Corporate Culture

REWE Group is committed to its cooperative structure and the related basic values. "REWE" stands for entrepreneurship, personal responsibility, proximity to the customers, high motivation and professional competence. This is equally true for the partnership model in the independent retailing business as for the store manager model in the branch store network and the Travel and Tourism division.

Decentralised company management within the framework of the issued strategic guidelines is demanded and encouraged. These guidelines merge the fundamental principles of a cooperative with the economic demands found in an international competitive environment and with a clear orientation to growth. All of our employees find their orientation in the company's guidelines; in introducing the umbrella brand REWE Group, the firm has set a clear signpost for its uniform strategic orientation in the core businesses of trading and travel and tourism.

In particular, the ways our managers and employees think and act are oriented to the following corporate culture:

Turning customers into fans - we live this principle in every respect. The objective and vision of REWE Group is to excite and enthuse our customers. Our goal is to become a little bit better every day. Our customers are at the focus of our work. This attitude determines not only our decisions and actions, but is also the yardstick against which we measure ourselves every day. Purchasing what the customers want - we keep this promise through our internal customer orientation across all of the boundaries between corporate divisions and even countries.

REWE Group is a corporation which orients its business to the total profit. This is not a contradiction of the fundamental principles of a cooperative. The more successful the branch companies are, the better REWE Group can fulfil its supportive goals as a cooperative for its independent retailers. Moreover, increasing earning power lays the foundation for future investments and good purchasing conditions. We rely on efficient processes and lean structures as well as on actions oriented to costs and success. Each and every one of us is responsible for contributing to the success of the company as a whole - and we review our work every day in view of this responsibility.

Here at REWE Group, we live an open communication culture across departmental boundaries. We promote the identification of all of our employees with REWE Group worldwide through our dealings with one another on a basis of goal orientation, respect and appreciation.

Our thoughts are international. We make use of the size and diversity of REWE Group to learn from one another. From the supplier to the final customer - we think internationally when working together with everyone in our business relationships, yet REWE Group is an international company with international management. Purchasing and distribution have also been given an international orientation.

Our focus is always on people. Customers of course, but also our employees. The success of REWE Group is closely tied to the qualifications, commitment, desire to perform, team spirit and willingness to work hard of every single one of its employees. Our duty is to manage these people responsibly. That is why REWE Group creates the general conditions necessary to encourage as well as demand acting on personal responsibility and the entrepreneurial independence of its employees.