70 years of BILLA: With pioneering spirit to success

In almost 1,300 BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores, at five BILLA Corso locations and in the plant-based concept store PFLANZILLA, around 33,000 employees ensure that customers can choose from a wide variety of fresh, high-quality products and feel well advised. The assortment contains just the right thing for every budget and ranges from a wide range of products to popular branded goods and successful private labels.

"Whether it's food at family-friendly prices, better husbandry conditions for farm animals or strong signs for climate protection - for 70 years now, BILLA has been tackling the major issues that concern people in Austria and taking the initiative with a pioneering spirit. Our goal is to stay ahead of the times and be close to people and their needs and concerns. This is what distinguishes us as Austria's local supplier and is part of our BILLA DNA. We want to provide our customers with the right products, regardless of their income. This is even more of a priority in economically difficult times," says Marcel Haraszti, CEO of REWE International AG.

BILLA as a pioneer in Austrian food retailing

Good quality at good prices was the vision of the young entrepreneur Karl Wlaschek in 1953 when he opened his first discount perfumery "WKW" in Vienna's 5th district, which by 1960 had already grown into a chain with 45 stores. Following its great success, Wlaschek transferred his discount idea to the food sector and renamed the company "BILLA" in 1961. In 1962, BILLA became Austria's first self-service supermarket chain. Since then, BILLA has remained true to its pioneering role and played a key role in shaping the Austrian food trade. In the first decades, among other things, with the introduction of a fresh food service for products such as milk, cheese, sausage and fruit, the establishment of its own meat department, the equipping of its stores with scanner checkouts and the introduction of delicatessen departments.

Today as then for affordable organic and more animal welfare

In the 1990s, the demand for natural foods increased. With the introduction of the organic brand Ja! Natürlich in 1994, BILLA became the first grocer in the country to offer food from purely organic production, of the highest quality and at affordable prices to a broad public. Today, Ja! Natürlich is Austria's largest food brand with more than 1,100 organic products, mostly from regional agriculture, which stands for species, nature and animal protection and for standards that far exceed those required by law for organic products. The product range is growing, and is being continuously expanded, especially with regard to animal welfare and plant-based product variants.

Another milestone followed in 1996: BILLA decided to ban battery eggs from its shelves due to unacceptable animal husbandry conditions - despite warnings from many experts and at the cost of economic losses. The competition had to follow suit. Since then, battery hens have become a thing of the past. At that time, the seed was sown for BILLA's commitment to animal welfare, which continues to this day. As part of its animal welfare initiative, BILLA works in close partnership with regional farmers to improve the welfare of farm animals in conventional livestock farming. Since 2020, BILLA has been the first domestic grocer to offer fresh meat from beef, pork, chicken and turkey that is 100 percent Austrian. As a pioneer, the company recently switched all service counters to fresh meat in animal welfare quality from Ja! Natürlich and "Fair zum Tier". In the future, BILLA will offer Austria's largest range of animal welfare products on its shelves.

Responsibility for people and the climate - BILLA thinks about tomorrow today

BILLA supports the energy transition and has set itself the goal of being climate neutral by 2040. By 2030, absolute greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 30 percent compared to the base year 2019. In addition, BILLA is part of the klimakativ Pakt2030 and thus also sets a strong signal for climate protection. BILLA demonstrates its commitment with innovative energy concepts, the nature conservation foundation "Blühendes Österreich" (Blooming Austria) with sustainable projects in the area of renaturation, among others, and food rescue initiatives - as evidenced by some figures: in 2022, food worth 37 million euros was donated to charitable institutions and thus saved from waste. Since 2008, BILLA has been using 100 percent green electricity from wind energy, hydropower or photovoltaics in all stores, warehouses and offices. In 2022, seven BILLA stores were already Greenpass certified. By 2024, a total of 40 stores are to be certified for climate-friendly construction through ecological greening.

BILLA wants to make it easier for its customers to consume responsibly and offers a wide range of sustainable, innovative and future-oriented foods. In addition to the wide range of organic and animal welfare products, this also includes regional products from small farms in Austria - more than 9,000 regional foods can be found on store shelves, and the range is being continuously expanded. In addition, the demand for purely plant-based products is growing. In response to this demand, BILLA offers a steadily growing plant-based range with currently around 7,000 products in Austria. With PFLANZILLA, which opened in Vienna in 2022, BILLA is the first major retailer in Europe with a pure plant-based store. A new location will open before the end of this year.

For 70 years the "yellow" of the job - 33,000 employees form the BILLA family

As one of the largest employers in the country, BILLA offers a wide range of career opportunities and crisis-proof jobs for people of all ages and backgrounds, including apprentices, career changers and managers. Whether in the stores, in the field sales force or at the central location. Employees profit from benefits such as discounts on shopping and travel, anonymous counseling services in stressful situations, and vacation camps for children. BILLA focuses on digital learning opportunities and a wide range of training and further education programs for personal and professional development at eleven training locations. BILLA is pleased to welcome new members to the BILLA family: employees are currently being sought for 2,500 vacancies.

About a year ago, BILLA paved the way for self-employment. The BILLA Kaufleute model is a unique Austrian concept that offers comprehensive support and a reliable safety net through the BILLA family. Entrepreneurial action, maximum proximity to customers, awareness of the region and its people as well as their personal signature distinguish the existing BILLA merchants and make the stores they run so special and economically successful. Four retailers are already part of the BILLA family - by the end of September, another retailer will join them in Krems.