Bocchi Group

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The Bocchi Group was one of the world's largest corporate groups in the fields of production , processing , distribution and sales of fresh fruit , vegetables and flowers . Today it is part of Univeg Germany , a subgroup of Univeg .

History of origin

Giovanni "Nino" Bocchi (1940–2008) started out as a greengrocer at the Frankfurt wholesale market and founded his first trading company in Frankfurt in 1966. In 1986 he was already operating one of the largest fruit agencies in Europe from Verona . Bocchi began trading agricultural products and later invested in its own Argentine plantations, especially in the sunny areas of the Río Negro and Neuquén valleys . A trading company, Expofruit SA, was established here in 1971 , serving European markets with fruit and vegetables, and in 1981 packaging facilities and cold stores were built here. Expofruit entered into a strategic alliance with Bocchi in 1988 , which in 1993 led to the majority acquisition by the Bocchi Group. Since then, Expofruit has been one of the two leading South American exporters worldwide. Several agricultural cooperatives in Italy and France also entrusted Bocchi with the marketing of their crops. Bocchi also opened offices in South America ( Brazil , Uruguay , Chile , Costa Rica ) and Europe (Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark). The company's growing areas were mainly located in Argentina, Brazil and Spain; The company owned over 32,000 hectares . The Bocchi Group sold over 1 million tons of fruit and vegetables worldwide every year. The most famous of the company's numerous brands in the fruit sector is “Happy Tree”.

The buyers of Bocchi products in Germany are the large grocery chains. It has been supplying the Rewe Group since 1986 on the basis of an IT-supported, complex logistics system that avoids empty transport vehicles as much as possible. In the plant sector, the Bocchi Group was, among other things, the contract supplier for the garden center of Toom Baumarkt (also Rewe Group). The Bocchi offices deliver more than a thousand truckloads to customers every day. Bocchi Deutschland GmbH , based in Bergisch Gladbach, was founded specifically for this purpose in May 1987 . Other major buyers followed, such as Lidl , Edeka or Spar , but REWE remained the main buyer, with a turnover share of around 60% at the time. Annual reimbursements (cost reimbursements) are entirely customary in the trade due to loyalty to the supplier . Since the summer of 2005, REWE has been one of the main buyers, initially checking internal relationships with the sole supplier Bocchi; since September 2006, the public prosecutor has also been investigating. The starting point was the controversial kick-backs in the form of cost reimbursements.

Company sale

Bocchi Fruit Trade Germany GmbH emerged from Bocchi Deutschland GmbH in January 2007 . In April 2008 Univeg acquired 100% of the shares in the Bocchi Group. This led to a reorganization in the former Bocchi Group. Since then, Bocchi Fruit Trade Germany GmbH has been trading as Univeg Trade International GmbH , whose headquarters were relocated to Bremen in March 2010, the headquarters of Univeg Trade Deutschland GmbH . With the change of name, the name Bocchi Group disappeared. The Univeg group achieved a turnover of 3.1 billion euros (2013).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DER SPIEGEL No. 48/1986 of November 24, 1986, Rein privat , p. 64
  2. ^ Niels Fold / Bill Pritchard, Cross-Continental Agro-Food Chains , 2005, o. P.
  3. ↑ FOCUS MONEY online from September 27, 2006, expensive fruit purchase at Rewe