REWE Group is intensifying its efforts to conserve resources: from October 2019, conventional cucumbers will also be offered unpackaged outside of the German season in the approximately 5,900 REWE and PENNY stores across Germany. In total, REWE Group can save up to 160,000 kilograms of plastic per year by dispensing with shrink wrap for conventional and organic cucumbers.
The cucumber is one of the most sensitive vegetables, as it consists of around 97 per cent water. It loses this liquid from the moment it is harvested. The thin shrink film made of recyclable polyethylene plays an important role in protecting them from drying out and damage.
With the involvement of all players in the supply chain, REWE and PENNY now want to change the transport processes so that conventional cucumbers can also be transported outside the German season, which lasts up to nine months. unpacked can be sold. The challenge: without protective individual packaging fluctuating Weather conditions in the growing countries have a greater impact on the freshness and quality of the cucumbers.
„When it comes to reducing plastic and packaging, we always have the entire supply chain in mind. The basic prerequisite is always that the quality of the products is maintained during storage and transport. If a product is unpackaged but dries out as a result, for example, this has nothing to do with conserving resources for us. This is an unnecessary waste of food that we want to avoid“
Eugenio Guidoccio, Head of Ultra Fresh Produce at REWE Group
In extreme weather conditions, it may therefore still be necessary in exceptional cases to protect the cucumbers from premature spoilage with a thin shrink film. In principle, however, REWE and PENNY managers are assuming that the cucumbers will not spoil throughout the season. at least 95 per cent of cucumbers can be offered unpackaged.
The REWE Group packaging strategy: avoid, reduce, improve REWE Group has anchored the more environmentally friendly design of packaging in an overarching strategy. The Group strives to, Avoid packaging wherever possible, reduce it or make it more environmentally friendly.
By the end of 2025, all plastic packaging from REWE and PENNY own brands that cannot be avoided should be recyclable. This will reduce the ecological impact and promote the circular economy of the materials used.
REWE and PENNY also want to use a total of 20 per cent less plastic in their own-brand packaging by the end of 2025 and only use certified raw materials for paper packaging by the end of 2020.
Last year, REWE Group committed to optimising the environmental friendliness of all private label sales packaging and service packaging at REWE, PENNY and toom Baumarkt by the end of 2030. To date, more than 1,400 items have already been optimised. With the changes already implemented, REWE and PENNY alone are currently saving around 8,200 tonnes of plastic per year.
Source: REWE Group
