REWE Group Sales Lines Honoured as “Sustainable Retail Companies 2011”

Gold Medal for REWE, PENNY, toom SB-Warenhaus, toom Baumarkt and ProMarkt

The sales lines of the REWE Group have received the gold medal from the VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE e.V. for their commitment to sustainability and can now display the title “Sustainable Retail Company 2011”. The award was given to REWE, toom-SB-Warenhaus, PENNY, toom Baumarkt and ProMarkt.

The performance of the sales lines in comparison with the competition was also outstanding. tegut and GEPA were the only other companies to receive the gold medal in the segment food and luxury items. Aldi Süd, Kaufland and real had to be satisfied with silver. Results for the competitors in the DIY segment were similar (Hornbach: silver; Max Bahr: bronze). In the information and communications technology industry, Deutsche Telekom was the only company besides ProMarkt in the category Retail Companies to receive gold. No other awards were given out.

The REWE Group and its five participating sales lines did well as early as 2009 when they received the silver medal. The results for the appraised segments “Business Activities”, “Supply Chain” and “Promotion of Sustainable Consumption” were without exception in the range of “strongly committed” to “very strongly committed”.

“More and more consumers expect companies to accept their environmental and social responsibilities along the entire supply chain,” declared Dieter Schaper, national chairperson of the VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE e.V.

“We are delighted about the medals. They are a verification of the consistent, credible and transparent work being done by the REWE Group sales lines in terms of sustainability. My thanks above all to the employees at the headquarters and in the stores who realise these principles in their daily work,” remarked Manfred Esser, member of the REWE Group Management Board responsible for sustainability.

The survey is promoted by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment and Federal Environmental Agency and is based on a list of questions encompassing 350 criteria. The VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE e.V. has conducted its examination of the social and ecological activities of the six retail industries with the highest turnover levels for the second time: food and luxury items, textiles and shoes, furniture, DIY materials, information and communications technology and health and body care products.

REWE Group, founded in 1927, has turnover in excess of €53 billion (2010) and currently employs a workforce of more than 310,000, making it one of the leading trading and travel and tourism groups in Germany and Europe. The company, which has a history extending back more than 80 years, operates over 15,000 stores in 14 countries today. In 2010, the Group employed a workforce of 224,000 in about 11,000 stores in Germany, realising turnover of €36.5 billion. Its sales lines include supermarkets and hypermarkets of the brands REWE, REWE CENTER, REWE CITY, toom and BILLA, the discounter PENNY, the toom BauMarkt stores (toom Baumarkt and B1 Discount Baumarkt) and the consumer electronics stores of ProMarkt. The travel and tourism division includes the tour operators ITS, JAHN REISEN, TJAEREBORG, Dertour and Meier's Weltreisen in addition to the business travel segment FCm Travel Solutions and about 2,000 travel agencies (including ATLASReisen, DER Reisebüro, DERPART).

If you have any questions, please contact: REWE Group Corporate Communications, Phone: +49 (0)221–149–1050,
presse@rewe-group.com