Germany: Alnatura with more than 500m euros turnover

At the end of its twenty-fifth financial year on 30 September 2012, the organic company Alnatura in Bickenbach recorded net turnover of €516m – an increase of 11 % compared with last year. Thus in its anniversary year, Alnatura grew, as it has done for many years, more than the organic market that in 2011 achieved growth of 10 %. In the highly competitive German retail food business Alnatura now has a place among the top 30 companies. In 1987 it launched its first Super Natur Markt in Mannheim. Today it operates 70 stores in 39 towns across nine federal states. At the annual press conference on 8.11.2012 in Frankfurt, Götz Rehn, the founder and managing director of Alnatura, presented the economic development, the many initiatives and the plans of his company.

From 1.10.2011 to 30.9.2012 Alnatura’s turnover increased by approximately €52m net. About half of this turnover is generated by the company’s own 70 stores and the other 50 % is the result of Alnatura supplying its partners dm, Budni, Tegut, Hit, Globus, Cactus and AEZ – a total of 3,325 stores in 14 states. The expansion of its own store network was somewhat more modest in 2011 than in previous years, with five new openings in Hanover, Hamburg, Bonn, Darmstadt and Grenzach-Wyhlen. The reason was partly to do with delays in construction at some locations and partly because Alnatura concentrated more on altering and extending existing stores. By 2014, all its Super Natur stores will have a uniform appearance that has been designed in keeping with sustainability criteria. “The regeneration of our stores is hugely important. We’re investing between €200,000 and €400,000 per store, so that we can keep them up-to-date and to meet the standards our customers expect,” said Rehn. (Graphic: Development of turnover in million euros; business years 1987/88 to 2011/12)
 

Eleven large-scale projects have been completed, and for 2013 they are planning another 20. The company points out that, as well as the work on the stores being functional and aesthetic, the focus is on measures to improve energy efficiency. Thus in some cases they can achieve energy savings of up to 30 %. The speed of expansion will increase again in 2013: the company is planning at least ten new launches in Stuttgart, Hamburg, Berlin (4), Hanover (2), Munich, Aachen and Ravensburg. As early as December of this year, a sixth store will open in Frankfurt (near the opera house) and Tübingen will see the launch of a second store. The practice of supporting neighbourhood projects when they open a store will be personalised even more in the future. Rehn describes this as stores contributing to the society around them. So the customers help to decide which kindergarten or which regional project will receive the Alnatura’s launch donation. The aim is for the stores to have even deeper roots in the local community. Nearly €26,000 have so far been allocated to local projects. (Picture: In Heidelberg a store relocated to the historic “Alte Hallenbad” – the old indoor swimming pool)
 

Alnatura regards its cooperation with Migros, the biggest retail business in Switzerland, as a milestone in its corporate history (see our earlier report). Alnatura opened its first organic supermarket as a franchise business in Zürich-Höngg in August 2012. Migros operates the store but the store concept, some of the products and the know-how are supplied by Alnatura. Götz Rehn is shortly going to visit a second location. He emphasizes the point: “We’ve not gone to Switzerland to open just one store.” In answer to questions about a takeover, like recently in the case of Tegut, he made it clear that the cooperation with Migros is between equals. Selling his company would contradict his entrepreneurial philosophy. He pointed out that the successful cooperation with Migros is based moreover on business principles they have in common: sustainability, cultural initiatives and a mission to operate according to sound business practices. (Picture: The first Alnatura/ Migros store in Zurich)
 

During the last financial year, Alnatura not only recorded record turnover but also employed the highest number of people (1,810) since the founding of the company. Of these,123 are young people in training. As Rehn stressed at the press conference, Alnatura regards comprehensive training and advanced training as especially important. They organized around 200 seminars for employees during last year. In 2009, Alnatura initiated a Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK)-certified qualification for employees in order to combat the shortage of specialist retail staff in the industry.  The company’s efforts were recognised with the presentation of the “Employability Award” in 2012.(Picture: A feature of Alnatura is the large number of young people it employs)