The new “REWE fully plant-based” in Berlin-Friedrichshain offers over 2,700 plant-based foods.
REWE opened its first purely plant-based supermarket in Berlin today. The “REWE fully plant-based” store on Warschauer Brücke in the Friedrichshain district has more than 2,700 vegan products. After more than 3,800 stores in which the food retailer offers everything from organic vegetables to cheese to meat, this is the company’s first vegan store.
Peter Maly, CEO of the REWE Group, sees the plant-based supermarket as an important test: “With ‘REWE fully plant-based’ we are showing how varied and large the selection of vegan products is. We have been recognized several times in the past as vegan pioneers in the food retail sector, and the strong support of our customers is encouraging.”
In the usual REWE stores, the range includes up to 1,400 vegan items and has grown significantly in recent years. Milk alternatives and fresh convenience products have proven to be particularly popular items. Maly says: “In our plant-based supermarket there are twice as many products as in the usual REWE range. We are primarily hoping for learning effects for 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 to appear on supermarket shelves. We are very excited!”
Berlin’s mayor and Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Enterprises, Franziska Giffey, said at the opening: “Berlin is the right place for innovations, and this also applies to new concepts in retail. With an entire market that offers purely plant-based products, REWE is showing how diverse the diet is these days and can test customer demand in Berlin. People’s shopping habits are changing, and we live and eat much more consciously today. This is also reflected on the shelves of our markets in a range that is becoming ever broader and responds to people’s different needs. I wish the market and its employees every success and every success.”
Exclusive products, lots of organic and young brands
The “REWE fully plant-based” in Berlin is compact and easy to navigate with its 212 square meters of sales area. The range of plant-based foods and drugstore products is even larger: over 2,700 items from around 300 brands are available. The own brands REWE Bio + vegan, REWE Bio, REWE Beste Wahl and Vivess are prominently represented. These include the food retailer’s most successful plant-based products such as the oat drink, the smoked tofu and the falafel balls from REWE Bio + vegan.
With Rügenwalder, Oatly and Alpro, well-known brands can be found as well as young companies, for example Not Guilty with its organically certified sweets, for foodies with dips and sauces and Greenforce with vegan meatloaf and Köttbullar. There is a particularly wide selection with more than 50 items from the brands bedda, bettr and Koro.
BioVegan products are available exclusively – from baking mixes to dressings and pasta toppings. Organic chips from Heimatgut, cornflakes from Wholey and bowls from Goodbank come directly from Berlin. For the first time at REWE, vegan eggnog from the Berlin spirits manufacturer Mampe is available. Another special feature is the ice cream machine, from which customers can tap plant-based soft ice cream.
Everything you need for your green weekly shopping
“If you’re looking for a snack for on the go or just want to try something new, you’ve come to the right place. Even if you want to do your weekly shopping, you’ll find everything here,” says Dennis Henkelmann, who runs the store. “Our range is varied, there’s everything from vegan burger sauce, ramen and wine to various snacks. We’re a real supermarket, just purely plant-based.” The independent merchant relies on a team of 12 employees at “REWE fully plant-based”. They have all been specially trained in the plant-based range in order to be able to advise customers as best as possible.
The path through the fully plant-based supermarket begins with fruit and vegetables, followed directly by the salad bar and fresh sushi from Eat Happy. Chilled smoothies, spreads, seitan and much more can be found in chests and refrigerators along the walls. Plant-based drinks, nuts, spices, baking ingredients and drugstore items await on the shelves in the middle of the store. The snack bar tempts with fresh creams, fruit variations and sandwiches such as the Laxx Kracher – all made fresh every day by the employees. Frozen foods such as vegan ice cream, chilled drinks and a large selection of purely plant-based baked goods complete the range around the checkouts.
“The supermarket is very close to the S-Bahn, and there are many apartments and offices around it. That’s why we deliberately offer a wide range of baked goods. We have more than 40 products, from vegan Franzbrötchen to pretzel bagels and Sunday rolls,” says Dennis Henkelmann.
At “REWE fully plant-based” there are three so-called self-checkouts where customers scan their purchases themselves. Thanks to “Scan&Go”, they can scan their groceries using a handheld scanner or smartphone as they walk along the shelves and put them in their shopping cart.
Neon meets nature
In addition to the exclusively plant-based foods on the shelves, one thing is particularly striking about “REWE fully plant-based”: the look. Bright yellow meets rich green and warm rust red. Colorful triangles stretch from the ceiling to the floor. The store concept was designed jointly by the creative agency CMF and REWE.
Stefan Hörning, CEO of REWE East, says: “The ‘REWE fully plant-based’ is an eye-catcher. Lively, striking, natural – these are the keywords that drove us. We have special products, including lots of fresh ones. You can try out new things with us, and much of our range is organic. Here, young companies with new ideas have the chance to get one of the coveted places on the supermarket shelf.”
Another eye-catcher is the logo. “We were allowed to give the well-known red REWE logo a new coat of paint for the first time. We complement the green letters with the simple addition ‘fully plant-based’. This way we get straight to the point about what’s inside the store without any frills.”
Plant-based foods in high demand
Thanks to its wide range of plant-based products in its supermarkets, REWE has been a pioneer in the food retail industry for several years, as shown by independent rankings such as those of the Albert Schweitzer Foundation (2023) and the PETA Vegan Food Award (2021).
A GfK survey commissioned by REWE in autumn last year showed that plant-based foods have long since become part of many consumers’ everyday lives. More than half of the approximately 1,000 respondents said they had already bought vegan alternatives. Almost 27 percent said that they replace animal products with plant-based alternatives at least several times a week. 54 percent said the most common reason for buying was simply wanting to try it out. In the 2023 Nutrition Report of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, curiosity was also the most frequently cited reason (73%). The representative survey also showed that the popularity of plant-based alternatives has been steadily increasing since 2015.
Further information: rewe-vollpflanzlich.de