New solution for Austrian organic wholesale trade

The two wholefood wholesalers Biogast and Biohof Achleitner are joining forces. From June 2010, a single expert partner with a pronounced regional connection will be meeting the needs of the Austrian wholefood trade and organic gastronomy. 8,000 food articles in Biogast’s fresh and dry ranges together with Biohof Achleitner’s full range of fruit and vegetables will create a new basis of cooperation. (Picture: The Achleitner company building incorporating building biology principles)
The two managing directors, Horst Moser (Biogast/picture) and Günter Achleitner (Biohof Achleitner), have decided on the use of synergies and to operate customer services and logistics at Biogast/Kastner. All the customary high quality fruit and vegetables will come from Biohof Achleitner (see our earlier report), which will therefore concentrate on its core competence and its further expansion. Although both companies will remain completely independent, they will collaborate closely in accordance with a cooperation agreement.

“Biohof Achleitner intends to concentrate its wholesale business exclusively on fruit and vegetables in future. Sharper focus on this core segment will ensure the highest quality and optimum availability. Thus, supplying wholefood shops across the whole of Austria will cease. About 100 large-scale customers like market suppliers, organic box suppliers, caterers and canteens will continue to be serviced. The other activities of Achleitner, like their organic boxes, selling via their own organic supermarket and operating the organic restaurant “Unterm Regenbogen”, will continue as in the past,” explains Günter Achleitner. The organic box scheme delivers to 4,500 customers in Upper Austria. (Picture on left: Ilse Achleitner holding a photo of her husband Günter Achleitner: production on their own organic farm)

For more than ten years, both companies have been keen to make the products of domestic organic producers available to their marketing partners and at the same time to offer an international product range. It’s the best basis for following a common future strategy. “Synergy is when everyone gets something out of it. We’re pleased to be able to strengthen the wholefood trade and gastronomy with a local solution, by combining the first class assortment of Biohof Achleitner with our comprehensive fresh and dry food ranges. What I regard as particularly important is the link between organics and the region, with short transport distances and high-level transparency,” explains Horst Moser, the managing director of Biogast.
(Picture on right: Packing the organic boxes)

The two managing directors are currently contacting customers and suppliers personally to inform them in detail about the new collaboration arrangement. “Our conversations have already shown that our customers and suppliers have confidence in the new solution and are pleased to be operating with a powerful Austrian wholesaler by their side,” says Günter Achleitner.

Since 1910, the Achleitner organic farm in the fertile Danube meadows in the Eferding Basin has been exclusively producing organic lettuces, cabbage and fruiting and root vegetables on around 100 ha. As well as sourcing products from its own organic farm, Biohof Achleitner buys in a whole range of fruit and vegetables from suppliers in the region. They are then sold either via the wholesale arm of the business or via the organic box scheme that delivers organic products every week to private households. The products are also sold in the company’s own organic supermarket (picture above) in Eferding, that offers customers a full range of organic foods. Or they are processed into tasty organic delights in the organic supermarket’s own restaurant, the so-called Bio-Kulinarium.
(Picture on right: Günter Achleitner with Ilse Achleitner on left)

Since it was founded in 1999, the Austrian organic wholesaler Biogast has developed into a specialist for certified organic food for gastronomy, large-scale users and the specialist wholefood trade. Its comprehensive full range consists of about 8,000 articles. The company, that has its headquarters in Vienna, provides a reliable delivery service to the whole of the country via Kastner-Eigenlogistik in Zwettl/Lower Austria.

Latest turnover data for Austria 2009

In 2009, organic turnover in Austria rose by 5 % to 984 million euros. The conventional retail food trade accounted for a large part of this turnover - 657 million euros, which was an increase of 4.3 %. It is estimated that the specialist organic trade accounted for around 140 million euros, a growth of 3.7 %.

2008	140 million euros
Less Livit	- 5.0 million euros
2009	+ 5.0 million euros (3.7 %)
	140 million euros for the specialist organic trade

The situation in the specialist wholefood trade was, bearing in mind the difficult economic situation in 2009, relatively stable. Interviewees and insiders report instances of growth in turnover of between 3 – 5 % and 13 %. The bankruptcy of the supermarket chain Livit in November 2008 affected the total turnover of the industry for 2009 (with the loss of about 5 million euros from Livit). This reduced the estimated sector growth in turnover for 2009 by 5 million to +3.7 % or 140 million euros. This segment includes specialist organic shops, organic supermarkets and health food shops with an organic assortment. Or it may be that the turnover of Livit transferred to other stores.

The turnover of the suppliers of caterers, canteens, gastronomy and hotels developed very successfully. The estimated average growth in 2009 was 15 %. Turnover grew from 44 million euros by 6.6 million to 50.6 million euros.

The downward trend in recent years in direct marketing by farms has stabilized in the organic sector. Representatives of those involved in direct marketing report a good year with growth rates between 5 and 10 %. This leads to an estimated rise in turnover of 7 % for 2009. In absolute figures, turnover rose from 66 million euros in 2008 by 4.6 million to 70.6 million euros. (Picture on right: Delivery van for Achleitner’s organic boxes)

Conventional retail food trade and turnover in 2009

Rewe	271 m euros
Hofer	158 m euros
Spar	127 m euros
Others	79 m euros
Total	635 m euros

The export market has always been the most difficult to assess. Whereas the export of milk once again declined, cereal traders reported a good year with double-digit growth. Exporters of fruit, dry goods and wine also reported a double-digit rise in turnover.

The estimated total rise in 2009 was 10 % (an increase from 60 million euros in 2008 to 66 million euros in 2009)
(Table on left: Turnover in the conventional retail food trade in Austria in 2009. Compared with the figure for Rewe above, its turnover increased by 5 million euros after expansion of the company in March 2010).

Copyright: 31.3.2010 Arge Bio-Umsatzzahlen (Bio Austria – FiBL – Agricultura – f.d.l.v: Ralph Liebing).
The figures are based on a system of documented turnover and on estimates from various sources of a range of experts and media reports. No liability is accepted for accuracy.