1. BioHandel trade FMCG marketplace

The new event format “BioHandel LEH-Marktplatz” (BioHandel Food Retail Marketplace) from the trade magazine BioHandel supports manufacturers in the organic retail sector as they enter the food retail market. In addition to its own organic retail brands, the food retail sector also wants to offer its customers higher-quality organic brand-name products – and manufacturers in the specialist retail sector want to reach interested organic customers in the food retail sector. This is actually an ideal win-win situation: however, value-oriented manufacturers from the 100% organic specialist trade are encountering a retail and competitive situation in the food retail sector that is largely unfamiliar to them – and have to adapt their products to new customer needs. The goal of this challenging process should not only be short-term listing, but also long-term maintenance of shelf space among a multitude of organic brands and conventional products – often without direct support from “organic-trained” merchants and employees.

For the first “BioHandel LEH Marketplace,” Followfood and Rapunzel, two renowned manufacturers already represented in food retail with different concepts, have been invited to report on their experiences in food retail. Markus Ihmann from the sales agency Plan Bio, a former traditional food retail sales professional, will show how he now exclusively brings organic brand manufacturers to retailers and onto the shelves of food retailers. 

The “BioHandel LEH Marketplace” will be rounded off with a statement on the potential of organic products in food retail, based on a wide range of research. Prof. Dr. Stefan Rüschen is a professor of food retail and head of the Retail Management program at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Heilbronn – and a member of the scientific advisory board of BioHandel/BioHandel Academy.