Rapunzel buys Zwergenwiese - German brands join forces

With effect from 28 February, Rapunzel Naturkost in Legau in the Allgäu region has acquired  Naturkost GmbH in Silberstedt in Schleswig-Holstein. A press release informs us that Zwergenwiese will continue to be an independent company in its present location.

The brand products together with their communication and also the existing customer structure with wholesale supplies to the specialist wholefood trade will remain unchanged. They will take advantage of synergies on the procurement side, and the current regional sourcing is going to be expanded. The companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The founder of Zwergenwiese, Susanne Schöning, will assist with the transition until the end of April 2017.

The wholefood industry is facing many rules pertaining to succession and Susanne Schöning as the owner of Zwergenwiese had to contend with this issue 37 years after she launched the company. The press release points out that she deliberately chose not to sell the company to capitalists with no connection with the industry. It says that her concern was to transfer her life's work and the values it represents to new owners within the wholefood industry.

Both wholefood pioneers, Susanne Schöning and Joseph Wilhelm (Rapunzel), have known each other since the 1970s. Their similar approaches to the wholefood industry and their political involvement in favour of GM-free food are a good basis for joining forces. Susanne Schöning says that both firms share her corporate philosophy: “For both Rapunzel and for Zwergenwiese organic is a lived social concept that is contrary to one-sided, purely quantitative growth targets.”