since May 2023.
Animal welfare programmes with regional added value
We promote improved husbandry systems in Germany, Austria and France through our animal welfare programmes. In total, we have 30 programmes that offer added animal welfare in husbandry system levels 3, 4 and 5. Of these, 17 programmes have a regional focus, which also shortens transport routes.
We have already achieved a lot, but we are not stopping there. We continuously monitor the efficiency of our measures in order to anchor animal welfare in our supply chains and promote it at the holiday destinations of the DERTOUR Group.
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For 16 years, we have been promoting animal welfare in our organic supply chains through our Partnership with Naturland.
We define minimum requirements for suppliers. For example, we refrain from goose and duck meat originating from production sites with live-plucking and force-feeding in Germany and Austria. At BILLA in Austria, for example, we guarantee more space and resting areas with straw, as well as GMO-free feed from Europe for our organic and “Fair zum Tier” (Fair to the Animal) product ranges.
At BILLA PLUS and BILLA in Austria, the entire fresh meat counter has been converted to animal welfare and thus meets either organic or at least the “Fair zum Tier” (Fair to the Animal) criteria, our symbol for more animal welfare than required by law.
100 %
100 per cent of our drinking milk from pasture-fed animals8 is certified by Pro Weideland, the animal welfare label “Für Mehr Tierschutz” (For More Animal Welfare) or Naturland.
Almost 100 per cent of our private label fresh pork comes from Germany (5xD9), and almost 100 per cent of our fresh milk comes from Germany and Austria. The REWE Group in Austria is the only food retailer in Austria that still offers fresh meat that comes 100 per cent from Austria at BILLA and BILLA PLUS.
The DERTOUR Group has completely removed elephant rides from its programme. We also support the “Chilis Against Elephants” project with the DERTOUR Foundation. Chili fences are used to mark out corridors for elephants to keep them away from the Maasai fields. This way, collisions between humans and animals can be avoided.
From the value chain to the appreciation chain
This is our vision for the transformation of agriculture. To implement these goals, we founded the Competence Center for Agriculture at the end of January 2023, a committee of agricultural experts from science, agriculture, and processing, which naturally also focuses on animal welfare. More information on this subject can be found in our focus topic Organic and Regionalism.
