REWE Group Takes Next Step in Its Commitment to Sustainability

Köln, 19.04.10

New sustainability label Pro Planet to encourage consumers to buy more environmentally and socially friendly products

On the occasion of REWE Group's Sustainability Forum held in Berlin, CEO Alain Caparros has announced the next step the Cologne-based trading and travel and tourism company will take in its commitment to sustainability. "By offering sustainable products we would like to encourage customers to buy more environmentally and socially friendly merchandise", said Caparros in Berlin on Monday (19 April 2010).

At the centre of the next step of its commitment to sustainability is REWE Group's new sustainability label Pro Planet for private label products. "By introducing Pro Planet, we want to offer our clients a reliable guidance on products from sustainable production", said Caparros.  "The idea behind is to get sustainable products out of their niche existence in order to make them attractive for the vast majority of the consumers. By the end of 2011, we would like to sell more the 500 million articles bearing the Pro Planet label. This way we want to show our customers that sustainable products can also be cheap in economic terms."

In future, those private label products will be given the sustainability label Pro Planet which contribute in a measurable way to a sustainable use of natural resources due to their way of production, finishing or use.

In cooperation with Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), a collaboration of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt und Energie (institute for climate, environment and energy), REWE Group has developed the complete process for awarding the Pro Planet label and discussed it in detail with non-governmental organisations, scientific institutes and government organisations. The entire process was finally validated by TÜV Rheinland.

In future, all private label products of REWE Group's sales lines can be marked with the Pro Planet label. In the area of food, the first products will comprise different types of fruits and vegetables - currently, fruits such as strawberries, which are procured by REWE Group from its contract farmers in Spain. Selected textiles and paper products will be the first non-food product group to bear the Pro Planet label.

In close cooperation with a council especially set up for this purpose, REWE Group decides about the products that are to be given the sustainability label. This expert body comprises Georg Abel, director of the Verbraucher Initiative e.V. (consumer initiative) in Germany, Dr. Klaus Kastenhofer, managing director of the organisation for environmental protection GLOBAL 2000, Dr. Oliver Müller, head of Caritas International and, as its Chairman, Bernward Geier, journalist and consultant for agricultural and environmental policy issues.

Further and more detailed information on Pro Planet is available in the internet at www.proplanet-label.com.

REWE Group will directly approach its customers in the months to come with further campaigns and activities to invite them to contribute to sustainability by buying more environmentally and socially friendly products.

REWE Group started the first campaign with this aim in last March already. Until 11 April consumers were offered the opportunity to shift to economic green power together with a bonus of 120 euros. The more than 6,000 stores, travel agencies and administration sites of REWE Group have been using exclusively certified green power from renewable sources since 2007 already. "By launching this initiative for green power we wanted to offer also our customers an attractive and favourably priced incentive to actively practice the protection of the environment", said Caparros.

REWE Group has been intensifying the active dialogue with stakeholders and consumers since Monday by means of the sustainability platform www.utopia.de on which the Cologne-based trading and travel and tourism company is present with a corporate profile and offers the opportunity for entering into a dialogue.

With a turnover of more than 50 billion euros and 330,000 employees, REWE Group is one of the leading trading and travel and tourism companies in Germany and Europe. The company, founded more than 80 years ago, is present in 16 countries with more than 15,000 stores. The sales lines comprise super and hypermarkets of the REWE, toom and BILLA brands, the discounter PENNY, the DIY stores of toom BauMarkt and the consumer electronics chain ProMarkt. The travel and tourism division comprises the tour operators ITS, JAHN REISEN and TJAEREBORG as well as Dertour, Meier's Weltreisen and ADAC Reisen, and about 2,500 travel agencies.

Contact

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

Contact