We want to enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. That’s why we use every opportunity to integrate sustainable consumption into their everyday lives with credibility, transparency, and a target-group-specific approach.
We promote a more balanced diet by constantly reviewing and optimizing the nutritional values in relevant private label recipes. This also applies to the REWE Group in Austria.
We want to design our product ranges according to the Planetary Health Diet and are consistently increasing the proportion of plant-based products in the REWE and PENNY stores in Germany and at BILLA in Austria. Where possible, without sacrificing quality or taste, we are also considering switching to plant-based ingredients.
We reduce food waste, for example, through preventative measures such as forecasting systems or by giving away food that is no longer saleable, but still edible to partners such as food banks (see successes). We also sell organic fruit and vegetables with minor visual blemishes under the “Naturgut Bio-Helden” (organic heroes) from PENNY in Germany and as “Wunderlinge” (marvels) at BILLA, BILLA Plus, PENNY, ADEG and Sutterlüty in Austria.
Since the beginning of 2025, our employees have had the opportunity to gain insights into the everyday lives of local producers through our new practical programme “Agricultural Academy” run by the Competence Center for Agriculture. This training and direct dialogue not only sharpen mutual understanding, but also provide important insights for customer service in the markets.
As part of its “Bewusst Reisen” (Conscious Travel) programme, the DERTOUR Group is awarding more sustainable offers from the tour operators DERTOUR, ITS and Meiers Weltreisen with the new “engage – people & planet” logo, which depicts a dark green leaf in the shape of a heart. This label identifies hotels that are certified according to the internationally recognized sustainability criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The catalog portfolio includes around 1,800 hotels with the “engage” logo.
Making sustainability tangible
We continuously communicate on sustainability, for example, in campaigns such as “Good Food” at BILLA in Austria or “Näher dran” at REWE in Germany in 2024. These campaigns demonstrate how deeply rooted REWE is in its customers' regions through long-term partnerships with local suppliers and its commitment to regional animal welfare. An interactive map shows consumers which producers supply their region. At the end of 2024, toom Baumarkt DIY stores, for example, highlighted in its stores how its customers can build and live without pollutants. The topic of healthy living was discussed in cooperation with Blauer Engel (Blue Angel).
With our commitment – also together with partners – we are driving the transformation in society.
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2024 was a successful year for our plant-based product ranges. According to YouGov (formerly GfK), PENNY became the market leader for vegan products in the discount segment, while REWE led the market for vegan products and had the best product availability according to the NGO ProVeg. REWE also received the V Label Award for the “REWE Beste Wahl Hummus with Pine Nuts” in the spreads and dips category. Our plant-based product range at REWE includes over 1,800 products.3 BILLA PLUS in Austria was once again named “Supermarket of the Year” in the Greenpeace Market Check. In four of eight product range categories, including nut-nougat spreads, ketchup and pork, the supermarket chain was at the top according to organic criteria.
We have managed to introduce Nutri-Score1 for all private label products subject to labelling requirements in Germany – for better consumer orientation and more conscious nutrition.
Moor is more
REWE raises customer awareness of the importance of moors for climate protection. Over 1,000 products from REWE Bio and REWE Beste Wahl carry the NABU climate protection label – and every purchase supports the NABU Climate Fund. By the end of 2024, around twelve million euros had been used to for the rewetting of peatlands.
In 2024, we again sold an annual average of 98 per cent of groceries at REWE and PENNY in Germany. All those that can no longer be sold, but can be safely consumed are donated free of charge by REWE since 1996 and PENNY since 2007 to over 970 food bank initiatives nationwide or to partners such as foodsharing e. V. In Austria, almost all BILLA, BILLA PLUS, PENNY, BIPA and ADEG locations support surrounding social supermarkets (cheap products for low-income earners) and charitable partners with food and everyday goods.
In 2024, the REWE Group in Austria introduced digital billing in the “jö Bonus Club” app at BILLA, BILLA PLUS, BIPA, PENNY and ADEG, saving energy, paper and emissions. As early as 2023, REWE in Germany was the first food retailer to stop paper advertising by switching to digital leaflet advertising. In addition, REWE has been offering digital receipts since 2023.
We like to be first
In 2024, we opened “REWE voll pflanzlich” in Berlin, the first purely plant-based supermarket in Germany with over 2,700 vegan products. The concept was awarded the PETA Vegan Award 2025 for best vegan diversity. In Austria, BILLA PFLANZILLA was the first supermarket with a purely plant-based product range. We are one of the first food retailers to invest in the FoodTech sector and have collaborated with startups such as Infinite Roots, Planet A Foods, Project Eaden and Formo in 2024. With the first social media community “Plant-Base”, REWE has created a platform that promotes the exchange of ideas about plant-based nutrition.
