By joining the “Pact against Food Waste” today (27 June), REWE Group is once again strengthening its long-standing commitment to combating food waste. The 2,150 PENNY and 3,800 REWE stores already sell an annual average of 98 per cent of their product ranges. The food that is no longer sold but can still be consumed without hesitation has been made available free of charge by REWE since 1996 and by PENNY since 2007 to over 960 local food bank initiatives throughout Germany. In addition, REWE and PENNY work together with the foodsharing e.V. association throughout Germany. By joining the pact against food waste, REWE Group has committed to further reducing the amount of food left over despite its cooperation with the food banks and foodsharing: by 30 per cent by 2025 and by 50 per cent by 2030.
We expressly welcome the pact initiated by Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir. Even though we have built up a very effective system in the fight against food waste over decades, we want to optimise it further. We will reduce the remaining quantities even further, primarily by expanding our cooperation with food banks and similar organisations. This is an ambitious goal in view of an average sales rate of 98 per cent and the already very high level of cooperation between our REWE and PENNY stores,
says Dr Daniela Büchel, Member of the Management Board of REWE Group – Human Resources and Sustainability. But REWE Group is not resting on its laurels: We are fighting for every single product that doesn’t end up in the bin.
In addition to intelligent merchandise management systems, short transport routes and seamless refrigeration, REWE and PENNY rely on regular staff training. They check the best-before dates of products on a daily basis at intervals determined by the individual stores. Food (especially fresh meat and dairy products) that will reach its best-before date in a few days is offered at a price reduction of up to 30 per cent. In the case of unpackaged convenience products in our self-service counters, it is customary to reduce the selection or quantities appropriately at closing time.
Since February 2019, PENNY own-brand dairy products have been labelled with a clear warning that they may still be consumed after the best-before date. Own-brand products such as milk, yoghurt and cream are labelled with the words Zu gut für die Tonne
(Too good for the bin), which are printed in the immediate vicinity of the best-before date. We want to show that food does not automatically have to be thrown away when it reaches its best-before date. This is because many customers often do not realise that the best-before date does not mean that a product is no longer edible one day later – it is not an expiry date.
Since April 2016, PENNY has also been marketing organic fruit and vegetables with minor blemishes under its own Naturgut Bio-Helden brand in order to draw attention to a greater appreciation of food. In April 2019, PENNY was honoured with the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Zu gut für die Tonne
award in the retail category for its Naturgut organic heroes and the “Kostbare Retten” best-before date campaign.
