The food of tomorrow is floating: In Kirchweidach, Upper Bavaria, vegetable grower Steiner is collaborating with the REWE Group on a new project called "Endless Summer", which focuses on cultivating leaf lettuce using hydroponics for the first time. The plants grow in water basins and can be harvested at an early stage of growth and combined into various mixes – an approach that is unique in Germany in this form. This virtually soil-free cultivation method is effective, particularly water-efficient, and can be used all year round. The lettuce is grown on a total of four hectares in state-of-the-art greenhouses heated by climate-friendly geothermal energy. The use of renewable heat saves around 3,000 tons of CO₂ annually and reinforces the particularly resource-efficient nature of this cultivation method.
Thanks to this collaboration, REWE Group can introduce hydroponically grown salad mixes to its stores for the first time. Growing the lettuce year-round in the special water basins, allows it to be produced in a particularly resource-efficient manner.
The result is lettuce that impresses with its quality and freshness. REWE is launching the new "Crispy Mix" salad mix in all its stores in Bavaria, with other varieties and regions to follow. PENNY will also begin nationwide rollout in early April.
© Steiner Gemüsebau
Quality and extended freshness thanks to hydroponics
The advantages of the hydroponics process are also obvious to customers: the lettuce plants are 100 percent naturally grown, of the highest quality, and particularly clean. This means they stay fresh for up to seven days longer. The resource-saving approach to hydroponic cultivation makes an important contribution to more sustainable vegetable production: short cultivation cycles of 22 to 32 days and a recirculating water system that requires around 90 percent less water and does not use any pesticides ensure a predictable and continuous supply. In addition, energy-saving LED lamps are used in the greenhouse.
© Steiner Gemüsebau
Packaged hydroponic lettuce for food retail
Further contribution by the REWE Group to more sustainable cultivation and product range
The REWE Group and Gemüsebau Steiner have enjoyed a close partnership for around ten years. The new hydroponics project will further strengthen this collaboration and add an innovative component: "After four years of intensive development work, we are very pleased to be working with the REWE Group to realize another flagship project for sustainable and modern vegetable cultivation," emphasizes Florian Steiner, Managing Director of Endless Summer and Gemüsebau Steiner. "We are particularly impressed by the quality and freshness of the lettuce – a requirement that has been our focus from the very beginning. This project shows how modern technology and responsible agriculture can work together to offer customers a truly high-quality product. Now we hope that consumers will also be inspired by our passion for fresh lettuce."
The REWE Group also sees the joint project as an important step: "For us, it is crucial to focus on foods that are not only convincing today but also have long-term viability and enable sustainable consumption. With our strong partner from the southern region, we are addressing precisely this issue: Endless Summer's hydroponic lettuce cultivation represents concrete steps toward lower emissions, greater energy efficiency, and greater responsibility toward future generations," says Elisabeth Promberger, Chairwoman of the Management Board of REWE Region South.
"The same applies to the discount sector of the REWE Group: We want to offer our customers products that impress in terms of quality and freshness and are also produced sustainably. Hydroponic lettuce combines these two expectations in an ideal way – a win for PENNY," adds Tina Mangold, Head of PENNY Region South.
© Steiner Gemüsebau
After more than four years of development, the time has finally come: the first baby leaf lettuce from the state-of-the-art greenhouse of Endless Summer GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of the Steiner Group, will be harvested, packaged, and delivered in a few days.
Market launch and regional expansion
The hydroponically grown salad mixes will be sold under the private labels REWE Beste Wahl, REWE Regional, and PENNY Marktliebe, depending on the distribution channel. The first mix, "Crispy Mix", is now available in all REWE stores in Bavaria. Further varieties will follow gradually and will also be introduced in additional REWE regions, including a wild herb mix. After Easter, the "Endless Summer" salad mixes will also be available in PENNY stores in the southern region before subsequently becoming available nationwide in all PENNY stores.
For more information
www.rewe-group.com/de/
https://es-greens.com/
