As a pioneer in the German food retail sector, REWE launched its strategic cooperation with Naturland Zeichen GmbH 15 years ago - a partnership that was intended to strengthen organic farming and make organic products accessible to a broader market. With success: around half of the now more than 850 REWE organic products, including all REWE organic meat products, now bear the Naturland seal.
In Germany, no food retailer offers more different own-brand products in Naturland quality or that of another organic association. And in 2023, we continued to expand the REWE organic range and sold more organic products than in the previous year. As soon as a product is available in Naturland quality and in sufficient quantities, REWE includes it in its own organic range.
"Organic products have been an important pillar of REWE Group's sustainability and product range strategy for over 30 years. We will continue to consistently push ahead with the expansion," says Hans-Jürgen Moog, our Management Board member responsible for Purchasing. "Just how important and correct the decision was back then to also sell association goods via supermarkets and private labels is now becoming apparent: Although we are realising that customers still like to shop organically, they are much more price-sensitive in these challenging times. This is currently benefiting our own-brand organic products in particular, which account for the majority of our organic revenue. REWE has therefore not only contributed to the fact that organic goods have become available everywhere, have grown continuously in terms of volume and have ultimately been able to establish themselves in society at large. In times of crisis, we are a strong sales stabiliser for the organic sector and our purchase guarantees and long-term contracts provide organic producers with planning and livelihood security."
For Michael Stienen, member of the management of Naturland Zeichen GmbH, the partnership with REWE is a very special organic success story. "When the first Naturland-certified products hit the shelves at REWE in 2009, high-quality organic produce in association quality was still the exception rather than the rule at the supermarket round the corner. Today, it is a matter of course. The beginning of our strategic cooperation with REWE was an important milestone on the way to organic becoming mainstream in Germany," emphasises Stienen, who helped initiate the partnership as managing director of Naturland Zeichen GmbH.
The long-standing, trusting co-operation with the Naturland farmers of Naturland Zeichen GmbH and its partner companies along the entire value chain has many aspects. This includes programmes at Group level for the marketing of goods from farms that are in the process of converting from conventional to organic farming. For example, we most recently introduced the private label "REWE Wegbereiter" in spring 2023. The additional revenue from the "Wegbereiter" products compared to non-organic fruit and vegetables benefits Naturland producers.
PENNY has been cooperating with Naturland since last year. The discounter has been recording rising demand for organic products for years. In 2023 alone, sales increased by more than ten per cent. PENNY's organic range, including its own Naturgut brand and all promotional items, currently totals over 500 items. The majority of these are produced locally. With the Naturland cooperation, PENNY is not only expanding its organic range, the discounter is also underpinning its commitment to organic farming in Germany.
This partnership allows us to offer customers products with higher organic standards. This is because Naturland's standards go far beyond those of the EU Organic Farming Regulation. For example, in addition to compliance with the organic farming criteria, the annual audits also strictly monitor social guidelines that apply to 125,000 Naturland producers in over 60 countries worldwide. Another benefit of the close relationship is the transparency of origin. The batch or lot number on the packaging makes it possible to trace exactly which field or farm the product comes from.
