It was one of the questions that always ends up on the table of a brand communication person (in this case me) at some point: Does what you’re talking about even sell one more packet of coffee? Do “values” even make sense? My answer is logical. But how do others see it? What does one of the most value-oriented sectors par excellence, the organic sector, think of values at a time when the multi-crises are having such a massive impact on consumer sentiment? At the Biofach trade fair in February, we asked decision-makers from large and small organic brands about their opinion on this,
foto: don ricardo on unsplash
Es war eine der Fragen, die immer irgendwann auf dem Tisch eines Markenkommunikationsmenschen (sprich: mir) landen: Verkauft das, was du da erzählst, überhaupt eine Packung Kaffee mehr? Machen „Werte“ überhaupt Sinn? Logisch, was ich darauf antworte. Aber wie sehen das denn andere?
foto: don ricardo on unsplash
“Organic is not a value in itself. But when you see what’s behind it, the way of working – working WITH nature and not against it – that’s a great value.
Another is the quality of the food. That it doesn’t contain any crap and that we don’t “beautify” it with additives to increase the margin. It is an honest product and an active contribution to a better environment.
We do business differently – not purely profit-oriented. We also have to earn money, there’s nothing wrong with that, but the question is always how do I do it? That has been the secret of our success for 45 years, and we have never deviated from it – and never will.”
(Andreas Bentlage, Barnhouse; translated from German)
“Values should actually be a selling point. But the problem in Germany in particular is that the food sector is always about ‘cheap-cheap’. A lot has been ruined in the last 30 years. That’s why it’s difficult to explain why one product is perhaps 20-30 cents more expensive than another.
You have to put a lot of effort into rebuilding appreciation – including credibility. When I ask consumers why they don’t buy organic – it’s not because of money, they’re people who could actually afford it – they say: yes, I don’t know if I can trust it.
But: Explanation is one thing. Experience is another. We notice this particularly with the seed issue. Once people have been to a breeding site, they are enthusiastic. Because they have experienced the work and commitment that goes into it. Then it becomes authentic! Of course, it’s difficult to convey something similar on the shelf in the supermarket. “
(Oliver Willing, Future Foundation for Agriculture; translated from German)
Oliver Willing
foto: stephan muennich
Oliver Willing, foto: stephan muennich
“Values are, of course, something intangible to begin with. The important thing is to make them visible in the economy, to translate them into something material, into monetary values. And that will be the challenge: To record, evaluate and monetize the sustainability performance or the common good performance of farmers – to give the activity a monetary value.
That is the crucial point. Because this can then also be valued accordingly by consumers or other stakeholders. With the ESG performance calculation of Regionalwert Leistungen GmbH, this is now also possible for the food industry.”
(Malte Bombien, Managing Director Regionalwert AG Hamburg / Matthias Lohneis Regionalwert AG Franken; translated from German)
“The question is, why am I not spending enough money on organic? Basically, awareness of the benefits of organic has still not really arrived.
Of course, when companies are the sender, you rightly take a critical look at them nowadays: Are they greenwashing or are they really serious? It takes a lot of effort for someone to find out to what extent the company actually lives up to what it says and puts it into practice. It would be very, very important to tell people what the benefits of organic are and what they entail: It’s about soil, it’s about biodiversity, it’s about clean water. These are all things that play into it, which also have an impact on prices in the end.
But, from my point of view, we can only communicate this if we join forces in some way and try to drive this forward through cooperation.”
(Philipp Thiel, Head of Marketing and Sales, ÖMA; translated from German)
Philipp Thiel
foto: mafoto
Philipp Thiel
foto: mafoto
“Values are important to us because they can preserve things and improve the world. But it’s not just about the idealism behind them. We have discovered that values are also economically “valuable”.
We make the Soapi in Berlin from recycled fishing nets and communicate this very clearly – people understand and appreciate this. “Made in Germany” is still something that sells.”
(Karli Baumann, Co-Founder, Soapi, Berlin; translated from German)
“I believe that when I look at our values and principles, they are the basis for sustainability.
The way we deal with our suppliers, in direct supply relationships, with perspective in cultivation, no spot marketing on the stock exchange, no speculation, but simply working together and in a binding manner, not squeezing out everything that concerns the suppliers and the farmers – then I believe this is an expression of values that is thoroughly contemporary and, if done well, can ultimately represent competitiveness.”
(Friedemann Wecker, Bauck Mühle; translated from German)
Friedemann Wecker, foto: Bauck
“If my goal, to put it very simply, is to earn as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, then I can’t be value oriented.
I can grow and grow, but it’s always at the expense of others: The environment, other people, other companies, whatever.
I believe that the moment you find yourself in corporate structures, even if they are committed to one value or another, it doesn’t work for this to be practiced at all levels. And it can’t, because you would have to replace the entire team first, because they have been geared towards a completely different spirit for decades.
It wouldn’t work for us in the AG either if the Supervisory Board or shareholders had completely different values to mine. But there is a common understanding and trust here to say: Yes, this is the right direction, this is where we want to go.
This means that, in principle, we all operate within the same value system. Maybe that sounds selfish: Bt I have to be able to reconcile all of this with myself. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning … At the end of the day, there is no substitute for values.”
(Liane Maxion, CEO, Naturata AG; translated from German)
What do you think? Is “organic” worth the price? Let us know in the comments, we look forward to reading your opinion.
And if you would like to know more about the “value creators”, here are the links to the companies.
www.barnhouse.de/pages/nachhaltigkeit
www.zukunftsstiftung-landwirtschaft.de/
www.oema.de/OEMA-Werte
www.thesoapi.com/pages/about-soapi
www.bauck.de/wurzeln-werte/unsere-werte/
www.naturata.de/bio-qualitaet
www.regionalwert-leistungen.de/leistungsrechnung/
www.regionalwert-hamburg.de/