The trade magazine "Lebensmittelpraxis" has honoured the service counter in the Nezlow family's REWE store in Waging with the "Meat Star 2025" award. And in the competition for the best young talent in the industry, REWE won several awards.
Award-winning young talents: Simon Heines (2nd from left), Melissa Galanti (with certificate) and Simon Höreth (2nd from right) with trainers and sponsors.
Together with their two children, retailers Juri and Olga Nezlow opened their 1,450 square metre store in Waging in 2019. It was a big, bold step for the family, who moved 700 kilometres from the Eifel region to Upper Bavaria to do so. "We are now very well integrated into the community. Many people appreciate our philosophy, which focuses on regionality, Sustainability and customer-orientation," reports REWE salesman Juri Nezlow.
Trainers and trainees - both deserve respect.“
Flavour in abundance
The meat and sausage department follows this successful strategy and offers its customers around 150 delicacies to choose from, such as the traditional Weißwurst, Schweinshaxn or Leberkäs. The products at the meat and sausage counter, which is more than twelve metres long, impress with their regionality: "We work closely with a butcher's shop that sources its animals from local farmers and only from GMO-free farming," says department manager Anna Werner, describing one of the success factors.
Juri and Olga Nezlow are proud of the outstanding work of their 15-strong service team: "The industry award and the positive feedback from customers show that we are on the right track. It is gratifying to see how our team is helping to strengthen the local economy and raise awareness of high-quality, regional products."
REWE junior staff with talent
Strong duo: Simon Höreth and Simon Heines won the young talent award.
They are certainly not only the "hopefuls of the industry" for presenter Heidrun Mittler: the meat star talents Simon Heines, 24, and Simon Höreth, 22. Like their REWE colleagues Melissa Galanti, 24, and Gina-Marie Hermann, 20, the award-winning young talents had prevailed in a rigorous selection process and made it to the final round of six nominees. For some of them, training as a specialist sales assistant or butcher is already their second career. They made their decisions out of conviction. They want to make their customers happy with excellent advice and first-class products and see themselves as ambassadors for their professions. "I want to raise awareness of how diverse the profession is," said Simon Höreth, looking at his peers. He is completing his training as a butcher at REWE saleswoman Manuela von Krüchten's store in Hürtgenwald (near Düren). He has already successfully completed his examination to become a specialist sales assistant. Simon Heines, on the other hand, has already climbed the next rung on the career ladder and recently completed his butcher training at the REWE Stücken store in Brüggen. His next goal: in five years, he would like to have his master craftsman's certificate in his pocket.
REWE was very strongly represented at the "Meat Stars" awards, which were presented on 19 February as part of the 33rd Meat Congress of Lebensmittelpraxis. Among the six nominees were the REWE store in Kolbermoor (category up to 2,000 square metres), the REWE store in Sarstedt (category 2,001 to 4,000 square metres) and the REWE Centre in Rodgau-Dudenhofen (over 4,000 square metres).
Four out of six nominees, including the two winners: there is no question that the Meat Star Talent competition was once again very successful for REWE. One person who can be legally proud of this success is Ralf Stücken. The REWE salesman from Brüggen even had two irons in the fire. With Simon Heines, one of "his" talents made it to the final round and ultimately onto the winners' podium. How do you do that in times when the whole world is desperately looking for good people and meat-processing professions are not the first choice for young people? "Advertise, advertise, advertise!" is the REWE salesman's recommendation. "And let your own children do it, because they appeal much better to others in their age group." Beate Lindmark, a consultant at REWE West's HR Competence Centre, shares this experience: "As soon as young people have taken their first steps behind the counter, the knot has burst - and suddenly the profession becomes a real prospect for their peers in career orientation."
