Apetito

apetito AG
legal form	Corporation
founding	1958
Seat	Germany , Rheine
management	Guido Hildebrandt, Board Spokesman
Number of employees	11,522 (2019)
sales	1.04 billion euros (2019)
Branch	food industry
Website	www.apetito.de

The apetito AG is a German manufacturer of frozen menus cooled menus, menu components and catering concepts headquartered in Rheine , North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2019, the company generated annual sales of EUR 1,035 million and employed 11,522 people worldwide.

Company history

On April 1, 1958, Karl Düsterberg and Egon Senger founded the company Apetito ready-to-eat menu Düsterberg and Senger in Rheine . Frozen complete meals were produced in aluminum bowls. In 1962 the first trade fair appearance took place at the Anuga in Cologne. In 1969 apetito introduced catering, which was previously unknown in Germany, and entered into a cooperation with ARA Services Inc. (now known as Aramark ) from the USA. In 1971, together with Ruth Martin, head of the meal service of the German Red Cross in West Berlin, the company developed the idea of entering into senior catering. From this, Apetito becomes the first company in the Federal Republic of Germany to establish a meal on wheels system (EaR). In order to avoid the problems with delivery in thermal containers, he offered frozen deliveries in styrofoam containers with dry ice. The portions that could be selected from a menu plan then only needed to be warmed up. This type of delivery, which became known as the “rolling lunch table” of the DRK, also solved the supply problem on weekends and public holidays.

On May 7, 1982, Wolfgang Düsterberg took over the management. In 1989 apetito BV was founded as the first subsidiary in the Netherlands and another in Great Britain in 1992. 1996 Apetito takes over the French catering company Nord Restauration. From 2003 Apetito products were also offered in German food retailers (LEH).

On January 1, 2007, the Dutch Bonfait BV based in Dinkelland , a manufacturer of chilled food products for the food retail and wholesale trade, is taken over. On November 1, 2007, the Oetker Group took over the manufacturer of frozen fish and seafood specialties Costa Meeresspezialitäten GmbH & Co. KG from Emden - Constantia for the retail business.

In 2016, the French branch of the company Apetito SA (sales around EUR 60 million) was sold to the French Newrest Group.

On September 6, 2018, the Federal Cartel Office approved the takeover of all shares in MenuPartner GmbH in Berlin, founded in 1994 by Detlef Eildermann, by apetito catering BV & Co KG. MenuPartner operates around 400 menu kitchens in day-care centers and schools.

Production, locations

Rheine plant, partial view

Frozen fresh and chilled menus and menu components as well as catering concepts are the central components of the production and services of the apetito group. apetito offers day-care centers , schools, companies, clinics , senior facilities and meals on wheels - menu services - specific catering solutions in the form of frozen products and systems. In addition, apetito is well established in the food retail sector as a producer of frozen meals. The company is represented in the German retail sector with the brands apetito , MinusL (a cooperation with the brand owner OMIRA ) and Costa , and is also active in internet sales .

The group of companies includes apetito AG with subsidiaries in Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Canada, as well as the sister company apetito catering. According to its own statements, Apetito is one of the market leaders in ready-made meals in Europe.

criticism

In June 2014 it became known that apetito also processes raw materials from the Thai group Charoen Pokphand Foods (largest producer of aquaculture shrimp), which is accused of not only damaging the environment, but also human trafficking and the enslavement of fishermen.