The REWE Group is leading the way to end the practice of chick culling and has contributed decisively to the development of an in-egg sexing procedure. Thanks to this procedure and alternative rearing methods, more than 300 million no-kill eggs have been sold since 2016. Certain aspects of the draft law set out by the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture in September 2019 jeopardise the successful phase-out of chick culling.
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.