Andreas Schindler the face of Don Limón

His family has been active on the Hamburger Großmarkt for over 50 year. His grandfather founded the company Pilz Schindler and imported his wares from Poland: "I was born into the trade", says Andreas Schindler. The 43 year old is in his glass office in the middle of the Großmarkt. On the cupboard is a photo of him with his grandfather: "He wasn't always easy, but he achieved a lot here in the Großmarkt." His father Winfried still works in the company. This also "sometimes caused tension", according to Schindler. But he says this without resentment, because when it doesn't concern business, the family gets along fine.

But Andreas Achindler also has his own ideas and that is why, after his spell in the army he wanted "to do his own thing". He moved abroad, to France. In Avignon he traded fruit for four years: "A lovely country, I had a good time there." But at the end of the '90's he wanted a new challenge - and a surprising one: "I was interested in a career in diplomacy and studied economics for that purpose", says Schindler.
He finished his study, but everything went differently than planned. In 2000 he joined the family business. He went back into trading. It all went well, but: "I wanted to make something all by myself, and therefore the Don Limón idea was born. My brother Thomas is my business partner in this."

The invented name was born and the family man, who lives with his 13 year old son Jakob and his wife Meike in the Hamburg district Groß Flottbek, has been travelling the world for Don Limón since then:"I regularly visit the countries my products come from and am informed on the spot. This way I can check whether our high quality demands are lived up to."

The lemons grow in Mexico and Brazil. The company imports 26 million of them per year. In November Schindler was in Bolivia, because this bustling merchant has made a starting in trading nuts together with a business partner. "We've been to small villages, where the people are poor but happy. This is also where the Brazil nut trees are, that can grow up to 50 metres tall."

Andreas shows us the photos of his trip on his laptop with shining eyes: The big man from the high North sticks out above the locals: "I'm fascinated by other cultures and talk to people easily." His company is international. People from ten different countries work for him. There are establishments in the US and Mexico. During his search for new projects Schindler also visited Panama. The result: "I leasehold land in Panama . We now have our own watermelon plantation there." In the coming week the first water melons will be harvested there which will then be transported to Hamburg through a 14 day sea trip.

Despite this, Andreas Schindler is happy to be home with his family after these long trips. He doesn't have much free time, but he likes to spend it with his loved ones. He attended a Rihanna concert with his son recently. His hobbies? "Work", he says, without a hint of irony. What else? "Sitting on the couch and looking through the atlas". Looking for a new destination.