AOT: innovative with oils, fats and raw materials

It’s a family firm that has been through the pioneer phase, restructured and is now making a name for itself by using interesting raw materials and introducing genuine innovations: AOT - All Organic Trading - in Kempten in the Allgäu region, wants not only to do justice to the good reputation created by the founder and pioneer Hans-Martin Breisinger but to enhance it even further. The intention is to make the firm into the number one address for supplying the ingredients for wholefoods, food supplements and natural cosmetics. Key factors in all the activities of Fabian Breisinger, the young boss of the company, are quality, service and above all people. (Picture: Quality assurance and customer contact on the front line: Fabian Breisinger - in the middle - on a visit to Turkey)
“We are at the point of transition from being pioneers to the phase of identity creation,” says Fabian Breisinger. The son of the founder, and at 30 the young managing director of the company, had to give up studying economics at the anthroposophic-oriented Alanus-Hochschule so that he could take over the reins of the family business after the sudden death of his father. For him it was a matter of course. “I grew up in a wholefood environment and took part at a distance in developing the firm.” His sister Franziska Breisinger, who joined the company team a year ago, adds: “Our father kept the business in the family.” Another member of the younger generation working in the firm is Maria Holzner who, together with Franziska Breisinger, is responsible for product management and marketing. So they have a good mix of old hands and new blood. Their mother, Maria-Magdalena Burger-Breisinger, is the registered owner of the firm that now has 11 employees and in 2011 generated turnover of more than 6 million euros. (Picture: The young company director with ambitious objectives)

“We have invested in staff, structures and marketing in order to optimize our service,” is how Fabian Breisinger describes the measures he has taken to equip the firm for the future. Their efforts are already being rewarded: 150 new customers in one year and a very successful appearance at BioFach 2012. And a part of all this is the launch of a genuine innovation. “A product that many people have been waiting for,” says Breisinger. “For a long while, organic manufacturers have been looking for something to replace the emulsifier soya lecithin. Because of the problematic issue of genetic engineering, for many people soya lecithin is like a red rag to a bull.” Up to now, it has not been possible to extract lecithin from organic sunflower oil, first because the organic mills are a small-scale activity in Europe and you need large quantities of oil to produce lecithin, and secondly the EU organic regulations permit the use of conventional soya lecithin. Last year, AOT took the initiative and, together with a new partner, set about producing organic sunflower lecithin. At this year’s BioFach the first certified organic sunflower lecithin was presented, and it proved to be extremely popular. (Picture: The headquarters of All Organic Trading is in Kempten, where the offices are located in a business start-up centre)

The EU exemption that applies to conventional lecithin has not been necessary for some time. “Organic soya lecithin is available in sufficient quantities and now, with the new alternative organic sunflower lecithin, there is actually no point to this exemption,” Breisinger explains, and he adds that this is all the more so since the manufacturing process of conventional soya oil, with the very cheap end-product soya lecithin, has nothing remotely to do with organic. “The new alternative made from organic sunflower seeds can replace soya lecithin 1:1,” he says excitedly. “It’s easy to use, has a relatively neutral taste and is not much more expensive than organic soya lecithin.” Moreover, in the manufacture of organic products it opens up new ways of varying the recipes. (Picture: Franziska Breisinger has joined the family firm and supports her brother)

Moving beyond this exclusive item, we see that AOT has a wide product range: about 60 fatty oils, fats and organic raw materials like lecithin, glycerine and various seed flours. They are permanently in stock and can be supplied at short notice in volumes of 4.5 kg to 920 kg. "Whole tanker loads are available on request," says Breisinger. His customers are manufacturers of wholefoods (40 %), natural cosmetics (40%) and producers of food supplements. (20 %). Jojoba oil, almond oil, high oleic sunflower oil, black cumin oil and pomegranate seed oil are among the organic oils in the AOT range that are most in demand. In 2005, Hans-Martin Breisinger was the first to introduce pomegranate seed oil in Germany – a highly desirable and top-value organic oil that has gained in significance in recent years in the natural cosmetics sector. AOT imports the seeds in bulk from Turkey and has them processed in a special mill in the Allgäu. The pulp also finds a use as a finely ground powder – in the same way as, for example, the residues of sea buckthorn after the extraction of oil. These raw materials can be used in tea mixtures or in bars. (Picture on right: The sought-after pomegranate seed oil is extracted for use in natural cosmetics)

“By using every bit of the plant we’re making an important contribution to sustainability,” Fabian Breisinger explains. “First we extract the precious oils, that are frequently only a small part of the biomass and, if we can then make use of the equally valuable fibre-rich pulp, we’re conserving resources." Regionality is a sustainability issue too: domestic raw materials are gaining in importance. AOT supports, for example, a project in Thüringen, that promotes growing rose hedges on fallow land. The rosehip seeds are the basis of a valuable oil much used in natural cosmetics. “We would like to establish here in Germany an alternative source to rosehip seed oil from Chile,” says Breisinger. However, many items can’t be sourced in Germany, and in these cases AOT maintains close contact with its suppliers and knows many of them personally. “For example, we travel to Israel, India, Peru, Italy or Turkey so that we can get a picture of the situation on the ground and support projects. We like to keep an eye on our whole added value network from cropping to bottling,” explains Breisinger. (Picture above on left and right: Visiting suppliers in Sri Lanka)

The company’s offer runs from A to Z – starting with apricot kernel oil, avocado oil and various seed oils like borage, chia and cranberry, and including rosehip, raspberry, camellia, milk thistle, lemon seed oil and many others. In this line-up, rice bran oil and oat oil play a special part. Since 2006, AOT has been working with the firm Nateco2 on the extraction of oat oil that, because it doesn’t contain gluten, is of interest in the context of gluten intolerance. However, it’s not possible to extract oat oil using the classic cold press technique. High pressure extraction with CO₂ is gentle and produces very high value oils. This chemical-free method enables AOT to supplement its portfolio with some special oils.
(Picture: Maria Holzner by the sample shelves)

There is already high demand for their oat oil in the USA, and Breisinger is confident that demand will develop in Europe too. Exports play a really important role in the firm, accounting for half of its turnover. The list of countries receiving its exported goods is headed by the USA. The firm is represented in the USA and Britain by Bob Brinkerhoff. They also have good contacts in Japan. In Europe, France is significant, and AOT collaborates with the French agency Actibio. They have improved their service to customers by having an integrated warehouse at the headquarters in Kempten, resulting in them being able to deal with enquiries and take action much more quickly. Fabian Breisinger is very pleased with this investment in their future.

The young head of the firm describes the prospects of AOT as follows: “Working together with our whole team, we would like to expand our offer. We set great store by our personal approach that respects people both within our company and in our contact with customers. Our strength, and at the same time our vision of the future, is ensuring that the added value network from the grower to the customer remains organic. We want to create a profile for ourselves as the address for specialities and exclusive products.” Regarding the organic sector, in his opinion it has to emphasize much more its outstanding difference and values instead of going down the road of adapting to the conventional sector. “We should be much more confident and we should underline our values much more robustly - starting with organic quality, fairness in trade and the corporate culture and extending to sustainable investment and raising green capital.” (Picture on left: Almond flour and almond oil are in demand as raw materials. Picture on right: Nutmeg)