Selling to German grocery retail

Updated: 14 October 2026

In short

Germany is Europe's largest grocery market and one of its most concentrated. Four groups, Edeka, Rewe, the Schwarz group (Lidl and Kaufland) and Aldi (Nord and Süd), make about 85% of grocery retail sales. Discounters take a very large share of the market. Edeka and Rewe are built on independent merchants, so a brand can be listed nationally, regionally or store by store. Lidl, Kaufland and Aldi buy centrally.

Germany at a glance

Figure	Value	Source
Food retail sales 2024	€209.7 billion net	HDE Zahlenspiegel 2025 (EHI data), Oct 2025
Discounter sales 2024	€97.7 billion net, close to half of food retail sales	HDE Zahlenspiegel 2025 (EHI data), Oct 2025
Market growth 2025	+3.4% for German grocery retail	Lebensmittel Praxis, 29 Apr 2026
Concentration	About 85% of grocery retail sales with Edeka, Rewe, Aldi and the Schwarz group	Bundeskartellamt via Lebensmittel Praxis, 30 Jun 2026
Edeka and Rewe together	46.8% market share in 2025	Lebensmittel Praxis Top 30 (NIQ Trade Dimensions), 2026
Own labels	47% of food sales in 2025 (41% in 2021)	ZDFheute, 15 Sep 2026

The biggest grocery retailers

Sales in Germany in 2025, gross including VAT, in € billion. Most figures are NIQ Trade Dimensions estimates; the retailers do not publish all of them. Per-company market shares are not published in free sources, so we show sales instead. Group totals can differ from the sum of the banners shown: the Schwarz group total includes other formats, and Aldi's differs by rounding.

Rank	Group	Main banners	Sales 2025	Source
1	Edeka group	Edeka, Marktkauf, Netto Marken-Discount	84.7	Lebensmittel Praxis Top 30
2	Rewe group	Rewe, Penny	70.6	Lebensmittel Praxis Top 30
3	Schwarz group	Lidl (34.8), Kaufland (24.4)	61.3	Lebensmittel Praxis Top 30
4	Aldi group	Aldi Süd (20.5), Aldi Nord (16.3)	36.9	Lebensmittel Praxis Top 30
5	dm	Drugstore	13.3	Lebensmittel Praxis Top 30

Measured by banner, the five biggest grocery retailers are Edeka (with Netto), Rewe (with Penny), Lidl, Kaufland and Aldi. Each has its own guide below.

Who buys how

Edeka: a cooperative in three levels. About 3,200 independent merchants run most stores, six regional wholesale companies supply them, and Edeka Zentrale in Hamburg runs the national range and strategy. Merchants can also list regional and local products themselves (Edeka, 2026; Edeka, cooperative model).
Rewe: is run from Cologne, but 1,620 independent Rewe merchants made €20.4 billion in 2025 and can work with local producers. Rewe's rule is "local before regional before national before international" (Lebensmittel Praxis, 22 Apr 2026; top agrar, 6 Jan 2025).
Schwarz group (Lidl and Kaufland): both are based in Neckarsulm and buy centrally. They buy non-food together and Kaufland is switching to Lidl's non-food own brands in 2026 (echo24, 14 Apr 2026).
Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd: two separate companies, based in Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr, each with its own buying team. They cooperate in purchasing: since 2019 an own-label supplier negotiates with only one of the two (Lebensmittel Zeitung, 4 Jul 2019; Aldi, 10 Sep 2026).
International alliances: Rewe buys with E.Leclerc through Eurelec (Lebensmittel Zeitung, 7 Apr 2026). Edeka runs the alliance Everest and works with Migros, among others, through Epic (Horizont, 26 Jul 2024). For an international brand, part of the negotiation can happen at alliance level.

Getting listed in Germany

National or regional: at Lidl, Kaufland and Aldi a listing is decided centrally. At Edeka and Rewe you can go national (Hamburg or Cologne), regional (an Edeka regional company) or local (single merchants). Many brands start regionally and grow.
Local programmes: Kaufland works with about 1,800 regional suppliers within 30 km of a store (Kaufland); Rewe has a simplified listing for small local suppliers (Rewe Lokal-Partnerschaft).
Supplier pages: Kaufland and Aldi Süd have public supplier pages; Lidl has a supplier contact form. For Edeka, Rewe and Aldi Nord we found no public application page. Details are in each retailer guide.
Trade fairs: Anuga in Cologne is the main food fair. The 2025 edition had about 8,000 exhibitors from 110 countries; the next one is 9 to 13 October 2027 (Anuga). Internorga in Hamburg (about 1,200 exhibitors in March 2026) is the fair for foodservice, not grocery (HOGAPAGE, Mar 2026).
Food safety standard: IFS Food was created in 2003 by the German retail association HDE with its French counterpart (IFS). It is not a legal requirement, but many retailers require it before they work with a supplier (TÜV Rheinland); Kaufland names it explicitly (Kaufland).
Product data: retailers identify products by GTIN and companies by GLN. Edeka, for example, takes master data through its own portal or a GDSN data pool such as 1WorldSync (ecosio, updated May 2023).
Labelling: mandatory food information under the EU regulation 1169/2011 (LMIV) must be in German (§ 2 LMIDV) (LMIDV § 2).

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Promotions in Germany

Element	How it works	Source
Weekly cadence	Discounters run two waves a week, starting Monday and Thursday (Aldi, Lidl)	Aldi Süd offers; lidl.de
Kaufland change	Kaufland moved its weekly start from Thursday to Monday on 12 October 2026	Lebensmittel Praxis, 7 Oct 2026
Store-specific flyers	Edeka and Rewe show offers per store; merchants add their own	edeka.de; rewe.de
Payback	Edeka, Marktkauf, Netto Marken-Discount and trinkgut joined Payback on 1 January 2025	Edeka, 20 Nov 2024
Own loyalty apps	Rewe left Payback on 29 December 2024 for REWE Bonus; Lidl has Lidl Plus; Kaufland has Kaufland Card	GIGA; lidl.de; Lebensmittel Praxis

Regulation brief

Unfair trading practices (AgrarOLkG): German law bans certain practices by buyers of agricultural and food products, such as late payment and unilateral changes. It protects suppliers with global turnover up to €350 million, in a tiered system, and for dairy, meat, fruit, vegetables and horticulture suppliers with German turnover up to €4 billion (AgrarOLkG § 10, last amended 11 Jan 2026). The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) enforces it and takes confidential complaints (Lebensmittel Praxis, 27 Sep 2021).
Supply chain act (LkSG): large retailers must run human-rights and environmental due diligence and pass requirements to suppliers. The government plans to drop the yearly report and limit fines (DIHK, 19 Dec 2025). The supervisor BAFA stopped collecting reports in November 2025 (IHK Nord Westfalen). As of September 2026 the amending law had not yet been passed (liefertreu, Sep 2026).

FAQ

Who are the biggest grocery retailers in Germany?

Edeka, Rewe, the Schwarz group (Lidl and Kaufland) and Aldi (Nord and Süd). Together they make about 85% of grocery retail sales.

Do I need a national listing to sell in Germany?

Not at Edeka and Rewe. Their independent merchants and Edeka's regional companies can list products regionally or in single stores. Lidl, Kaufland and Aldi decide centrally.

Which certification do German retailers expect?

Most ask for IFS Food. It is not a legal requirement, but it is the standard of German retail.

Do labels have to be in German?

Yes. Mandatory food information must be in German.

Are Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd one customer?

No. They are two companies with their own buying, though they cooperate on own-label sourcing.

How Sellva helps

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