Alnatura

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Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1984
Seat Darmstadt , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Götz Rehn , Rüdiger Kasch, Herwarth von Plate
Number of employees 3300
sales 901 million euros (2018/19)
Branch Organic food
Website www.alnatura.de
Status: 2020

Shop view Super Natur Markt
Shelf with cereal products in a branch of the retail chain
Götz Rehn , Alnatura managing director and founder

The Alnatura Production and Trade Ltd. (proper spelling: AʟɴᴀᴛᴜʀA ) is a German company in the organic food industry and geography, based in Darmstadt . Under the brand name Alnatura , the company , which was founded in 1984, sells food and textiles produced according to ecological principles, which are sold by various drugstore and retail chains as well as in the company's own organic supermarket chain "Alnatura Super Natur Markt".

In the 2018/2019 financial year, the company generated sales of 901 million euros with 3,300 employees, an increase of 9.5% on the previous financial year. In contrast to other retail chains, Alnatura does not have a works council for the entire company and remunerated its employees until 2010 under the collective agreement for retailers.

history

Company founded in 1984

The Alnatura Production and Trade Ltd. was founded in 1984 by the economist Götz Rehn , who still is the CEO, as a consulting company under the name of natural conception and distribution foods Dr. Rehn founded in Fulda . Initial plans to design the company as a branch for children's cotton clothing or as a chain of vegetarian self-service restaurants were discarded. A year later, Alnatura was registered as a word and figurative mark. In 1986 the company started selling organic products in the tegut grocery stores and the dm drugstores , initially with a shop-in-shop offer. On October 1st, 1987 the first Alnatura Super Natur Markt was opened in Mannheim . In 1989 the company moved from Fulda to Bickenbach. The company has been based in Darmstadt since January 2019.

According to the company, more than half of all management positions in 2005 were held by women. In the same year, the company received the first Sustainable Medium-Sized Business Prize 2004 from EthikBank and Rehn was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the auditors from Ernst & Young . In 2006 the 25th Alnatura Super-Natur-Markt was opened in Cologne.

In 2012, the first Alnatura organic supermarket in Switzerland was opened in cooperation with Migros in Zurich. Since then, Migros has also been selling Alnatura products throughout Switzerland as a trading partner in its branches and, since July 2014, also via LeShop.ch . Since the same year it has been possible to collect Payback points in Germany ; in Switzerland, Alnatura is part of the Cumulus program.

Dispute between Alnatura and dm from 2014

In 2014, the drugstore chain dm , up to then by far the largest trading partner of Alnatura, decided to offer organic food under its own brand in the future, therefore delisting many Alnatura products. Alnatura was able to compensate for this with more of its own stores and new trading partners from the Edeka group, dm competitor Müller from Erwin Müller and partnerships abroad. The background was a dispute between the respective founders Götz Werner (dm) and Götz Rehn (Alnatura). After a cooperation agreement between the two companies that had existed since the 1980s, dm had, among other things, a say in the selection of new sales partners. However, after a number of Alnatura products were no longer offered by dm, Alnatura was no longer bound by the contract and Rehn was looking for new sales partners. dm then sued the Darmstadt Regional Court for compliance with the contract. After a decision in favor of Alnatura, dm appealed on an appeal. After years of legal disputes, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court decided in February 2019 that the termination of the cooperation agreement in 2014 was effective. Therefore, dm had demanded a total of six million euros from Alnatura. Dm had withheld two million euros from its legal opinion in 2014, although Alnatura had already delivered the goods. Alnatura, for its part, demanded payment of the open invoice and received the right from the OLG in February 2019.

In a second procedure initiated by Werner, he demands the trademark rights to Alnatura from Rehn. The case was heard before the Frankfurt Regional Court. However, the action was dismissed in the first instance; Werner appealed to the higher regional court.

Development after 2015

Since 2015, the products have also been delivered to the following 19 European countries via the company's own online shop in cooperation with the Delticom subsidiary Gourmondo Food GmbH: Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Romania , Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ireland, United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden. Certain baby products have also been available from Windeln.de since 2015 .

On March 17, 2016, the 100th Alnatura Super Natur Markt was opened in Berlin's Friedrichstrasse . In November 2018 there were 132 Alnatura Super Natur markets in 63 cities as well as around 12,300 branches of the 19 retail partners in 14 European countries.

The construction of a new company headquarters on the conversion site of the former Kelley Barracks in Darmstadt began in 2016. According to the group, the building complies with ecological standards and is the largest office building in Europe to date with an external façade made of clay . The group built a so-called Alnatura Campus , where u. a. the Tibits delicatessen restaurant opened a branch. The building was occupied in January 2019.

In September 2016, the first eggs from the Alnatura Brother Chick Initiative were delivered regionally; the concept is to be gradually extended to all branches. The aim of the initiative is to offer only eggs from hens whose male sibling chicks are raised as broilers and not already killed as chicks . In the same month, Alnatura activated its branches for smartphone payments with Payback Pay .

In March 2018, Match began selling Alnatura products in a French branch . By the end of 2019, all Match stores in France should have Alnatura products on offer.

In September 2018 it was announced that Alnatura cooperation with bringmeister.de expanding and from 2019 the plastic disposable bags abolishes fruit and vegetables. There are also no more disposable cups when serving coffee .

In October 2019, Alnatura and other organic markets in Germany listed millet products from the Spreewald mill because the owner is an AfD politician.

Alnatura closed its online shop at the beginning of 2020.

Key figures

The company's key figures in accordance with the audited annual financial statements (business year from October 1 to September 30; annual average employees including trainees):

Turnover
(million euros)		 Employee Branches
2005/06 184.9 684 25th
2006/07 246.1 996 31
2007/08 305.8 989 40
2008/09 360.5 1172 50
2009/10 399.9 1314 53
2010/11 465.1 1566 65
2011/12 517.6 1763 71
2012/13 594.4 2039 80
2013/14 689.8 2216 96
2014/15 759.9 2446 98
2015/16 761.2 107
2017/18 822 3150 126

International activities

In Germany, other trading partners such as dm or Müller also sell the company's own products. In Luxembourg , Alnatura products are sold by the Cactus supermarket chain . In France, Match sells Alnatura products in its supermarkets. In 2012 Alnatura entered into a cooperation with Migros in Switzerland. At the end of July 2019, Migros opened the twelfth Alnatura supermarket in Switzerland in Lucerne .

Memberships and Activities

Alnatura belongs to the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) and is a member of the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft (BÖLW) .

The Alnatura stores have been participating in the Payback Points program since June 2012 .

Alnatura is sponsoring the We're sick of it! Demonstrations . and supports the demands of the action.

Like its founder Götz Rehn, the company is close to the concepts of anthroposophy . For example, a special supplement on anthroposophical perspectives was attached to the monthly corporate publication Alnatura Magazin in the year 2011 , and anthroposophical topics are regularly taken up, for example in the year 2010 a series on anthroposophic medicine .

Awards

In 2009 and 2010, the company was among the top 3 most sustainable companies in Germany at the German Sustainability Award , which honors the most ecological companies in Germany. In 2011, Alnatura was awarded first place as a “pioneer of organic retail markets” and thus the title of Germany's most sustainable company . In 2016, Alnatura received the award of Germany's most sustainable medium-sized company from the jury of the German Sustainability Award . In 2019, alnatura is nominated for the German Sustainability Award Architecture and is therefore among the top 3. At the end of November 2019, founder and managing director Götz Rehn accepted the award: German Sustainability Award Architecture. Alnatura was convincing "with its extraordinary holistic quality, which is future-oriented and comprehensively explores the possibilities of sustainable construction".

criticism

In response to the critical media coverage to the under tariff wages of non -tariff company that announced in April 2010 that wages are to be paid according to the wage rates at least in the future. An exact time for the implementation was not given. This was preceded by a statement from Götz Rehn (founder and managing director), in which Christmas bonuses, vacation pay, capital-building benefits, contributions to old-age provision and value-added participation were listed as voluntary benefits, which is why, in his opinion, the collective wage model and the Alnatura payment model are difficult to compare. In July 2010, the company announced that from October 2010 all employees should be paid at least with a collective wage. Alnatura will pay its employees in the Berlin markets in 2019 according to the tariff.

Co-determination

Of more than 110 Alnatura branches, only one branch, in Freiburg im Breisgau, has a works council . Should a second works council be established, the employees in the entire Alnatura company would be entitled to a general works council . Hubert Thiermeyer, Verdi Country Manager, criticized in November 2015: "The high level of competence in the quality of the goods in the organic trade does not automatically go hand in hand with competence in social standards."

In one of two Bremen branches, part of the workforce tried to elect the company's second works council in 2015, but encountered resistance from management. Kai Wargalla , an employee, told Radio Bremen : "The election was prevented by tactical games."

As a result, five employees obtained a decision from the labor court in February 2016 to set up an electoral committee. A complaint by Alnatura against this decision was rejected by the Bremen State Labor Court in November 2016. However, the company appealed to the Federal Labor Court and filed a "non-admission complaint". In the second half of 2016, Alnatura reduced the workforce at the Faulenstrasse branch in Bremen to 20 employees. This reduced the entitlement to only one employee on the works council. Alnatura justified this job reduction economically. Three years later, in February 2019, the Federal Labor Court referred the case back to the Bremen Labor Court. Kai Wargalla pointed out that the company was playing for time and that many of the employees involved in codetermination in 2016 either no longer worked in the branch or were tired of the dispute.

Possible consumer deception

The NDR consumer magazine Markt tested fresh tortelloni from various manufacturers in 2017. Alnatura advertises “50% filling” on the tortelloni packaging. When weighing some Alnatura tortelloni, the testers determined an average of six grams of dough and one gram of filling - significantly less than 50%, although more than twice as much as the competitor tested. Alnatura wrote: "We are assuming that this is a one-time error in production that we still take seriously."

Broadcast reports

Web links

Commons : Alnatura  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ alnatura.de: Imprint
  2. ↑ a b alnatura statista
  3. ↑ a b c About us - data and facts . alnatura.de.
  4. ^ Silvia Liebrich: Yoga instead of collective wages . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2010, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on February 24, 2019]).
  5. ↑ Organic retailer: Alnatura no longer wants to pay below the tariff . In: Spiegel Online . April 1, 2010 ( spiegel.de [accessed February 24, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Jost Maurin: Salaries at eco-supermarket: Alnatura pays collective wages from October . In: The daily newspaper: taz . July 30, 2010, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed on March 16, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Alnatura moves to Darmstadt. Alnatura Press and Public Relations, January 30, 2019, accessed on October 25, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Alnatura story . Alnatura website.
  9. ↑ Migros and Alnatura . alnatura.ch.
  10. ↑ Plus 7 million sales in 2014 In: LeShop.ch , July 5, 2015, accessed on October 1, 2017.
  11. ↑ Payback - collect points with Bio . In: alnatura.de, accessed on November 28, 2017.
  12. ↑ Michael Gassmann: How Edeka compensates for the dm disaster at Alnatura . In: Die Welt , November 15, 2015, accessed on March 23, 2017.
  13. ↑ a b organic retailer vs drugstore chain: Alnatura and dm argue about this . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed February 24, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Presentation of the judgment on beck.de , accessed on November 16, 2019
  15. ^ Contract termination: dm loses legal dispute with Alnatura . In: Spiegel Online . February 13, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed February 25, 2019]).
  16. ↑ E-food: Alnatura starts its own online shop with Gourmondo . In: onlinehaendler-news.de, April 20, 2015, accessed on November 28, 2017.
  17. ↑ Alnatura products now also at Windeln.de . In: internetworld.de, April 27, 2015, accessed on November 28, 2017.
  18. ↑ Alnatura and dm. The anatomy of a bio-crisis . In: Wirtschaftswoche , March 17, 2016.
  19. ↑ Starting signal for Alnatura headquarters . In: Echo Online , August 5, 2016.
  20. ↑ food-service.de: Tibits is coming to Darmstadt. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  21. ↑ What are eggs from the Brother Chick Initiative? Alnatura website, accessed March 23, 2017.
  22. ↑ Organic chain introduces “brother chick” eggs . In: Handeslsblatt , October 7, 2016, accessed on March 23, 2017.
  23. ^ Dagny Lüdemann: Fraternization with the chick . In: Zeit Online , October 13, 2016, accessed on March 23, 2017.
  24. ↑ Payback Pay - secure mobile payments . In: alnatura.de, accessed on November 28, 2017.
  25. ↑ Alnatura now also in France In: alnatura.de, 23 August 2018, accessed on 26 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Alnatura expands cooperation with Bringmeister In: bio-markt.info, September 18, 2018, accessed on October 7, 2018.
  27. ↑ Organic retailer is doing away with disposable plastic bags for fruit and vegetables. In: alnatura.de. September 28, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018 .
  28. ↑ Alnatura: No more disposable cups. In: bio-markt.info. May 17, 2019, accessed May 19, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Jost Maurin: Organic traders list AfD millet: “No economics suitable for grandchildren” . In: The daily newspaper: taz . October 7, 2019, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed November 16, 2019]).
  30. ↑ https://www.morgenweb.de/mannheimer-morgen_artikel,-wirtschaft-alnatura-stoppt-onlinehandel-_arid,1585634.html
  31. ↑ Search function on the homepage of Bundesanzeiger.de (search term: Alnatura ).
  32. ↑ alnatura.de: Sustainability Report
  33. ↑ Trading partner Cactus. Retrieved March 14, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Cédric Russo: Alnatura becomes a box office hit for Migros | NZZ . March 31, 2015, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed on March 14, 2019]).
  35. ↑ René Meier: 4,000 products in one shop: Migros relies on organic in Lucerne's old town. In: luzernerzeitung.ch . July 24, 2019, accessed July 26, 2019 .
  36. ↑ Alnatura as a member and contractual partner - alnatura.de ( Memento from October 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  37. ↑ Alnatura with significant sales growth. In: The trade . May 29, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2013 .
  38. ↑ The sponsors of the network "We're fed up!" ( Memento from March 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  39. ↑ Anthroposophy . Alnatura website, accessed March 23, 2017.
  40. ↑ Anthroposophic Medicine. Alnatura, archived from the original on May 1, 2010 ; Retrieved September 28, 2013 .
  41. ↑ Preistraeger 2009. German Sustainability Award , November 6, 2009, archived from the original on May 13, 2011 ; Retrieved November 18, 2012 .
  42. ↑ Preistraeger 2010. German Sustainability Award, November 26, 2010, archived from the original on May 12, 2011 ; Retrieved November 18, 2012 .
  43. ↑ Jury selects Germany's most sustainable companies. In: Finanznachrichten.de , July 9, 2010.
  44. ↑ Kristian Frigelj: The Germans neglect fair consumption. In: The world . November 6, 2011, accessed November 19, 2012 .
  45. ↑ Preistraeger 2011. German Sustainability Award, November 4, 2011, archived from the original on February 11, 2012 ; Retrieved November 19, 2012 .
  46. ↑ Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH is the winner in the category “Germany's most sustainable medium-sized company 2016”. German Sustainability Award, archived from the original ; accessed on June 23, 2020 .
  47. ↑ German Sustainability Award: Alnatura under TOP 3. Accessed on November 16, 2019 .
  48. ↑ Alnatura wins the German Architecture Sustainability Award / Award for outstanding architectural achievement / Company headquarters in Darmstadt is sustainable in all dimensions. Retrieved February 11, 2020 .
  49. ↑ Working conditions in the organic sector: An eco-capitalist is getting big. In: Die Tageszeitung , March 29, 2010.
  50. ↑ Jost Maurin: Ecocapitalist gives in: Alnatura wants to pay tariff. In: taz. April 1, 2010, accessed March 1, 2017 .
  51. ↑ Organic retailer: Alnatura no longer wants to pay below the tariff . In: Spiegel Online . April 1, 2010 ( spiegel.de [accessed March 4, 2019]).
  52. ↑ Information on income structure at Alnatura March 31, 2010 ( Memento from April 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  53. ↑ Jost Maurin: Salaries at eco-supermarket: Alnatura pays collective wages from October. In: taz. July 30, 2010, accessed March 1, 2017 .
  54. ↑ Jochen Knoblach: Biologically exploitable: why not all organic markets pay their employees well. February 22, 2019, accessed on March 4, 2019 (German).
  55. ^ Jean-Philipp Baeck: Works Council Zoff at the organic store. In: taz. October 26, 2015, accessed on March 1, 2017 (also: taz nord, October 28, 2015, p. 21).
  56. ↑ Jean-Philipp Baeck: Only the products are fair here. In: The daily newspaper. November 1, 2015, accessed March 1, 2017 .
  57. ↑ Trouble at Alnatura in Bremen. Organic store doesn't want a works council. ( Memento from October 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) radiobremen.de, October 28, 2015.
  58. ↑ Eckhard Stengel: Fighting over the works council at Alnatura. In: Frankfurter Rundschau online. November 23, 2016, accessed March 23, 2017 .
  59. ↑ Simone Schnase: Alnatura loses before the regional labor court: A works council will come . In: The daily newspaper . ( taz.de [accessed on March 1, 2017]).
  60. ↑ a b Simone Schnase: Works choice in Bremen Alnatura further blocked . In: The daily newspaper: taz . February 21, 2019, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed on February 24, 2019]).
  61. ↑ Saskia Engels: Fresh pasta from the cooling shelf in the test. In: NDR.de. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 51 ′ 18 ″  N , 8 ° 37 ′ 32 ″  E