Rewe wants to challenge the discounters for price leadership and be particularly sustainable. But what is behind this? 00:00 Rewe in check 01:51 Price 08:50 Quality Rügenwalder sausage 22:26 Image 32:52 Quality yes! Flips 38:16 Fairness 42:09 Conclusion REWE is the second largest German supermarket chain. Most customers value it as a high-quality full-range retailer. And Rewe has big plans: The company wants to challenge the discounters for price leadership. The own brands are intended to make shopping at Aldi and Co. superfluous. At the same time, Rewe wants to be a pioneer: more regional food, less plastic and healthier products with reduced sugar. But what is behind this? How fairly does the company treat its employees? How regional and how high-quality are the products really? How well do the own brands compare to the competition? Can Rewe keep its price promises and do the goods in all Rewe stores really cost the same? Marktcheck takes a close look behind the scenes of the group. More information about the show on our homepage: http://www.swr.de/marktcheck and on our Facebook page / marktcheck You can subscribe to our channel here: https://bit.ly/34ebysh You can find out more about our Ökochecker on Instagram: / oekochecker #Rewe #Supermarktkette #Lebensmittelgeschaeft Comments are welcome - but please observe the netiquette: http://www.swr.de/netiquette Rewe currently has more than 45,000 products in its range, including numerous branded products. We put together a shopping basket with 19 items, consisting of branded products such as Meggle butter, Nutella and Coca Cola as well as own brands. We buy comparable items at Edeka, Kaufland and Lidl. The price difference is small: at Rewe our purchase costs 38.68 euros, at Edeka 38.62 euros. At Lidl we pay 38.48 euros and at Kaufland the purchase is cheapest: 38.19 euros. The price differences are therefore small. Own brands ja!, Rewe Beste Wahl and Rewe Bio Rewe has numerous own brands in its range: the affordable products from ja!, as well as Rewe Beste Wahl and Rewe Bio. Stiftung Warentest has examined several own-brand products over the last 18 months. The average rating of these tested items from Rewe's own brands was 2.8, while Edeka gave an average rating of 2.9. Rewe has its own brands manufactured. The products from Rewe Beste Wahl & Co often come from well-known brand manufacturers: ja! sugar is produced by Südzucker, Rewe Beste Wahl apple spritzer is produced by alwa. Rewe has a good image with its customers Rewe recognized the trends of the time very early on and is focusing on them. Customers notice this too. In terms of sustainability, Rewe can point to a good plastic quota among the large German supermarkets and discounters. A kilogram of regional carrots costs 1.39 euros at Rewe, of which the farmer receives an average of 0.39 euros. The relationship between the supermarket price and the money the producer receives is similar for zucchini (1.49 euros 0.40 euros) and cauliflower (1.99 euros 0.59 euros). Insiders say that German producers feel interchangeable because they cannot compete with the cheap foreign prices. Rewe has this to say: "In our purchasing policy, we pay very close attention to ensuring that the intense price war in the German food retail trade does not come at the expense of small and medium-sized companies." Two-class society among employees Rewe's employees live in a two-class society. Of the approximately 3,600 Rewe stores across Germany, only about half of the stores guarantee the standard wage. This is because Rewe does not operate all of the stores itself; the Rewe Group also has independent retailers. At Edeka, however, the proportion of private stores is significantly higher at 80 percent, so only one in five supermarkets guarantees the standard wage. Rewe points out that there are mandatory standards for retailers, but "the sole responsibility for personnel in the markets run by retailers rests with the independent retailer." Our conclusion Fairness: Rewe allows a two-tier salary system when it comes to pay, which can put some employees in private markets at a disadvantage. When it comes to the price of branded goods, Rewe can almost keep up with its competitors and discounters. In terms of quality, the peanut crisps and tea sausage did well. Nevertheless, even Rewe meat involves animals being transported hundreds of kilometers (see video). Image: Rewe's advertising campaigns are popular with customers. The supermarket is perceived as credible. Image source: picture alliance/ Oliver Berg/ dpa