Barnhouse celebrates 35th anniversary with Krunchy cargo bike

With its funny little Krunchy pedal truck the traditional manufacturer Barnhouse aims to bring more customers into the shops in 15 cities. Customers are approached in front of wholefood stores and specialist organic shops, samples are handed out and people get into conversation with one another. The first campaign took place on 7.7.2014 in Stuttgart, where Organix nd Naturgut stores were the chosen locations. Barnhouse is a flourishing company domiciled in Mühldorf, an hour’s drive to the east of Munich. The 100-percent organic company, whose sales are worth €13m a year, is increasingly focusing on exports. This year, the firm – founded by Neil Reen and Siga Nagl in 1979 - is enjoying double-digit growth in turnover.

(Picture: Managing director and head of marketing Bettina Rolle accompanying the Krunchy-ambassadors Kathi and Louis to Stuttgart)
A new destination every day: Pforzheim, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Bonn and Munster. The Krunchy cargo bike is taken on a trailer to the next city, but then they cycle from one location to another. On board the cargo bike are various sorts of Krunchy. “The samples are mainly the varieties Krunchy `n Flakes and the bestseller Pure Oats,” explains Bettina Rolle, head of marketing at Barnhouse, and Andreas Bentlage, who is also responsible for marketing. You can have little bowls of crunchy flakes in milk or soya drink. The bowls and the spoons are made from bio-degradable plastic.
(Picture on left: The first tour was to the organic supermarket Organix in the north of Stuttgart. Many people watched the display being set up, and were pleased with a Krunchy snack)

“We travel to big and small stores and we’re happy when we succeed in bringing in more customers.” Among their destinations is the farm shop of Vorwerk Podemus in Saxony’s capital Dresden and the consumer association in the same city. The list includes cities like Hamburg, Berlin and Halle. “Cargo bikes are all the rage,” says Barnhouse’s managing director - especially in Berlin-Kreuzberg and the cycle city Munster they are already being used a lot for transporting small loads. (Picture: Kathi and Louis on the way to the organic supermarket Organix in Stuttgart)

“Krunchy Pure Oats, Krunchy Schoko and Krunchy Strawberry are the bestsellers in our 20 Krunchy product range,” explains Andreas Bentlage. As well as the Krunchies they sell four kinds of muesli and five varieties of Krunchy bar. 
Moritz Nagl (27), the son of the co-founder Sina Nagl, points out that the bestsellers abroad are quite different: in Spain the flavour that is especially popular is apple-cinnamon, in Italy it’s the honey Krunchy and in Japan pure wild berries.










Barnhouse currently exports around 40 % of its brand products. In 2013, growth in turnover came to approximately 20 %. Clearly, more and more Europeans appreciate the crispiness and the bite of the organic crispy muesli. Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands and Austria are on the export list. However, the market beyond Europe is developing positively: "Dubai, Australia and Japan are growing markets of the future,” says a delighted Moritz Nagl, whose brief is the company’s export trade. The internet site of the Krunchy specialist can be accessed not only in German but also English, French, Spanish and Italian.

The market in France is supplied via the firm Claus-Pural. The wholefood and health food wholesaler domiciled in Baden-Baden registered pleasing growth of 40 % in sales of Barnhouse products in 2013. Under Puraliment, approximately 1,600 wholefood stores and organic supermarkets are regularly supplied in France, which means that sales of the top quality muesli could rise in the months ahead.

The Krunchies are manufactured in two linked production halls with a total of 11.000 m² (we wrote a report on the occasion of their 30th anniversary). To ensure that their offering is always up-to-date and to meet the requirements of customers, new products are being developed all the time. In 2013 this meant five variants of the Krunchy and bar, and this year there will be another four or five. “In September we’re bringing out our anniversary product Krunchy Tropical in a limited edition: we’ll be baking only 35 pallets (for the 35 years). The flavour will be tropical-fruity and the amusing retro-design will be eye-catching,” Bettina Rolle is pleased to tell us in advance. (Pictures: First picture, from left to right, Bettina Rolle, Neil Reen & Sina Nagl; second picture: Bettina Rolle; third picture: Andreas Bentlage, marketing)











It all began in the 1970s when Sina Nagl and Neil Reen travelled abroad. They discovered that Crunchy, the English name of baked cluster muesli, was not available on the German market in organic quality. In 1979 they began producing crunchy mueslis – 4kg a day - and they delivered them by bike to five organic shops in Munich. They proved to be very successful, and daily production was increased. Today, operating three shifts in a 5-day week, they make 10 tons a day. The company employs around 60 people in production, administration, marketing and delivery. 

Two years ago, they set up a factory outlet with café measuring 130 m² (picture on right). “We regarded this as an opportunity for people in the region to experience the spirit of the company. Once a week, our customers can buy top products at a lower price, and there are people who spend up to 70 euros each time they shop here,” says Bettina Rolle. The goods are sometimes special batches or items with faulty packaging that can’t be sold in the normal way. The factory outlet is open on the first Saturday of the month and every Wednesday afternoon from 12.00 to 18.00.
For Barnhouse, attending trade fairs is an important way of contacting wholefood retailers. Their major fair is BioFach in Nuremberg in February every year. The company also has a stand at the German-speaking fairs Biogast (Austria), the partner days of Bio-Partner (Switzerland) and the regional trade fairs Naturkost Nord and Süd. At Sana (Italy) and Biocultura (Spain) they are represented by their wholesaler in those countries.
(Picture on left: Bettina Rolle and a Barnhouse employee at BioFach 2014)

Tip: Homepage in English of Barnhouse