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Chicken breast fillet from the Wilhelm Brandenburg brand, a Rewe own brand
Photo: foodwatch
Rewe receives the negative award "golden cream puff". Since 2009, the Foodwatch organization has been honoring products that, in the opinion of consumer advocates, do not keep their advertising promises. The retail group is reprimanded with the “cream puff” for a chicken breast fillet from its own brand Wilhelm Brandenburg, which is touted as “climate neutral”: “The advertising creates the impression that the production of the chicken does not have a harmful effect on the climate,” writes Foodwatch in his Explanation of the price. In fact, however, it is "neither produced emission-free," nor is the CO2 emissions generated during production offset.
Meat is generally not climate-neutral, according to Foodwatch, as three quarters of all greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture are attributable to animal husbandry. Rewe claims that the resulting emissions would be offset by supporting a forest project in Peru. According to Foodwatch research, the project in Tambopata does not meet the requirements. In the weeks before the award ceremony, Climate Partner, the company through which Tambopata's project funding runs, had already defended itself against the allegations with its own research. Foodwatch sticks to its presentation.
As early as mid-November, Foodwatch had nominated five candidates for this year's "Golden Windbag" and put them to public voting.
The Rewe product, which is only offered in Bavaria, was now ahead with 17,661 votes.
(Read here the reasons why the other products were proposed and what the manufacturers responded to.)
In previous years, Danone's Actimel yoghurt (2009) was criticized for its award, Ferrero's milk bar (2011) and Coca-Cola's “Smart Water” (2018).
In 2020 it was the Hochland cheese dairy that at that time was still advertising its Grünland cheese with "milk from free range cows", but that was not the case.
In response to the "cream puff", Hochland changed the packaging.
At the moment it doesn't look like something like this will happen to the chicken breast fillet from Rewe.
Foodwatch warned Rewe and the manufacturer, Lohmann & Co. AG, at the beginning of the month for misleading advertising, but neither company wanted to sign a cease and desist declaration.
Climate Partner, the company that is responsible for classifying the fillet as “climate neutral”, spoke in a statement of the “cream puff flop”: The consumer protection organization had analyzed the wrong project area and worked with wrong data;
In addition, Foodwatch does not know the people responsible for climate protection.
Foodwatch, on the other hand, emphasizes that its own expertise comes from an independent expert.
Climate Partner did not provide any new evidence in its reply, but merely referred again to the sources that Foodwatch has already described as incorrect.
"In case of doubt", they will "have a court confirmed that the CO2 certificates sold are not suitable for climate protection."
Differences in the term "climate neutral"
Two weeks ago, the competition center, which is supported by business and associations, complained that environmentally harmful products were repeatedly advertised as "climate-neutral". This year, twelve complaints were received because of misleading or non-transparent advertising, and again and again it was about alleged climate friendliness. In seven cases, including the dispute between Rewe and Foodwatch, the companies did not issue a cease and desist declaration. The proceedings end up in court.
The competition center considers it problematic if conventionally manufactured products are sold as climate-neutral if the companies only offset emissions.
Other companies that also use the term to advertise would have reduced their own CO₂ emissions at great expense.
"Therefore, when advertising with› climate-neutral ‹, you have to inform that compensation is taking place and the proportion of your own measures to reduce CO₂ behind it," says Tudor Vlah from the organization.
mamk / dpa