Not only discounters put pressure on pickles
Price pressures on food manufacturers come no longer from discounters. "Discounters are often not the ones putting the pressure on prices, unfortunately every retailer has sometimes called the newspaper," said Stefan Leitz, CEO of Kühne.
Years ago, Kühne decided to limit the range of their available assortment to customers because they could not earn anything from it. "I would make the same decision today," said the manager. Profit margins in the food industry are, said Leitz, "very low".
The 50 year old Leitz last summer moved over from Unilever to Kühne. They wanted a manager who could increase the profits for this family business. "The company is profitable, just not profitable enough," explained Leitz. The food manufacturing industry is a shrinking market. "The number of Germans is decreasing and they are getting older. Older people eat less," added Leitz.
Therefore Kühne need to strongly expand their market abroad. "We need to come up with more ideas, maybe a gherkin marketed for the young pregnant woman, or try to score points with younger people," said the manager.