Modern organic supermarket joins the Tagwerk fleet

Regionality and close collaboration with farmers and manufacturers – that’s what characterizes Tagwerk’s shops operating to the north-east of Munich. Now a new Tagwerk organic supermarket (500 m²) has opened on a commercial estate in Markt Schwaben that lies 30 km to the east of the Bavarian capital. Martin Fuchs, a relative newcomer to the industry, acquired his know-how over five years in an 85 m² shop in the old part of town. Two wholefood stores and six large-scale specialist organic stores now cooperate with Tagwerk, a producer-consumer cooperative, and are known to the public at large as Tagwerk stores. (Picture: Martin Fuchs talking with two employees)
“I simply got fed up with driving to work every day,” is how the 39-year-old Martin Fuchs describes what motivated him to change direction five years ago. He was a graduate civil engineer working in marketing for the television company ProSieben and for Bavaria Film. “At home we had already largely converted to organic food,” the engaging and assured store owner explains. He wanted his new job to be both meaningful and organic. So, after a few months of searching, he took over a wholefood shop in the old part of Markt Schwaben (12,000 inhabitants). However, the shop was in a rear courtyard and could only be reached via a flight of steps. There were few parking places in front of the building, and the conditions were certainly not ideal for setting up a business with the 85 m² shop.

Then, after spending three years of searching, Ane-Mari and Martin Fuchs finally came across the new and bigger premises they were looking for. The new store lies set back a little on the busy Getlinger Straße and had been an Aldi store and then a carpet shop. The basic concept was devised by working closely with Roland Harter from Bio-Mammut and modified with the help of the planning firm der petzinger. The work was then carried out by Jörg Kunze from the firm Holzhof and the joinery firm Yak-Schreinerei. The centre piece of the organic supermarket, that opened on 9.6.2011, is the bistro that seats 20 people. You can see the food being prepared before being placed in a hot and cold counter.

The tables, stools and bar are made from finest chestnut wood (see title picture). The whole entrance area, with its glass façade and automatic sliding glass doors, looks appealing and contemporary. Above the entrance and on the product signs (left) is the trademark of Ane-Mari and Martin for all to see: a fox.

The fengshui-colour design, with lilac the dominant tone, was conceived by Susanne Dressler from the company FarbeandieWand. The chilled cabinets were acquired from Cooltrade Germany at a cost of around 80,000 euros – second-hand but in excellent condition. Most of the sales area is equipped with 1.70 m shelving running parallel to the rear wall and stocked with dry goods. Large signs (see picture below) guide the customer through the product range, that consists of 8,000 articles. Extending the retail space has meant that more than three times as many articles are listed.

The idea is that the bistro will attract between 80 and 100 customers a day who will have lunch in the store itself or outside on the wooden terrace. Already about half that number are doing so. You can access the menu for the week on the website of Bio-Fuchs, so you can decide in advance whether you want to round off your shopping in the store with a meal. Every day there is a different menu. You can have soup for as little as 3.90 euros, a salad for 4.90 – to take away for 5.90 – and a bistro meal for 6.90 euros. “We decided against a fresh meat department and in favour of a bistro,” Martin Fuchs explains. He says the investment for both would have been too high. Consequently, he serves mainly vegetarian food in the bistro, with meat and fish each once a week. (Picture: Today’s menu on display at the entrance to the store)

Like all Tagwerk retailers, BioFuchs in Markt Schwaben is an independent business. A licencing and cooperation contract binds BioFuchs to the Tagwerk cooperative, so that it is a member of the Tagwerk shop owners association that provides the opportunity for the regular exchange of ideas and experience and for joint advertising. The stores are supplied by the Tagwerk wholesale business. The focus is on regional fresh food – a complete range of meat, sausage, cheese and fruit and vegetables is available. In the case of dry goods, Tagwerk supplies a partial product range. Goods from outside the region are supplied by cooperation partner Bodan. Klaus Hutner, the managing director of the Tagwerk cooperative, praises the collaboration with the wholefood wholesaler Bodan in Überlingen. “We’ve cooperated successfully on logistics for over five years,” he says. (Picture on left: Open-air terrace in front of the bistro in Markt Schwaben)

The Tagwerk cooperative was founded in 1984 with the aim of marketing the products of organic farmers, who in those days were few and far between, and to encourage more and more farmers to convert to organic. After more than a quarter of a century, around 100 farmers, market gardeners, beekeepers, two mills and several bakeries, butchers and cheese-makers are members of Tagwerk. With its wholesale business, Tagwerk is a link between the producers and performs the role of distributor to the shops.
Tagwerk’s main emphasis is on fresh food direct from the producers – vegetables, milk, cheese, eggs, bread, sausage and meat. “From the region – for the region. It saves packaging, transport costs and guarantees optimal freshness” runs the credo. The cooperative operates four market vehicles and is thus able to supply weekly markets in several parts of Munich. A Tagwerk organic box scheme delivers to customers’ homes on request. (Picture on right: Well lit by a skylight in the ceiling of the Tagwerk store in Markt Schwaben)

As well as Tagwerk’s business activities – its legal status is a registered cooperative – it also operates as a registered association (Tagwerk e.V.). The association brings together under one roof numerous activities that promote trust and transparency and organizes, for example, farm parties, environment days, field trips and cycling tours for consumers. Discussion forums on ecological themes invite people to think and rethink the issues. Events for children and young people are offered regularly in schools, on farms, market gardens and in processing businesses, and also as part of holiday programmes (for example, camping on organic farms for children and young people). Four times a year, a Tagwerk newspaper is published with reports from the cooperative and the association. The papers can be accessed on the internet.



(Pictures: from left to right: Sausage counter with a wide range of cheeses. Attractive vegetable presentation near the entrance)

Tip: www.biofuchs.net www.tagwerk.net