Ebl: regional and independent

For a good year now, all sections of Ebl-Naturkost GmbH & Co. KG have been located in Fürth. Grouped under one roof at the new headquarters are the wholesale warehouse, the company’s own Demeter meat processing facility and the administration. The chain currently operates 21 stores. By building these new premises, the founder of Ebl, Gerhard Bickel, has created what is needed for the company to continue operating independently in the future. It focuses on close cooperation with regional producers, in-house processing and closeness to its customers. It has adopted an unhurried expansion policy.

(Picture: Gerhard Bickel has proclaimed his mission to ecologise society and support regional organic farmers)

There is still plenty of  space in the business park Fürth-Hardhöhe. Ebl was the first firm to start building on the new site. In 2011, the warehouse, logistics and administration moved into their new buildings from their location 10 km to the east in Nuremberg. In 2012, the butchery relocated. The company has invested €8.5m in the land (14.000 m²), the building, cleverly designed, sustainable technology and the new facilities. The new building itself, that covers 7,500 m², does not use any fossil fuel. Geothermal heat, a photovoltaic array on 4,700 m² of roof space, a water supply and a CFC-free refrigeration plant mean that the facilities meet the highest environmental standards. Suppliers and customers had an opportunity to look round the new building when the company held an open day at the end of June 2013. (Picture: Ultra-modern technology makes the new Ebl headquarters especially energy efficient)
 

“For us the new building was a big step – comparable with founding the firm almost 20 years ago,” says Gerhard Bickel, who in 1994 left his job at the chain Marktkauf and set up his own independent business, adopting the concept “ebl - einfach besser leben” (simply live better). “This new step was urgently needed if we were to continue to satisfy our desire to be an independent operator and to provide quality of the highest order. We had reached our limits in the old premises.” The new headquarters have been built with growth in mind and, moreover, there is still a lot of space in the business park. They are already planning another building opposite the headquarters and, in the autumn of 2014, it will become an Ebl store. The top storey will be rooms where events dealing with environmental and consumer issues will be held. These will be organized in collaboration with BUND, Greenpeace and other initiatives. In this respect, Ebl is already involved and sponsors the regional initiative Blue Pingu and the Agenda cinema. (Picture: About 1000 food items and drinks, including fresh green and white goods, are stored at the new headquarters. Another wholesaler is Biogarten)
 

Ebl is
 the only company in Germany’s wholefood scene that operates as a combination of regional wholesaler, meat processor and chain. In the 20 years since it was founded, Gerhard Bickel has set up his network for trading specifically within the region and at the same time has created the preconditions for high quality. Around 100 producers send their goods direct to the wholesaler, who distributes supplies in the greater Nuremberg area – a radius of 150 km – to his own stores, a number of catering companies, box schemes and kindergartens. For Bickel a top priority is not only regionality but also as many Demeter items as possible in the product range. The region, from which Ebl sources 100 % of the animals for the butchery and its bread and bakery goods, stretches for 100 - 150 km round the headquarters. In the case of fruit and vegetables, the proportion of regional goods in terms of value is 20 % - 40 %, and the turnover of regional products in the total food range is around 30 %. (Picture: Close cooperation with producers in Franconia and the Oberpfalz region in Bavaria)
 

“Our aim is to be in close contact with our suppliers and to engage in cooperation that will give rise to attractive new products that we can include in our range,” explains Bickel. “We regard it as our duty to promote organic agriculture and to communicate to our customers why it makes sense and what the benefits are. We are pledged to transparency and quality.” .He says that in their butchery business this goes so far that sometimes certain cuts of meat are sold out and no longer available for a while, because they have not been able to buy in more. The butchery, that employs 12 staff and 3 trainees, processes veal, pork and lamb in the facility (900 m²) in the new headquarters. The animals are slaughtered in a nearby abattoir. Josef Gebhardt is in charge of Demeter meat processing. “Over the years, our master butcher has acquired a wealth of experience, so that the craft is carried out here to perfection,” says Bickel, full of praise for his staff. The meat range consists of about 80 products and specialities like dry-aged roast beef, air-dried ham and meat from Japanese Wagyu cattle that are kept on the Wiesenthof farm. The meat and sausage range is sold at service counters in all the 21 Ebl stores. Customers are willing to pay more for good quality, and the specialities also attract gourmet customers for whom organic quality is something of an extra benefit, Bickel explains. (Picture: Josef Gebhardt: an expert in Demeter meat processing)
 

As well as seeing a lot of potential in the butchery, Bickel finds gastronomy in the stores a promising prospect. At the moment, 7 stores offer a midday meal that is prepared by a chef and reheated in the branches. Seating close to the bakery goods counter, plus some seats outside, invite customers to linger for a while. In the future, gastronomy will be standard in all new openings, and old stores will be gradually fitted out with café facilities, depending on the space available. “Catering is a good way of attracting new customers and also to enhance the quality of our regular customers’ stay in the stores,” says Bickel. The weekly flyer – with a print-run of 180,000 and distributed as a supplement in newspapers – helps to gain new shoppers and to retain existing customers. (Picture: In-store gastronomy will be expanded in the future)
 

One to three new openings a year; there is no intention to go beyond that number. Organic, self-determined growth instead of being content to occupy premises – that’s the strategy of Gerhard Bickel. “We don’t want to put pressure on ourselves.” The premises Ebl looks for are usually good locations on the edge of the town centre and locations with plenty of parking. The retail space varies from 350 to 800 m². Their geographical limit to expansion is currently in Bamberg, where Ebl opened its first store in 2008 and its second in 2011. Würzburg is an option, says Bickel. But, as he points out, you immediately notice that the Ebl brand is well known in the Nuremberg area: “The stores take off more rapidly.” A new Ebl store will open in July in the Gostenhof district of Nuremberg – the twelfth in the city. The store layout is being constantly revised and adapted, and energy efficiency and regionality even in store design are important issues. For example, the floor in a number of stores is made from oak from the locality. (Pictures: Important focal points: fruit and vegetables, meat,  sausage and wine)




Centres with specialist shops are also attractive 
 locations: “Competition is
 fundamentally good and important. If it’s fair
 and comes from within the industry, it helps in 
profiling. Cutthroat competition, on the other hand, is destruction of money,” Bickel maintains. He sees the conventional food retail trade 
 as dangerous competition, 
 in particular when they offer organics at dumping prices
. In his opinion: “Private labels are the grave diggers
 of the industry.” He also regards the sales policy
 of many wholefood manufacturers and wholesalers as a problem, because they supply the conventional retail food trade 
 with brand products. Instead of emphasizing low prices, Ebl
 focuses on quality, appealing stores and friendly advice. His success proves he is doing the right thing: in 2012, the company’s turnover was €45m, and in 2013 Bickel expects it to exceed the 50 million mark. (Picture above on right: Gerhard Bickel values regional collaboration and supports initiatives like Wagyu cattle and local wine)