Basic AG

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Basic joint stock food trade

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1997
Seat Munich , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management
Number of employees 832 (Group, 2018)
sales 131 million euros (Group, 2018)
Branch Organic food industry
Website basicbio.de
As of December 31, 2018

Interior view of a Basic branch

The Basic Aktiengesellschaft food trade (short: Basic AG ; own notation: basic ) is a German chain of organic supermarkets , based in Munich , which was founded in 1997 and sells only products from brands that under EU law as biomarkers are certified.

Company profile

Basic is one of the large German chains of organic supermarkets whose concept is to sell organic products on large sales areas. The aim is to sell these products at a lower cost than in smaller health food stores . The EU organic regulation is the basis for product quality, and products certified by cultivation associations are also on offer. In terms of the number of branches, the company is the fourth largest organic supermarket chain in Germany behind Denn’s , Alnatura and Bio Company .

In 2018, the Basic Group operated 34 organic supermarkets in Germany and Austria and achieved a turnover of 131 million euros (thereof Basic AG: 123 million euros) with an annual average of 832 employees (thereof Basic AG: 786 employees). As of March 2020, Basic operates 32 stores, including 30 stores in 15 German cities and two branches in Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) for all GmbH through the subsidiary Basic Austria Bio .

Basic AG is a member of the Bundesverband Naturkost Naturwaren e. V. (BNN), in which numerous competitors are represented.

history

The company registered in the commercial register on June 2, 1997 was founded by

Theo Häni, a former Swiss investment banker, took an approx. 16% stake in Basic AG in 2005.

In July 2007, the Schwarz Group (Lidl) took a minority stake in the unlisted Basic AG according to a press release dated July 20, 2007. A takeover offer was presented at the shareholders' meeting on August 3, 2007. At the beginning of September 2007, the Basic board of directors announced that they would not approve the sale of further company shares to the Schwarz Group for the time being. According to the then board member Spanrunft, the board decided to take this step due to public pressure, since the sale of shares had caused "a lot of unrest" in the company. On November 9, 2007, the company announced that the Schwarz Group was giving up its controversial stake. At the same time, those involved want to lead the company back into calm waters and reduce the expansion plans to 5 to 10 new branch openings per year. The shares were taken over by the Swiss investor ASI Nature Holding AG, based in Lucerne, which increased its stake in the company to 40%.

In June 2008 it was announced that Basic was in serious financial trouble. In an interview, CEO Josef Spanrunft said that 2008 was seen as the “year of consolidation”, that no further branches would be opened this year, from 2009 only two to five new branches should be opened and the average branch size should also be reduced. In addition, the company laid off a considerable number of employees, more than a third at the corporate headquarters ("around 26 at headquarters, out of a total of 66 employees"), and the number of employees across the company was reduced from 850 to 780. At the same time, the company is asking its suppliers to defer payments and calling in external restructuring experts. During the consolidation phase, Stephan Paulke joined the company as the new CEO in August 2009. He was already working in sales at Basic in 2007. With the close of business in 2010, the company returned to the black.

In 2018 the online shop opened in 2009 was closed due to a lack of profitability .

criticism

  • In 2005 it became known that the former investment banker Theo Häni had acquired around 16% of the shares. The lack of transparency from Häni's financiers and the potential influence of major international investors on the management of basic AG were criticized. Despite the relatively low participation, a dependency on lending could arise.
  • In June 2007, Basic AG was criticized for its methods of exempting a house in Munich's Glockenbachviertel , which the company plans to buy up and convert into condominiums against the will of the residents.
  • Basic co-founder Richard Müller resigned from his position as a consultant in protest after the Lidl owner group announced that he was involved.
  • In 2008/2009, the works council accused its board member, Joachim Kreuzburg, of intimidating members of their committee and employees.

Awards

  • 2007 German trade award in the category management performance in a niche of the retail trade

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Annual financial statements for the business year from 01/01/2018 to 12/31/2018 of Basic Aktiengesellschaft Lebensmittelhandel. In: Federal Gazette , February 18, 2020, accessed in the company register on May 23, 2020 (consolidated financial statements included)
  2. ↑ Stephan Happel: Denn's, Alnatura, Bio Company: The five struggles for the future of the organic trade. In: Wirtschaftswoche . February 11, 2015, accessed May 23, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Henryk Hielscher: Struggle of the organic supermarkets: How retail chains plow the organic business. In: Wirtschaftswoche , January 17, 2017, accessed on May 23, 2020.
  4. ↑ Philipp Henrich: Number of branches of the leading organic supermarket chains in Germany in 2018. Statista .de, March 27, 2020, accessed on May 23, 2020.
  5. ↑ Fact Sheet basic AG food trade. Basic AG Lebensmittelhandel, accessed on May 23, 2020 (PDF; 168 kB).
  6. ↑ Richard Müller - About me. Web site of † Richard J. Müller, accessed May 23, 2020.
  7. ^ Profile of Richard Müller, co-founder. In: basicbio.de , accessed on May 23, 2020.
  8. ↑ a b Banker seeks control of the organic market. In: welt.de , July 10, 2005, accessed on May 23, 2020.
  9. ^ In: Greenpeace magazine , September 3, 2007.
  10. ↑ Basic takes a distance from Lidl. In: Focus , September 4, 2007.
  11. ↑ Oliver Haustein-Teßmer: Share sale: Lidl gets out of organic market chain Basic . In: The world . November 9, 2007 ( online [accessed January 13, 2018]).
  12. ↑ annoyances with basic - breakdown show in the organic market . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 15, 2008.
  13. ↑ Interview with Basic board member "We are now stepping on the brakes". In: sueddeutsche.de , May 11, 2010, accessed on May 23, 2020.
  14. ↑ basic closes its online shop. In: basicbio.de , September 14, 2018, accessed on May 23, 2020.
  15. ↑ “New basic supermarket. 'It's not empty, the hut' ” , Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 12, 2007
  16. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung of June 16, 2009: Works council criticizes Basic
  17. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung of October 25, 2008: Basic "They just locked up"