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, REWE has been cooperating with the organic farming group “Naturland” since 2009 and PENNY since 2023. REWE has also been a member of the Bio-Verband Demeter (Demeter organic association) since 2020. As REWE, 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 2024, we supported 17 farms, bringing the total to 119 since 2015.
33000
We support regional producers and suppliers in Germany, for example, with the “REWE Local Partnership” for fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat and sausage. REWE and PENNY work with over 33,000 local producers – that’s one in ten businesses in Germany. In addition, there are 49 local cooperations for drinking milk and dairy products, which are offered in over 331 markets. In the asparagus and strawberry sector, our retailers work with more than 850 farms.
In 2024, the origin label “Gutes aus Deutscher Landwirtschaft” (Good Things from German Agriculture) (GDL) was introduced across all product groups. It identifies products produced and processed in Germany. The REWE Group in Germany signed an industry agreement with the Central Coordination of Trade and Agriculture (ZKHL) at the end of 2023. We are continuously working to ensure that as many PENNY products as possible in Germany are awarded this label. At REWE, products that do not already carry a stricter seal of origin such as the “Regionalfenster”, are awarded this label.
1708
Since 2012, the nationwide REWE Regional brand for regional products labels the region of origin on the packaging. Since May 2023, PENNY has had the “Marktliebe Regional” brand for regional fruit and vegetables, and, since the end of 2023, the sales line has been selling regional meat under the “Mühlenhof Regional” brand with over 80 items. In 2024, regional eggs were added under the “Columbus Regional” brand. Since 2014, we have been labelling a total of 1,708 items at REWE and PENNY in Germany1 (2023: 1,7811) with the “Regionalfenster” seal.
We are also strengthening local partnerships at BILLA and BILLA PLUS. The regional private label for fruit and vegetables at BILLA, BILLA PLUS and Sutterlüty in Austria is called “Da komm ich her” (I come from here).
Appreciation chain
Appreciation in the value chain: We can achieve this with our three-party agreements. In October 2024, the first tripartite contract in the milk sector in Germany was concluded with PENNY and the cooperation “Die faire Milch x milprima”. This means that dairy farmers receive the difference between the dairy's base price and the Milk Marker Index (MMI) per litre of milk sold. In January 2025, REWE followed suit with Tönnies Lebensmittel, as well as farmers from Schleswig-Holstein and the “Landbauern Schwein” (Country Farmers’ Pig) programme based on husbandry system level 3. In this way, we bring farmers, food retailers and industry together on an equal footing – for transparent and fair pricing, greater animal welfare and sustainability, and a strengthened domestic agriculture.
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 product range is now Naturland-certified.
3200
With over 3,200 items for REWE and over 7502 items for PENNY, we have the largest selection of organic products in the German food retail sector. Our Bavarian “Wegbereiter” (Trailblazer) concept from REWE, which was introduced as an exclusive brand in 2023 and supports farmers in their transition to organic farming, was fully integrated into the REWE Bio organic product line in 2024.
With REWE Bio, we have the largest organic private label range in the German food retail sector (around 1,100 items); we also operate the largest organic greenhouses in the country.
In 2024, PENNY in Germany was able to increase its organic sales across all product groups by more than 8.5 per cent (2023: 12.8 per cent).
Our app “Loql” was rolled out nationwide in 2024. It promotes and simplifies direct cooperation between retailers, farmers and manufacturers, thus bringing regional food to the markets.
Lekkerland was able to increase its organic sales by 24 per cent across all product groups compared to 2023. Lekkerland currently offers an organic product range consisting of 378 products.
The range of organically grown plant products at toom Baumarkt DIY stores comprised 338 products in 2024 (2023: 294).
We celebrate organic
Organic products have been an important pillar of our sustainability strategy for over three decades. For exactly 15 years, we have been cooperating with Naturland as a pioneer in the German food retail sector to ensure controlled organic quality. In August 2024, PENNY celebrated the tenth anniversary of its organic private label “Naturgut”. And the REWE Group in Austria celebrated its 30th birthday in 2024. Birthday of our organic flagship brand “Ja! Natürlich” (Yes! Naturally).
