Initial stocktake: how are things going at REWE’s fully plant-based supermarket?

We’re a proper supermarket, just plant-based: this was the promise of store manager Dennis Henkelmann, when he opened REWE’s first exclusively plant-based supermarket in Germany together with REWE Group CEO Peter Maly in mid-April. And with approximately 5,500 weekly purchases at the store, it is clear that the concept behind the first “REWE voll pflanzlich” in Berlin is delivering on this promise. Customers particularly like the fact that they can find a full range of items in the supermarket, including vegetables, baked goods, chilled products, confectionery and toiletries. They say another advantage of an exclusively plant-based store is being able to choose items without hesitation, unlike in traditional grocery stores where they need to specifically look for vegan products and check the ingredients.

“REWE voll pflanzlich”, which is located next to the Warschauer Brücke (Warsaw Bridge) in the Friedrichshain district of Berlin (Warschauer Straße 33), sells more than 2,700 vegan products in a space measuring 212 square metres. By comparison, conventional REWE stores carry up to 1,400 vegan products. Store manager Dennis Henkelmann is catering to a slightly different customer base than in his neighbouring traditional REWE supermarket: Plant-based products also sell very well in my conventional store, but that store tends to attract flexitarians: shoppers have a real mix of products in their baskets. The plant-based store is more popular with vegans, who have made a conscious decision to only buy plant-based products. Henkelmann is interested to see how his shop next to the Warschauer Brücke will perform over the next few months: We will see over the coming year whether customers embrace an exclusively plant-based range of groceries over the longer term.

The most popular products

Convenience foods are by far the strongest segment in “REWE voll pflanzlich”. The most popular items are baked goods: in the first half-year, the supermarket sold around 6,000 chocolate croissants and the same number of Franzbrötchen, a type of cinnamon pastry. Store-produced snack rolls with fillings like spelt Schnitzel and smoked tofu are also customer favourites. The team makes its popular coconut and almond-based creamy spreads each day in the store. Initially savoury flavours like spring onion and pepper were sold, but the team has now also developed sweet options such as raspberry and mango.

Unsurprisingly, fruit and vegetables are also among the best-selling products, with own-brand REWE Bio cucumbers and bananas leading the way in the popularity stakes. A creamy oat-based self-serve vegan ice cream is among the top 10 products.

More checkouts and longer opening hours

A potato-based dairy-free drink, vegan soups and tofu finishing sauces – these are just a few of the products that have made it onto the shelves of “REWE voll pflanzlich” over the past few months. We aim to get new items onto the shelves as quickly as possible, because this enables us to fulfil customer requests. We’ve added gherkins, regional mustard and various types of liquid smoke, explains project manager Isabell Kroll. Shortly after the store opened, the marketing team placed a board at the entrance where customers could write their requests. We also get really good suggestions on our Instagram profile, and we look into every single one, adds Kroll.

“REWE voll pflanzlich” is still in the testing phase, emphasises Peter Maly, CEO of the REWE Group. Six months in, he is happy with the store’s development: It was a brave step to open an exclusively plant-based store in the current market environment, but we knew we had considerable expertise in vegan products and plenty of experience acquired at over 3,800 REWE supermarkets across Germany. So far, initial figures and customer feedback have confirmed that the idea of a plant-based full-range supplier can work, provided it is in a suitable location and on the right type of site. Every day, ten thousand people cross over the Warschauer Brücke, where “REWE voll pflanzlich” is located. The supermarket is also very close to an S-Bahn station and numerous office buildings. We’ll decide at a later point whether to open more exclusively plant-based supermarkets. For now, our REWE stores and customers across Germany are benefiting from products that we initially test in “REWE voll pflanzlich in Berlin, before approving them for inclusion in all our stores.”

As in a conventional supermarket, the frequency of visits to “REWE voll pflanzlich” varies depending on the day of the week and time. Two self-checkout machines have recently been added to meet customer needs during busy times, so there are now a total of five checkouts. Customers are able to pay with cash at two checkouts, while the other three are cashless. The marketing team has recently extended the opening hours by one hour in the evenings: “REWE voll pflanzlich” is now open until 11 p.m.