REWE presented itself at the Organic Field Days with a clear commitment to greater animal welfare. Many farmers also took advantage of the prominent presence in Ditzingen, Swabia, to talk to our organic experts.
What will the chicken of the future look like? For REWE, the answer is clear: the industry needs the dual-purpose chicken. After all, rearing brother roosters or determining the sex in the egg can only be temporary concepts to avoid killing chicks. A start should be made in the organic sector. This is why REWE donated 111,111.11 euros to the Future Foundation for Agriculture under the umbrella of GLS Treuhand at the Organic Field Days on 14 and 15 June in Ditzingen-Hirschlanden, Baden-Württemberg.
With this donation, the retail company is also supporting the foundation's 'dual-purpose chicken' project. The aim of the collaboration between REWE, Ökologische Tierzucht gGmbH and Naturland is to offer organic eggs and meat from dual-purpose chickens in REWE stores as part of a pilot project.
Chickens with high performance
For decades, poultry breeding has focussed on chicken breeds that specialise in high performance - either those that lay a lot of eggs or those that produce meat quickly and effectively. This development of breeding for one performance trait presents the organic sector with greater challenges than in the conventional sector, for example. This is because only these hybrid breeds are available to them. In addition, the organic guidelines require the rearing of "brother chickens", which is resource-intensive and very uneconomical for farmers. "We need a 'dual-purpose chicken' that is adapted to organic farming," said Tobias Menig, Managing Director of REWE Südwest, at the donation handover at the Öko-Feldtage.
In dual-purpose hens, the rooster and hen are economically independent animals. They therefore represent a good compromise between broilers and laying hens and perform better on organic farms with extensive feeding and husbandry. In the "dual-purpose chicken" funding project, the partners want to gather practical experience with breeding and breed characteristics, husbandry management and integration into the supply chains for organic eggs and organic meat. Following a successful feasibility study, a regional test of the products in REWE stores will follow.
Tobias Menig: "With the planned project, REWE is committed to ethical and organic poultry farming. The genetic adaptation of the animals to organic farming is also a priority, for example through the use of regionally and organically produced feed. This supports our overarching goal of strengthening organic farming in Germany."
Oliver Willing, Managing Director of the Future Foundation for Agriculture, added: "We are very pleased that REWE's donation will enable us to further strengthen the outstanding pioneering work of Inga Günther from Ökologische Tierzucht gGmbH for dual-purpose breeding of chickens, among other things."
REWE has already set standards for animal welfare on several occasions: For eggs from "Spitz & Bube" , both beak trimming in the hens and the killing of male chicks were dispensed with for the first time in 2016. this was followed in 2018 by the introduction of "respeggt" eggs with the option of sex determination in the egg.
in 2021, i.e. well before the legal regulation, REWE had already switched its entire range of own-brand shell eggs in all farming methods to suppliers who do not kill chicks in laying hen breeding.
Becoming an organic farmer with "REWE Wegbereitern" and Naturland
However, the "dual-purpose chicken" was not the only initiative for organic farming that REWE presented at the Organic Field Days. REWE and Naturland brought a pilot project from Bavaria to Ditzingen for farmers interested in converting to organic farming. There, the "REWE Wegbereiter" project supports farmers financially and with expert advice during the conversion process. During this conversion phase, the producers are already producing according to resource-conserving organic criteria, but are not yet allowed to label their products as "organic". Fruit and vegetables labelled "REWE Wegbereiter" come from farms that are in the second year of the conversion phase. Customers thus receive products of almost organic quality and pay a small additional amount, which increases the farmers' financial leeway. Naturland provides the future organic farms with technical support and ensures that the standards are met throughout the conversion phase. The largest international organic association has been a REWE partner for over ten years.
Marcus Wewer, Head of Quality Management Organic Own Brands:
"This is the second time we have attended and we are very satisfied with the new location in Baden-Württemberg and the response to our activities. For example, we presented our new project 'Die Wegbereiter' here, with which we want to motivate our conventional farmers to convert. We also invite our employees within the Group to the field days to experience organic farming live: from trainees to management to purchasing. They now have completely new images of organic farming in their heads."
Tobias Epp, Head of CM / Purchasing Southwest:
"My expectations were exceeded. Even in the first half hour at the stand, I had many interesting conversations and we also received specific enquiries about regional marketing from producers. The dialogue with colleagues, some of whom I hadn't seen for a long time, was great. In general, I was very positively surprised by the number of exhibitors."
Alexander Gimpel, Sales Manager Area 9:
"The event was very well organised and you could sense a positive atmosphere everywhere. There were many colleagues from different areas of the region and the Cologne headquarters at the stand. That was very enriching. The audience was very mixed, all generations were represented. As a 'layman', I found the state-of-the-art technology and the cultivation areas with special seeds extremely interesting."
Zivile Sucylaite, CM-EK Regionality Officer:
"For me, the Organic Field Days were a great platform to expand my network and intensify contact with colleagues and long-standing partners. Of course, the event also helps me to make contact with new producers."
Christian Moser, CM-EK Locality/Regionality:
"The interaction between Cologne and the region was great. We were able to deepen our contacts with producers here, get to know their new products and also attract the attention of new suppliers through the stand."
The Organic Field Days took place for the fourth time this year. It was organised by the organic farm Grieshaber & Schmidt. With almost 350 exhibitors , more companies than ever before presented themselves on the extensive grounds in Ditzingen-Hirschlanden near Stuttgart. More than 12,000 visitors took advantage of the opportunity to find out about all the latest innovations in plant cultivation and animal husbandry - from the field to the barn.
As last year , REWE was present as a gold sponsor with its own 220 square metre stand. Many farmers gladly took up the offer to talk to REWE representatives and Naturland experts.
