After two years of serious illness, Markus Bußmann passed away on 3 June at the age of 68. The long-time fruit trader was most recently the CEO of Polfrucht AG, a company he founded and based at the Berlin wholesale market. However, Bußmann began his impressive career in the fruit industry back in the 1980s at Süd-West Frucht in his home town of Freiburg.
Markus Robert Bußmann.
At that time, his responsibilities included the daily supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from near and far to numerous Aldi stores. Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Bußmann recognised the growth potential of the eastern market for himself, recalls Roberto Tur, Spain specialist and long-time friend and business partner of Bußmann. "From Wroclaw (Breslau), he worked closely with a local co-operative to build up the import of various fruits from southern Europe from scratch. He then primarily sourced bananas and Spanish citrus fruits through me. In this context, we often travelled to Wroclaw together and were greeted with spirits several times in the morning," Tur smiles and adds. "But it's fair to say that he actively helped to shape and develop the limited range of Polish food retailers at the time."
Shortly before the turn of the century, Bußmann returned to Germany and began a new chapter in his career with the reopening of Polfrucht AG at Fruchthof Berlin. Initially, he focussed primarily on the procurement and marketing of Polish produce, such as berries, asparagus and mushrooms. Over the years, however, regional fruit and vegetables increasingly took centre stage. Tur: "Instead of importing Spanish produce, over the last decade he has increasingly developed into a contact point for complaints and returns from the food retail sector. We have therefore worked together as partners until the end."
Jan Hövelkamp and Mark Bußmann - pictured here visiting FreshPlaza.de's wholesale store in February 2023 - will continue to run the company together with Managing Director Beata Bembnowicz-Bußmann.
"He was an honest, straightforward and fair person. Not only I, but many others in the industry have lost not only a long-standing business partner, but also a friend," mourns Tur. Beata Bembnowicz-Bußmann, Bußmann's widow and new CEO of Polfrucht AG, confirms the statements and explains. "My husband was an extraordinary, honest and above all unconventional person who always pursued his goals with great perseverance, consistency and sometimes incredible tenacity. Like a true Aquarius, he was a visionary and managed to realise some of his visions that have unfortunately been somewhat forgotten, such as putting pineapples from overseas in boxes instead of putting them up."
Bußmann's life was primarily characterised by work, first at Südwestfrucht in Freiburg and then at Polfrucht AG, with a short stopover at Köpke and Nordfrucht, often at the expense of his private life. "But anyone who knew the Bußmann family, including his parents, knew that it was normal - it was always all about business. The serious illness, which he faced with great hope of recovery and enormous optimism, influenced the last two and a half years of his life. However, the last year in particular proved to be very difficult, as he found it hard to leave our flat. Despite everything, the first question on the phone every morning was always how business was going," says Mrs Bembnowicz-Bußmann.
With this in mind, Polfrucht AG will continue to be run by his wife, son, a junior partner and all employees "in the hope that perhaps some of his visions can be realised", she concludes.
Would you like to personally express your condolences to the Bußmann family or the Polfrucht team? Please contact:
Beata Bembnowicz-Bußmann
Polfrucht AG
Fruchthof Berlin
Tel.: 030 / 397 457 0
Fax: 030 / 397 457 50
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.polfrucht.de