Climate protection is one of the most important challenges of our time. For years, REWE has combined its local supply mandate with pioneering innovations that have positive effects on the environment, climate and resource conservation. Brand new: together with Deutsche Bahn, REWE will be supplying several communities in northern Hesse with a shopping bus from spring.
REWE and DB pilot shopping bus for rural areas
tim Keweritsch
From spring, REWE Mitte and DB Regio AG will be supplying several communities in the districts of Kassel, Schwalm-Eder and Waldeck-Frankenberg with fresh and regional food using an 18-metre-long bus. This will not only ensure local supplies, but also reduce CO2 emissions that would otherwise be caused by private transport to the nearest supermarket.
tim Keweritsch
Residents of rural areas can choose from around 700 products - from fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled fresh produce and frozen products to drinks and cosmetics. The shopping bus is the next step in a co-operation between REWE and DB. "What began on the railway is now being continued on the road: the REWE supermarket train toured Hesse at the end of 2021. Our new project arose from this campaign. The idea is to open up new avenues in local supply - mobile, regional and sustainable," explains Jürgen Scheider, Chairman of the Management Board of REWE Mitte.
Cargo bike at the REWE stand at the Green Week. Copyright: REWE |Christian Schmeer, Framework
REWE is also pursuing the sustainability approach in its online business: REWE is testing cargo bikes in its delivery service for the so-called last mile when delivering groceries to the door - so that even short distances can be covered in a climate-friendly manner.
Support the NABU climate fund with your purchase
The first project of the NABU climate fund will be the restoration of 200 hectares of raised bog in the Ahlenmoor near Cuxhaven
Another pillar of REWE's commitment to sustainability is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the rewetting of moors and agriculturally utilised moorland with the NABU climate fund. REWE is investing a total of 25 million euros over the next five years. By purchasing REWE organic and REWE Beste Wahl products - including many vegan alternatives - customers can also make a contribution to climate and moorland protection, as they automatically contribute to the commitment.
Together with NABU, REWE sees great potential for effective climate protection in the renaturation of moors in line with the German government's "Natural Climate Protection Action Programme". Although moors only cover three per cent of the world's land area, wet moors bind a quarter of terrestrial carbon - twice as much as all the world's forests combined. This makes peatlands the most effective carbon reservoirs in the world. The first NABU Climate Fund project will be the restoration of 200 hectares of raised bog in the Ahlenmoor near Cuxhaven - currently the largest bog conservation project in Germany.
#umdenkbar brackets sustainability initiatives at the "Green Week"
#umdenkbar: the REWE stand at the "Green Week" in Berlin. Copyright: REWE |Christian Schmeer, Framework
With #umdenkbar, REWE is bundling the communication of its long-standing and new sustainability initiatives to motivate REWE customers to participate in climate protection and make their own individual contribution. The hashtag also visualises the transformation towards a climate-neutral, more sustainable company, which REWE started years ago and continues to pursue with vigour. This is why the REWE stand at the "Green Week" in Berlin is also being organised under this motto and presents the many different initiatives.
REWE's first Fairtrade product hit the shelves 30 years ago. A milestone that made fair trade better known.
Claudia Brück, Jürgen Scheider and Jochen Flasbarth. Copyright: REWE |Tim Keweritsch
"REWE is one of the partners that pioneered the availability of such a wide variety of Fairtrade products in stores today," emphasised Claudia Brück, Director of Fairtrade Retail Germany. "In 1993, Fairtrade was still a small start-up. REWE has shown courage and forward-looking entrepreneurial spirit with this partnership."
"Fair, organic, regional - for us at REWE, the interplay of these three aspects is a core concern. Our customers know that Sustainability is very important to us. That is why we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of our partnership with Fairtrade with full conviction," emphasised REWE Group Management Board member and COO REWE, Peter Maly.
Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, congratulated REWE at the start of the anniversary celebrations during the International Green Week in Berlin: "To make fair trade the standard in global supply chains, everyone has to pull together. We need a framework, such as the one we have created in Germany with the Supply Chain Duty of Care Act, as well as committed pioneers who show that it is possible," said Jochen Flasbarth. "Cooperations such as that between REWE and Fairtrade are exemplary in this respect. As the BMZ, we have supported some of REWE and Fairtrade's joint projects, which enable people in the countries where the coffee is grown to earn a living through fair purchasing prices."
The first Fairtrade-labelled product, "Pedro coffee", hit the shelves of REWE supermarkets in 1993. Today, consumers can find one of the widest ranges of Fairtrade products in Germany - from roses, juice and chocolate to biscuits, honey and tea. REWE Group was honoured with the Fairtrade Award in 2020 for its commitment.
