Yet the measure has another underlying reason: home brands commonly bring in the largest profits within the highly competitive retail sector. In recent years, supermarket chains went through a lot of effort unifying their own brands, tying them to the store name much more closely. Rewe was one of the first to do this: anonymous brands like "Today" and "Salto" were revamped and marketed under the name 'Rewe'. But it seems that this very marketing campaign now puts the store’s reputation at risk. The horse meat scandal threatens not only the image of an interchangeable, faceless brand, but also the perception of the supply chain in general. "The damage is clearly larger and more difficult to repair than a few cheap, replaceable home brands," says Jörg Deppe from trade consultancy BBE.
With the announcement of the horse meat scandal, the rather adventurous delivery chains from farm to store became subject to public scrutiny. As it turned out, the meat travelled to German supermarkets from Romania via Cyprus and then through France and Luxembourg.
Rewe now wants to restore customer faith by abolishing these practises and assert more control over food safety.
