In 1,300 BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores as well as eight BILLA Corso and two BILLA PFLANZILLA stores, around 33,000 employees currently ensure that customers receive a variety of fresh, high-quality products and receive the best advice when shopping. The range includes a wide selection of branded and own-brand products that are suitable for every occasion and every budget and are always geared towards the wishes and needs of customers.
Marcel Haraszti, CEO of REWE International AG, looks forward to the big anniversary with great joy: "BILLA has been close to the people of Austria for exactly 70 years. Whether it's affordable food, better husbandry conditions for livestock or climate protection - as one of the country's largest local suppliers, we take the needs of our customers seriously and always strive to set the best example. Thanks to our innovative spirit, we have achieved numerous pioneering achievements over the years. It fills me with pride every day to be part of the BILLA family."
Once a pioneer - always a pioneer
Since its foundation 70 years ago, BILLA can look back on a number of pioneering achievements and has successfully implemented numerous organic and animal welfare measures. In 1994, for example, BILLA was the first food retailer in the country to introduce its own organic brand Ja! Natürlich organic brand with affordable organic food, which is still considered a pioneer in this area today with over 1,100 products. Since 2020, BILLA has been the first domestic food retailer to offer fresh beef, pork, chicken and turkey 100% from Austria. As a pioneer, the grocery retailer relies exclusively on fresh meat in animal welfare quality from Ja! Natürlich and "Fair zum Tier" to offer Austria's largest animal welfare range in its stores in future.
To make it easier for customers to consume responsibly, BILLA focuses on a diverse range of sustainable, innovative and future-oriented foods. This is why, in addition to organic and animal welfare, the focus is also on regional products. Over 9,000 regional foods from small, Austrian farms round off the wide range on the store shelves. To meet the growing demand for purely plant-based products, BILLA was the first major retailer in Europe to open a purely plant-based store, BILLA PFLANZILLA, on Mariahilfer Straße in Vienna in 2022. Just recently, a second location was successfully opened in Graz. This year, many BILLA PLUS stores were expanded to include "PFLANZILLA Worlds" so that customers can also enjoy plant-based products, offering the largest plant-based range in Austria with around 7,000 purely plant-based items.
For a climate-friendly future
In its measures, BILLA is already thinking about tomorrow and taking responsibility for people and the climate. The food retailer 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. Since 2008, BILLA has been using 100 percent green electricity from wind energy, hydropower or photovoltaics in all stores, warehouses and offices. Seven BILLA stores were already Greenpass certified in 2022. A total of 40 stores are to be certified by 2024 for their climate-friendly construction methods using ecological greenery.
