Nuts, lentils, spelt pasta, muesli or coffee: since March 2024, customers have been able to fill their own containers with a selection of more than ten dmBio products in 15 selected dm stores in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The offer is a pilot project by dmBio, with which the company is testing an unpackaged system. This is now coming to an end - the stations will be dismantled after the end of the project on 30 August.
The statement from dm Managing Director Kerstin Erbe on LinkedIn:
„Our pilot project for dmBio filling stations has been completed. Since spring 2024, our customers have been able to buy selected dmBio products without packaging in 15 dm stores. The aim of the test was to save packaging and at the same time to observe how such an unpackaged offer is accepted.
The feedback from our customers was positive overall. To better understand the actual impact compared to conventionally packaged products, we also carried out a comprehensive carbon footprint assessment. We looked at the entire life cycle - from the manufacture, cleaning and transport of the capsules through to the production of the stations.
The result: The utilisation of the stations was too low to be ecologically advantageous. Overall, the dmBio filling stations were not more sustainable than our packaged dmBio products. We have therefore decided to discontinue the project and dismantle the stations after the pilot ends on 30.8.25. The Smart Cup deposit containers can still be returned to participating dm stores until 30.11.25.
What remains? Many important insights that we are now incorporating into the further development of our product range and service offering. Because for us, sustainability also means scrutinising and testing things and consistently learning from the results.“
