Start-ups and influencers have been the biggest drivers of innovation in the food retail sector for years. REWE, for its part, is constantly working on the further development of its product ranges. This also includes supporting young entrepreneurs and making it easier for them to find shelf space. With the Start-up Lounge, REWE is now transferring a concept that has been successfully established in the REWE South region to national structures. In future, start-up products will be given a faster market launch and a nationwide presence in selected stores.
"Our aim is to offer the most modern and innovative range in the German food retail sector. We are already doing this with vegan-vegetarian chilled foods, where we are the market leader because we focused on these products at a very early stage," emphasises Daniel Kniel, Managing Director of Goods Full-range at REWE Group Buying. "Even though we have been active and well-known in the start-up scene for a long time, we still have potential to bring good and innovative product ideas to the masses more quickly. And with Selda Morina, we now have a central point of contact for start-ups. This will simplify and standardise the entire onboarding process for young entrepreneurs."
The national focus was decided together with the REWE regions. The central contact point focuses primarily on start-ups with a supra-regional character that have a convincing concept and the necessary production capacities. Regional initiatives such as the Food Innovation Camp in the REWE Region North will continue to exist. The same applies to decisions on the introduction of trend items from established brands or start-up products with a strong regional focus.all activities by REWE retailers are also still welcome. Everything that is tested there continues to contribute to the attractiveness of the product ranges.
„Our aim is to offer the most modern and innovative range in the German food retail sector“
Selda Morina, Head of Start-up Lounge National / Innovation Management, is now the central point of contact for interested start-ups throughout Germany. In her new role, she has moved from REWE Region South to Senior Buying Director Steffen Schmidt's national dry goods 2 goods full-range division. She coordinates the selection and listing process with the already established regional contacts at the REWE branches. Together, they form the "Start-up Lounge" team, which decides which products go into the test. Variations in the composition of the test articles are possible. The new products will be available - probably from November - in a large number of REWE stores with customers with an affinity for innovation. The bundled special placement will give the selected products special visibility. Every three months, the Start-up Lounge team will once again decide on the follow-up placement of the display with new product innovations. With regard to the next steps for the tested items, sales analyses as well as the assessments of the retailers involved are taken into account in order to consider both the category management and customer perspective. Successful start-up products are then expected to be rolled out nationwide in all REWE centres
"With the Start-up Lounge, we want to establish a kind of umbrella brand, increase the visibility of our commitment and make it easier for young entrepreneurs to address the entire REWE," says Selda Morina, adding: "Our doors are open to all start-ups with food innovations. We are happy to take a look at everything and assess it individually. The entire path from the idea to the shelf is what the Start-up Lounge wants to cover as a sparring partner. We provide the necessary support in the form of advice and coaching and provide partners if we, as retail experts, are unable to help. We have a broad portfolio of cooperation partners on board who, together with us, offer the all-round carefree package for start-ups."
Both German and English comments appear here.
Das freut mich sehr zu lesen, herzlichen Glückwunsch, liebe Selda!
Das war längst überfällig und Selda hat sich das durch jahrelanges Engagement in der Region Süd sehr verdient. :)
Weiter so!