The year 2025 was marked by persistently high inflation across the overall economy, which was also reflected in subdued consumer sentiment. Despite this challenging environment, REWE Group Austria increased its gross turnover by 2.2% to €11.36 billion and employed around 47,000 people nationwide at year-end, reinforcing its position as one of the largest private-sector employers in Austria’s retail industry.
The food retail segment (BILLA, BILLA PLUS, PENNY, ADEG) recorded revenue growth of 1.9%. In spite of ongoing macroeconomic challenges, REWE Group remains committed to the largest investment program in its corporate history: approximately €300 million were invested in Austria in 2025, with a further €350 million planned for 2026. By the end of 2027, total investments in the Austrian market will amount to €1.5 billion.
Beyond the financial results, 2025 was also a year of major strategic decisions. With the new “ALPHA” logistics center in Wiener Neudorf, the Group is making the largest single investment in its corporate history, totaling €600 million, and taking a decisive step toward strengthening domestic supply security through automated, future-oriented logistics solutions.
At the same time, REWE Group sent a strong signal in support of regional structures and local supply: the acquisition of 21 locations from the UNIMARKT Group sustainably strengthened the independent retailer organization of ADEG as well as the store networks of BILLA and PENNY. Another important milestone was the international expansion of BIPA into Romania, marking entry into a new EU market in addition to Croatia, where BIPA has been operating very successfully since 2007.
BILLA reinforces its regional supply through entrepreneurial spirit and a strong commitment to Austria in its product offering
BILLA achieved revenue growth of 1.4% in Austria in 2025. Every day, around 1.9 million customers shop in BILLA stores, underlining the company’s strong role in local supply across the country. A key development during the year was the continued strengthening of the independent retailer (Kaufleute) model: by year-end, the network comprised 40 BILLA Kaufleute, making it stronger than ever and firmly anchored in regional supply. By 2030, a total of 200 BILLA Kaufleute stores are to be integrated into the location network as a core element of BILLA’s strategy.
BILLA once again demonstrated a strong profile in sustainability and agriculture. Since 2020, BILLA has been the first and, to date, only food retailer in Austria to offer fresh meat exclusively from Austrian origin, including poultry and promotional products. Animal welfare is no longer a niche topic at BILLA: products meeting higher animal welfare standards now account for more than 50% of fresh meat sales.
Each year, BILLA sources more than €2 billion worth of products from Austrian suppliers, making a substantial and long-term contribution to domestic agriculture and local value creation. Several product categories also show a high proportion of organic products: over 50% for bread and bakery products, more than 30% for fresh milk, and 29% for vegetables. Organic products at BILLA recorded growth more than three times higher than conventional items in 2025, strengthening BILLA’s role as a leader in the organic market, driven by brands including Ja! Natürlich.
In addition, BILLA has taken on a pioneering role in plant-based products. At BILLA PLUS, the retailer offers more than 7,000 plant-based products, making it the largest purely plant-based assortment in the Austrian grocery retail market.
BILLA also pursued a consistent approach to inclusion: in 2025, the company employed over 900 people with disabilities, a leading figure in the Austrian food retail sector. Furthermore, BILLA introduced the “Silent Hour” in its first stores as early as the end of 2021. During this period, acoustic and visual stimuli are reduced in stores, sending a clear signal in favor of greater accessibility in everyday shopping.
BILLA continues to demonstrate strong social engagement, particularly in children’s and youth sports. In cooperation with 140 sports clubs and associations, around 30,000 children have already been reached in sports such as soccer, handball, volleyball, sailing, and American football. This commitment is complemented by the club campaign “I leb’ für mein’ Verein!”, in which customers collect tokens for their favorite club and redeem them for rewards.
BIPA: Stable development, international expansion and strong positioning in women's health
BIPA also continued its stable overall development in 2025 with growth of +2.3%. In addition to a continued very successful business performance in Croatia with an increase of 9.7%, the focus was on the expansion into Romania, where BIPA opened its first store in the capital Bucharest in 2025. The opening of the first store was the starting signal for BIPA's expansion in Romania. From 2026 on, the goal is to open between 20 and 25 new stores annually. At BIPA Austria, one of the largest specialist drugstore retailers in the country with around one million customers a week, the "Ehrlich gesagt" campaign shaped the year and positioned BIPA as an important voice for women's health, further raising the company's profile in the specialist drugstore retail sector. Social commitment remains a key concern: the "Red Box" initiative launched in 2023 together with the City of Vienna makes an important contribution to raising awareness of period poverty by providing young women and girls with a total of 27,000 vouchers for free period products every month. In addition, as part of the cooperation with Procter & Gamble, a total of 12,000 sleeping places for mothers at risk of poverty and their children were made available in Caritas mother and child homes in 2025. BIPA also sets strong international accents in the private label segment: own product developments, such as the private labels “bi good” or “Babywell”, some of which are even produced in Austria, are offered in all REWE countries and brands - both in Germany and in the CEE markets.
PENNY invests €90 million in its largest store modernization program and strengthens apprenticeship training
Operating in an environment characterized by intense competition and economic challenges, PENNY Austria was able to maintain stable revenue levels in 2025 (0.0%) following two exceptionally successful years with cumulative sales growth of 14.5%. Last year, PENNY launched the largest store modernization program in the company’s history, which will consistently continue over the coming years. To this end, PENNY will invest around €90 million across Austria over the next three years in a new store layout.
A clear focus of the modernization is on freshness, with particular emphasis on the meat assortment, ensured by in-house butchers in 237 stores, as well as an expanded range of fruit and vegetables and bread and bakery products.
Since last year, PENNY has also been offering a “Office Day for Apprentices”, giving especially committed apprentices the opportunity to visit headquarters, engage directly with decision-makers, and gain insights into the semi-automated REWE logistics center, allowing them to familiarize themselves early on with different areas of the company. In addition, the apprenticeship program has been expanded: from the second year onwards, apprentices can support Red Cross food banks, gaining valuable experience in social engagement.
Furthermore, apprentices from several Austrian regions independently run a store during a project week and participate in a sales competition. All of these initiatives also apply to apprentices in meat sales, who are supported by experienced department managers and gain additional practical experience through placements with producers.
Convenience and a growing customer base drive wholesale growth
REWE Group Austria’s wholesale business recorded strong revenue growth of 7.9% in 2025. This performance was driven primarily by the continued strong development of the convenience segment, particularly through fuel station partners with around 630 locations, as well as successful new customer acquisition. The dense network of ADEG stores also contributed positively to overall business performance.
As part of the integration of former Unimarkt locations, eleven locations will be gradually reopened as ADEG stores in 2026, while seven locations have been taken over by BILLA and three by PENNY. By continuing the operation of these former Unimarkt stores, REWE retail companies are sending a strong signal in support of regional supply security in Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Styria.
Tourism: Upswing and strong demand for Mediterranean and long-haul destinations
The tourism sector also showed highly dynamic development after several years of pandemic-related restrictions. DERTOUR Austria generated revenue of €326 million in Austria, representing an increase of 11.6%. In 2025, demand was primarily focused on classic Mediterranean destinations such as Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Egypt, while in the long-haul segment, the Maldives, Mauritius, and Thailand proved particularly popular with travelers.