More and more people in Germany are finding it difficult to afford a full meal every day. They find help at the food banks. But these organisations lack the food donations to support all the people who come. This is why the nationwide food bank bag campaign organised by REWE and nahkauf is so important. It takes place from 9 to 22 October.

The aim of the "Gemeinsam Teller füllen" initiative is to generate three million euros worth of food donations together with REWE customers. These are to benefit the more than 960 food banks in Germany.

New to previous years is the donation mechanism, which allows customers to donate long-life food - chickpeas, apple sauce, oatmeal, rice, strained tomatoes and peas with carrots - worth five euros to the food banks: Firstly, paper bags filled with these products are available to take away in the stores. After paying, the donation bag must be deposited at a designated collection point. To minimise the use of paper bags, store employees regularly return them to the collection point so that they are ready for the next customer. This creates a sensible reusable cycle.

REWE donates an additional 200,000 euros worth of food to the food banks

Alternatively, there is a donation card worth five euros, which is placed in a donation box at the checkout. At the end of the campaign weeks, the donations automatically recorded by the checkout system are converted into the corresponding quantities of food and handed over to the local food banks. REWE itself donates an additional 200,000 euros worth of food to the food banks.

REWE has been organising this bag campaign in cooperation with Tafel Deutschland since 2011. Thanks to the commitment of customers, around five million Tafel bags have already been donated and more than 4.3 million people affected by poverty have been supported.