Retailer REWE Group opened its first fully plant-based supermarket in Berlin, Germany on 7 April 2024.
The ‘REWE voll pflanzlich’ (REWE fully plant-based) supermarket, located at Warschauer Brücke in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district, offers more than 2,700 vegan products across its 212-square-metre sales space.
REWE’s own store brands, REWE Bio + Vegan, REWE Bio, REWE Beste Wahl and Vives are prominently represented across the store, offering a portfolio of products that includes oat milk, smoked tofu and falafels.
Well-known brands such as Rügenwalder, Oatly and Alpro can be found in the store – which will stock products from around 300 brands – as well as newer brands. These include Not Guilty, an organic vegan sweets brand, and Greenforce, a plant-based meat specialist offering Leberkäse and meatball alternatives.
A wide selection of over 50 items from plant-based cheese brand Bedda and healthy snack company Bettr are available at the store, as well as more than 120 products from Koro, which offers a wide range of plant-based food products.
Exclusively available at the store is BioVegan’s range, which includes baking mixes, pasta toppings and dresses. Other food brands listed include organic crisp brand Heimatgut, cereal brand Wholey and ready-to-eat snack bowl brand Goodbank. In the realm of beverages, Berlin-based spirits distiller Mampe is making its REWE debut at the new store.
A snack bar offers fresh creams, fruits and sandwiches prepared by employees daily, while Eat Happy offers fresh plant-based sushi alongside the salad bar. Also available is a self-service ice cream machine, where customers can enjoy plant-based soft serve ice cream.
Peter Maly, CEO of REWE Group, said that the supermarket showcases the “vast and varied” selection of vegan products now available.
He added: “Our plant-based supermarket has twice as many products as the usual REWE product range. First and foremost, we hope to learn lessons that we can apply in our traditional supermarkets. Here at Warschauer Brücke in Berlin-Friedrichshain, we have the opportunity to pave the way for even more new products and brands on supermarket shelves.”
The store has been designed in partnership with creative agency CMF, displaying eye-catching colours of bright yellow, green and warm rust-red, with colourful triangles stretching from the ceiling to the floor.
Stefan Hörning, CEO of REWE Ost, said: “Lively, striking, natural – these are the keywords that have driven us forwards. We have special products, including lots of fresh produce. You can try out new things with us – and a lot of the product range is organic. Here, new companies with fresh ideas have the chance to get one of the coveted places on the supermarket shelf.”
The product range in standard REWE stores includes up to 1,400 vegan items, experiencing significant growth in recent years – particularly in the categories of milk alternatives and fresh convenience products.
REWE’s new plant-based store opening follows GfK research commissioned by the retailer last Autumn, showing that more than half of the respondents had already bought vegan alternatives. 27% said they replace animal products with vegan alternatives multiple times per week.
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