The EDEKA network in the southwest is one of the largest marketers of regional products between Lake Constance and the Moselle. At a local level, EDEKA merchants work together with producers in the immediate vicinity. An important building block at the regional level is the regional programs of the wholesale business of the cooperative group of companies, including "Unsere Heimat - echt & gut". One of the 1,500 partner companies of the regional brand is Hagdorn Tomaten in Eberdingen-Hochdorf near Stuttgart. On 13 June 2024, Minister Peter Hauk MdL visited the company to get an idea of its work and discussed the cooperation between retail and regional agriculture with Heiko and Karin Hagdorn and EDEKA Südwest board members Klaus Fickert and Jürgen Mäder.
"Our goal for Baden-Württemberg is to make agriculture both economically viable and sustainable in order to protect the environment and increase biodiversity. At the same time, we want to strengthen the security of supply and develop resilient forms of agriculture that will be able to feed our population for decades to come. In order to meet these high standards, our farmers need reliable sales opportunities and fair payment for their produce. The cooperation agreement between EDEKA Südwest and Hagdorn Tomaten is a good example of this," said the Minister for Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection, Peter Hauk MdL.
Home-fresh tomatoes from Hagdorn.
The Minister went on to emphasize: "With the state's quality programs, the Baden-Württemberg organic label, and the Baden-Württemberg quality label, we have been supporting the consistent focus of production and marketing on high-quality regional products for years. At the same time, cooperation and close collaboration along the entire value chain, from the field to the plate, are being strengthened. Trusting relationships and transparent communication channels are key success factors for successful cooperation."
Jürgen Mäder confirmed this and emphasized: "We firmly believe that agriculture must have a future in our country. To achieve this, it is necessary for farmers to be able to operate profitably. For this reason, we have made great efforts in recent years to support regional agriculture, make it more visible, and thus specifically promote the sale of agricultural products". Klaus Fickert added: "This is why we are also actively involved in the state government's strategic dialogue on agriculture. As a major marketer of regional products and a key supporter of local producers, we attach great importance to fair dealings with everyone involved in the value chain."
Regional programs offer planning security and long-term prospects
Heiko and Karin Hagdorn are the third generation to run the family business in Eberdingen-Hochdorf. Hagdorn Tomaten has been supplying EDEKA Südwest with tomatoes since 2003, and for "Unsere Heimat - echt & gut" since 2006. This makes the company one of the first suppliers of the regional brand, with which EDEKA Südwest explicitly offers products that come from federal states in the sales region. Within this framework, EDEKA Südwest works with more than 1,500 businesses in the region. The quality marks of the federal states in which the suppliers operate are a prerequisite for the products of "Unsere Heimat - echt & gut". In the case of Hagdorn tomatoes, this is the Baden-Württemberg quality mark. The label is awarded by the state of Baden-Württemberg, represented by the Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection. Multi-year contracts or purchase guarantees provide the producers of "Unsere Heimat - echt & gut" with planning security and long-term prospects.
For more information:
www.hagdorn-tomaten.de
www.edeka.de