Germany: further increase of organic supermarkets in 2008

In terms of new openings in 2008 the chains, with 38 new outlets (54 %), were clearly ahead of owner-managed stores, with 33 new outlets (46 %). There is a big difference in retail space too: Alnatura, Basic, Denn’s Bio and the other chains account for about 59 % (2007: 64 %) of new retail space (in total approximately 22,000 m²). The number of chains in Germany rose to 18, and their total number of stores increased to 246. (Picture: the sixth Basic store in Munich)
Research by Organic-Market.Info shows that the total retail space of all the chains is 130,456 m², which is an average of 530 m² per store.

18 companies in Germany, with at least five outlets each, currently operate 246 stores. However, there are just a few instances of stores with less than 200 m², which is the figure Organic-Market.Info uses as the criterion for larger-scale specialist stores and organic supermarkets.

This means that around 48 %, or nearly a half of all specialist organic stores and organic supermarkets, belong to a chain. In 2008, 15 of these chains expanded and opened at least one new store. Market leader Alnatura opened eleven new organic supermarkets, followed by Denn’s Bio with eight new outlets. The average retail space of the new stores, on which Organic-Market.Info has based its evaluation for 2008, is 580 m². This figure is 8% (43 m²) higher than the owner-operated stores, that on average had 537 m² of retail space. Our calculations show that the average of all new openings was 560 m².

In 2008, the organic chain Alnatura improved its position as market leader even further. Alnatura is out in front in terms of the number of organic supermarkets, that now totals 45. The company, that has its headquarters in Hessen, launched eleven SuperNaturMarkt stores in 2008 in Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Koblenz, Königstein (picture), Kriftel, Munich, Pforzheim and Wiesbaden. The average retail space of these stores is 651 m². At the end of the financial year in September 2008, Alnatura’s SuperNaturMarkt stores accounted for a turnover of roughly 150 million euros (see our earlier report).

In 2008, Basic struggled with financial problems. Instead of the 5-10 new openings planned for 2008, a radical restructuring prgramme saw the closure of four stores in Hagen, Karlsruhe, Cologne and Münster. There was just one new opening in Munich. The chain now has 23 stores in Germany and Austria. With an average of 741 m² Basic has, however, more retail space than Alnatura (584 m²). Its 23 outlets account for a total of 17,053 m², whereas Alnatura’s 45 branches have 26,301 m².

Denn’s Bio opened eight new organic stores in 2007 and the same number in 2008. The new openings in 2008 were in Erding, Fulda (picture on right), Kaufbeuren, Konstanz, Krefeld, Mönchengladbach, Neuburg and Siegen. The company has a total of 28 stores with 15,370 m² of retail space.

With two new stores in North Germany, Aleco has joined the chains. This new regional chain now operates six stores with a total of 2,835 m² and is planning further expansion in 2009, starting in Bremen.

All three new stores launched by Bio-Company were in Berlin in the Kreuzberg and Lichterfelde districts (picture: Rüdesheinmer Platz). The store it opened in a shopping centre in Brunswick in 2007 was closed down in September 2008. Its oldest store in Schönhauser Allee no longer belongs to the chain and is now operated independently under a new name and new management (Kiepert + Kutzner biologische Lebensmittel). Bio-Company is planning to launch three new stores in 2009 – this time in Hamburg.

The chain EBL, that has its headquarters in Nürnberg, has opened a new store in Bamberg and now operates a total of 15 organic supermarkets.

Since opening a new store in June in Ostfildern, the regional chain Erdi now has six outlets in the region round Stuttgart (see our earlier report). The company,that was founded in 1980, has a total retail space of approximately 2,000 m² in a variety of stores, and it currently employs about 50 people.

Naturgut also runs six stores in the Stuttgart region and has 2,350 m² of retail space. Its latest launch was in September in the Sillenbuch district (picture below on left) (see our earlier report).

Wolfgang Mayer’s Füllhorn is also located in Baden-Württemberg. He opened a new store (350 m²) in August in Walldorf.

The north German chain Erdkorn has opened a store in Hamburg, although it closed two stores in Augsburg and Oberhausen in April. The company’s website refers to 12 organic stores in Berlin, Hamburg (six), Hanover, Kiel, Cologne, Lübeck and Mülheim.

A SuperBioMarkt store under the management of Michael Radau was opened in January 2008 in Gelsenkirchen.

The Rewe subsidiary Vierlinden launched its sixth store in November (picture below), its first in Munich itself after a new outlet was opened in the suburb Eching in May.

Vitalia occupies a special position. It is a combination of organic discounters (called Bio B.), organic stores and health food shops. It has a high level of organics in its product ranges (around 80 %) and it operates 29 stores with an average retail space of 421 m² across the whole of Germany. The company opened four new stores in 2008 in Bavaria.

The Berlin organic chain VIV-BioFrischeMarkt launched a new store in May in the Friedrichshain district (picture below). A special feature: the staff in the store are all apprentices, and the management consists of former company trainees.

At the beginning of the the year, VollCorner took over a well established organic store in Wartherstraße in the east of Munich, renovated it and expanded the retail space. In February it became the company’s seventh new store. In October the VollCorner shop in Holzstrasse moved to new premises, doubling its size from 200 m² to 400 m². The 20th birthday of the Munich organic chain was celebrated at the beginning of October 2008 at all six stores in the Bavarian capital (picture below).

New openings are not going to slow down in the new year: Alnatura is already announcing new stores for Alsbach and Filderstadt, and we’ll soon see Denn’s Bio in Bamberg, Frankfurt, Worms and Würzburg. Bio-Company is expanding into Hamburg and a new SuperBioMarkt store is planned for Bergisch-Gladbach. Basic too is aiming for a new opening in Munich, and in the north Aleco intends to open a new store in Bremen. The number of owner-managed companies is also continuing to grow. We can expect new stores or conversions with expansion of retail space in Dettighofen, Fellbach, Hannoversch Münden, Mülheim and Wetzlar.

Conclusion: despite some closures in 2008, that were mainly attributable to economic problems at Basic and Erdkorn, most operators in Germany are cautious to optimistic regarding the investment climate for specialist organic stores and organic supermarkets.

Name	number of stores	retail area	area/store	founded	New 2008
Aleco	6	2835	473	1992	2
Alnatura	45	26.301	584	1987	11
Basic	23	17.053	741	1997/1998	1
Bio Company	14	7430	531	1999	3
Denn's Bio	28	15.370	549	2003	8
ebl	15	5400*	300*	1994	1
e.o.	6	2877	480	2000	0
Erdi	6	1900	317	1981	1
Erdkorn	12	10.450*	870 *	2001	1
Füllhorn	8	4350	544	1982	1
Landmanns	6	4290	715	2002	2
Naturgut	6	2350	392	1999	1
SuperBioMarkt	14	6780	484	1993	1
Tagwerk	7	1800*	257 *	1984	0
Vierlinden	6	4247	708	2005	2
Vtalia Biomarkt	29	12203	421	2000	4
ViV	8	2920	365	2001	1
VollCorner	7	1430	239	1991	2
Gesamt	246	130.456	530
January 2009, no responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information		*estimated		Copyright: Organic-Market.Info