German retailer Rewe’s new Pro Planet sustainability label will highlight the eco-friendly features of its existing store brands such as green manufacturing methods employed and responsible resource usage, according to a Planet Retail report.April 20, 2010
German retailer Rewe’s new Pro Planet sustainability label will highlight the eco-friendly features of its existing store brands such as green manufacturing methods employed and responsible resource usage, according to a Planet Retail report.
The label will first be used in the produce department and gradually expand to other categories such as other food, clothing paper goods. After initial roll out in Germany, the Pro Planet label will expand to its stores in the other 13 European markets its serves, beginning with Austria, according to the report.
Pro Planet was jointly developed with the Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), part of the United Nations Environment Program and the Germany-based Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
“We are hoping to give impulses for environmentally friendly and sustainable consumption with a range of sustainable products,” CEO Alain Caparros said recently at a forum in Berlin. He added that the 3,000-store company plans “to take sustainable products out of their niche existence” by proving “that sustainable products can be sold at affordable prices.”
The retailer’ goal is to sell 500 million Pro Planet products by the end of 2011.
SBD Views: As Europe continues to offer valuable lessons on growing store brand share, this new program from Rewe is noteworthy. Well executed store brand positioning around “sustainability” or “green” products is a clear path to differentiation with consumers. While not much has been done here in the U.S. to date, Walmart’s effort to establish a Sustainability Index for products gives them a head start. ––John Failla for Store Brands Decisions