REWE Group Explores the CO2 Emissions of Selected Products

Cologne, 15.07.08

Project sponsors: WWF, Öko-Institut, Potsdam-Institut zur Klimafolgenforschung and Thema1

After REWE Group has already become the largest consumer of green electricity from alternative sources, the company is now taking further action by applying its environmental activities to cutting CO2 emissions in the product chain. The aim of the pilot project Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) is to determine the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses reliably by testing selected products. The findings gained are meant to serve as a foundation for devising an internationally uniform method for measuring greenhouse gasses. Moreover, the pilot project explores to what extent it would be possible or make sense to label products accordingly, if at all. The first results from the PCF pilot project are set to be announced already in November of this year, introducing the methodology, labelling and communication.

"REWE Group has joined the pilot project Product Carbon Footprint in order to help devise a CO2 accounting procedure that will be widely accepted amongst researchers, policy-makers and NGOs. In future, we aim to co-operate with our pre-suppliers to reduce CO2 emissions. We already actively pursue environmental protection in the framework of our company-wide sustainability strategy both in the way we choose production sites and in how we define production methods", said Guido Siebenmorgen, Director of Strategic Purchasing Food II at REWE Group. The company will participate, for instance, by providing its strawberries sold under the REWE Bio label and products from the Best Alliance pilot project.

The pilot project is directed by WWF, the Öko Institut, the Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (institute for climate state research) and Thema1, with REWE Group along with eight other companies participating.

Best Alliance

REWE Group is taking new directions in food trading with "Best Alliance": REWE Group is taking responsibility for the production chain and its ecological and social implications sustainably at an even earlier stage in the form of its contractual farming projects in Spain and Italy. The company pays more attention, whether in selecting farmland and farmers, in applying new standards for agricultural crop protection chemicals, in increasing producer monitoring, in producing a low-impact harvest or in co-operating with expert partners like WWF or SOS Children's Village worldwide in order to take ecological and social implications into account when growing Best Alliance strawberries, peppers and grapes. REWE Group's quality assurance experts regularly hire renowned, independent testing institutions to inspect how the standards are applied right in the country of origin. Only then is the product released on site. If the producer or supplier exceeds the given limits, the product is at first held until the cause is found. Major violations result in immediate delisting or exclusion from the alliance.

REWE Bio

Some 3,000 REWE stores across Germany have offered their customers organic products since 1988. The REWE Bio brand stands for raising livestock using ethical husbandry as well as avoiding synthetic agricultural crop protection chemicals. Antibiotics may only be used under strict monitoring in exceptional cases. The standards for REWE Bio fruits and vegetables are even stricter than those required by law. The farms and production facilities are monitored more frequently, and the products are tested more often for residues. Regular inspections both by REWE's own quality assurance department and by third-party testing institutions ensure that the standards are consistently observed. REWE feels obliged primarily to keep organic farming in Germany viable with its REWE Bio range. Whenever possible, domestic products are given precedence over imported merchandise. This is the case with apples, potatoes and carrots. REWE only relies on imports for foods that cannot be grown in Germany, or are grown here in insufficient quantities, such as citrus fruits. Imports from other European countries are also subject to strict quality standards.

REWE Group

The co-operative REWE Group (REWE, toom, Penny, toom BauMarkt, ProMarkt, Atlas Reisen, DER-Reisebüros, ITS, Dertour) is the second-largest food trading company and one of the leading European trading and travel companies, with a turnover of around 45 billion euros, 290,000 employees and 12,700 stores in 15 countries.

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REWE GROUP-Corporate Communications
Tel.: 0221 - 149-1050
E-Mail: presse(at)rewe-group.com

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