As part of the sustainability strategy "Avoid. Reduce. Improve." rEWE Group wants to encourage even more customers to avoid plastic bags when buying fruit and vegetables. As long as stocks last, customers will therefore receive the reusable fresh produce net free of charge when buying loose fruit and vegetables. In total, REWE, Nahkauf and PENNY are giving away around 14 million reusable fresh produce bags in all stores across Germany.
"With the reusable fresh produce net, our customers can easily make a contribution to climate and resource protection by not using plastic bags and regularly reusing the net when shopping. At the same time, we are working on expanding our range of regional, seasonal and loose fruit and vegetables. At the same time, however, we always keep a close eye on the issue of food waste. After all, solving one problem at the expense of another is not in line with our understanding of Sustainability," says Patricia Hirsch, PENNY Head of Ultrafresh - Fruit, Vegetables, Flowers and Plants.
The nationwide introduction of the reusable fresh produce network is one of REWE and PENNY's better-known initiatives to reduce packaging: REWE has been offering the alternative to the knotted bag since 15 October 2018 and is appealing to customers to increasingly opt for loose fruit and vegetables, which enables packaging-free shopping. in 2019, PENNY became the first discounter in Germany to permanently add the reusable fresh fruit and vegetable net to its range in addition to the 20 per cent smaller knot bag. REWE and PENNY already abolished plastic bags at the end of 2016, sending a visible signal against increasing plastic consumption. REWE was also the first of the four largest food retailers in Germany to start offering organic fruit and vegetables nationwide largely without plastic or with improved packaging.
"REWE is not only a pioneer in Germany when it comes to offering our customers organic fruit and vegetables or those from regional production. With up to 150 items of loose fruit and vegetables, we have one of the largest ranges in the German food retail sector. We know how difficult it is to adopt new habits. That's why we hope that this campaign will encourage our customers to use reusable fresh food nets in their everyday lives. Reuse is the best way to conserve resources," says Stephan Weist, REWE's Head of Ultrafresh - Fruit, Vegetables and Plants.
