At the end of 2021, the federal government decided in the coalition agreement to support farmers in the species-appropriate conversion of livestock farming.
The law, which was passed by the Bundestag plenum on 16 June 2023, prescribes mandatory labelling for fresh pork from Germany that reaches consumers via food retailers. The law has received criticism from many quarters because no practicable overall concept, including financing and animal welfare criteria, is discernible.
As the responsible Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture has subsequently announced that the legal regulation will be expanded quickly, the text of the law gives rise to a statement by REWE Group.
In a consumer survey conducted by the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture, Nutri-Score was the most popular system for improving the nutritional information available to shoppers. Following successful notification from the EU, the system has been in use in Germany since November 2019. The REWE Group has decided to roll out the Nutri-Score labelling system across its private label products in Germany.
Twelve million tons of food are thrown away in Germany every year. The previous Federal Government (2017-2021) therefore approved the National Strategy for the Reduction of Food Waste. In its coalition agreement, the Federal Government defined compulsory sector-specific targets for reducing food waste and expressed its intention to clarify questions of liability and facilitate tax relief for donations. REWE and PENNY have been firmly committed to reducing food waste for many years. Throwing food away runs counter to the REWE Group’s social, environmental and economic beliefs. A wide range of measures is needed to that end.
There is an increasing demand for ecologically produced goods from our customers, especially in the fruit and vegetables sector. However, the switch to organic farming is associated with challenges for producers. Products that are already produced under ecological conditions may not be marketed as such. A transition period of two or three years must elapse before the products with the corresponding organic seals can go on sale. There are hardly any marketing opportunities for fruit and vegetables in conversion, except for selling them as conventional goods. This does not do justice to the effort in cultivation.
