For the 28th time, the trade magazine RUNDSCHAU for the food trade, together with FRUCHTHANDEL magazine, has searched for Germany's best fruit and vegetable departments and this year found six EDEKA merchants. No less than three stores convinced the expert jury at national level with their unique assortment performance, special marketing concepts, value-added sales strategies and creative space concepts.
EDEKA Meyer in Rosengarten-Nenndorf won in the "Large Supermarket" category, EDEKA Frischecenter Wagner in Coburg in the "Supermarket" category and Stiegler Einkaufscenter in Speyer in the "Hypermarket" category. At state level, the winners were inkoop Verbrauchermarkt in Harpstedt (Lower Saxony), EDEKA Zielke in Viersen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and EDEKA Stadler + Honner in Unterföhring (Bavaria).
"Congratulations to the winners! Awards like these show: When it comes to fruit and vegetables, our independent merchants, together with the experts from EDEKA Fruchtkontor and the regional wholesalers, manage time and again to delight their customers with quality and variety. And all this at a convincing price-performance ratio," says Markus Mosa, Chairman of the Board of EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG.
Photo: EDEKA / Thomas Schindel
Freshness as best advertisement
The fruit and vegetable departments of the six award-winning stores stand for variety, freshness and regionality at fair and competitive prices and are always geared to the needs of local customers. This flexibility is also due to the EDEKA Fruchtkontor, which supplies the wholesalers of the network with high-quality products as needed from its eight locations and four ripening plants in Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Short supply chains are a high priority: around half of all EDEKA Fruchtkontor's suppliers are based in Germany. Numerous other products are sourced directly without intermediaries from more than 1,000 partners in more than 80 countries.
Since 1996, the trade magazine "RUNDSCHAU für den Lebensmittelhandel" and the "FRUCHTHANDEL Magazin" have been awarding prizes to the best fruit and vegetable departments. A jury of experts from retail, industry and the trade press evaluates the participating stores on the basis of extensive criteria such as variety of assortment, proportion of regional products, presentation of goods and advice in unannounced store checks on site. The patron of the award is the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.
EDEKA - Germany's most successful entrepreneurial initiative
The profile of the medium-sized and cooperative EDEKA group is based on the successful interaction of three levels: Across Germany, around 3,500 independent merchants give EDEKA a face. At the retail level, they assume the role of local suppliers who stand for food quality and enjoyment. They are supported by seven regional wholesalers who deliver fresh goods to the EDEKA stores every day and are also at their side for everything from sales to expansion.
The EDEKA strategy is coordinated at the EDEKA headquarters in Hamburg. It manages the national merchandise business as well as the successful "We love food" campaign and provides a wide range of impulses for the realization of cross-network goals. With its Netto Marken-Discount subsidiary, it also sets successful trends in the discount business. Specialty retail formats such as BUDNI or NATURKIND, cooperation with online-based delivery services such as Picnic, and the bulk consumer business with EDEKA Foodservice round off the broad range of services offered by the group of companies. In 2022, EDEKA achieved sales of 66.2 billion euros with around 11,100 stores and around 408,900 employees. With around 19,300 trainees, EDEKA is one of the leading trainers in Germany.
EDEKA Meyer in der Nordheide convinced the top-class jury of experts of the Fruit Award 2023 with farm shop character, nut as well as salad bar and an extensive mix of exotic fruits up to a lot of regional selection.
Photo: EDEKA Meyer
Germany's best fruit and vegetable department is located at EDEKA Meyer in Rosengarten-Nenndorf. On Thursday, May 4, in a stylish setting at the Hotel Oderberger in Berlin, the store was awarded the Fruit Prize in the category "Supermarket Large" as the national winner. Traditionally, the fruit and vegetable department forms the heart of an EDEKA store. At EDEKA Meyer, the farm shop character with wooden panelling and a service department stands out in particular. This was expanded about two years ago and now includes about one third of the O&G assortment. In addition to providing the best possible personal advice, the service counter allows the company to be close to its customers - and there is always time for a chat. A total of five employees organize the department with around 500 articles on a sales area of around 275 square meters.
Premium items, such as citrus fruits from San Lucar, come from the Hamburg wholesale market. Regional products come directly from the surrounding area. At the nut bar, customers can individually fill pulses from local supplier Farmer's Snack. Other regional products come, for example, from Biohof Overmeyer in Emmelndorf or from the Alte Land region, such as apples from Tobias Mann. The regional potato variety is also presented particularly prominently. This is expanded seasonally with further variations.
The assortment is supplemented by the supply of goods from EDEKA wholesalers. In this way, an individual mix is offered with a particular depth and breadth of high-quality products.
The offer in the fruit and vegetable department is rounded off by the varied selection in the salad bar. With specialties and classics produced in the store, this invites customers to enjoy a snack, sustainably packaged in RPET packaging boxes.
"The entire team in our fruit and vegetable department puts their heart and soul into providing our customers with a great shopping experience every day and assisting them with their expertise. I am very pleased that this commitment has now been recognized and awarded the Fruit Prize 2023," summarizes merchant Jonas Meyer.
Further information:verbund.edeka