REWE is the first of the four largest food retailers in Germany to offer organic fruit and vegetables nationwide largely without plastic or with improved packaging.
The retail group aims to save 210,000 kilograms of plastic and 80,000 kilograms of paper each year by making its packaging more environmentally friendly in more than 3,600 supermarkets. This step was preceded by a Unpacked test in REWE and nahkauf stores in Baden-Württemberg, the Palatinate and Saarland. It was used to collect important data on the effects of avoiding packaging in the organic fruit and vegetable range.
Organic fruit and vegetables converted
Despite the coronavirus crisis and its impact on supermarkets, supply chains and agricultural producers, REWE is pressing ahead with its plastic reduction strategy. Another milestone: For the first time, a complete sub-range has been converted.
„Over the past few months, we have gained important insights into which of the 126 organic products we can justifiably do without packaging. For many other items, we have succeeded in using materials more sparingly and developing innovative, more environmentally friendly packaging alternatives. We now supply all our stores in Germany with our unpackaged or packaging-optimised organic fruit and vegetables. In this way, we are making our social contribution to reducing packaging waste.“ Peter Maly, Managing Director Sales at REWE
As before, REWE will also apply the findings to conventionally grown fruit and vegetables wherever possible. For example, ripened avocados and mangoes have recently stopped being packaged in trays.
Even in corona times: Customers want less packaging
Corona risk and unpackaged fruit and vegetables - how do they go together? In REWE's opinion, without any problems. To date, the retail company has been able to no reservations about the now unpackaged or packaging-optimised loose goods recognise. For good reason. This is because experts do not see food - whether unpackaged or packaged - as a transmission route for the coronavirus.
According to a recent survey by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin, 66 per cent of respondents rate the risk of infection via food as (very) low.
SourceREWE Group
