Vorstandsvorsitzender (CEO), EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG, EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG
Markus Mosa im DLF: "Wir sind für alle da!"
Grüne Woche 2009 - Edeka-Chef Markus Mosa im Gespräch mit dem Kölner Deutschlandfunk (DLF). Ein spannendes Interview, aufgezeichnet von Food Television Deutschland im Auftrag von Edeka. Das Unternehmen präsentiert sich stellvertretend für den deutschen Lebensmittelhandel den rund 450 000 Besuchern in zehn Messetagen auf dem "Erlebnisbauernhof". Dank eines mobilen TV-Schnitt-Studios vor Ort werden alle Filme sofort online gestellt. So erleben die Edekaner und ihre Kunden den Auftritt unmittelbar mit. "Die lieben ja wirklich ihre Lebensmittel", staunt ein Messebesucher.
About Markus Mosa
Markus Mosa, CEO of EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG, has spoken about the cooperative structure of Edeka and the role of its independent retailers. In a 2017 acceptance speech for the "Goldene Victoria – Unternehmer des Jahres" award, Mosa said he interpreted the award as recognizing "the entrepreneurs of the year" in plural, attributing the company's success to its 4,000 self-employed merchants and the cooperative principle. He also called on entrepreneurs to engage as citizens and show commitment to democracy, education, equal opportunity, free speech, and European integration. In a 2018 interview, Mosa discussed Edeka's approach to product development, stating that if brand manufacturers are not fast enough, the company develops its own products, including in processing, bakery, and mineral water. He described magazines as "fast moving consumer goods" with high floor productivity in stores, second only to coffee, and expressed a desire for retailers to have more influence over the selection and presentation of magazine displays, which he said is currently left to wholesalers.
Transcript (6 segments)
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Interviewer0:06
This year is very important, the Edeka partner. I greet you, partner of the adventure farm. Here you can really see the end of the value chain. If we stick with butter, Mr. Mosa, it starts all the way back on the right with the cow, and then we learned that it goes through the specialized farms, the dairy women, the dairy men, then the product comes to you. I tried to leaf through tradition a bit: loose butter, the crafted product from the small farm – does it have a chance to be presented in a market like Edeka, or are you, given the large number of your stores, forced to rely on the mass-produced product?
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Markus Mosa0:47
So our conviction is that we are the market leader in Germany, ultimately there for all consumers. We operate both in full-range supermarkets and in discount. You have to consider which concept to start with. If you look at the full-range areas at Edeka, we need a range that is tailored to every customer wish. How do you define your offering? If we stick with dairy specialists, a dairy offers you something – what do you say must be in the Edeka market? Because I believe the invention of new products, especially in the dairy industry, is very large. We have cheese, butter, the big yogurt family. How do you compose this offering? So we set up our assortment in comparison to the competition and according to customer wishes. The standard belongs in every shelf, what you also find at the discounter. But the competence that Edeka provides lies in doing much more beyond that, and there are no limits to imagination. We place a very strong emphasis on innovation and see ourselves as the natural partner to bring these into our markets, because we are also able to explain these products. We have the means through advertising, newspaper advertising, image advertising to explain them, and of course with our many advisors in our stores, our merchants are competent, and we now have 1,800 nutritionists in our branches in Germany who can explain the ingredients and benefits of individual products. Innovations are well suited for that. We are here today on the Day of Training.
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Interviewer2:38
Training – how is it with your young talent? Are there recruitment problems? What are you doing in terms of young talent?
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Markus Mosa2:45
First of all, I would like to state that we are the largest employer in Germany with a total of 280,000 employees, and it is no coincidence that we are also the largest trainer in Germany with over 13,000 trainees. We and the owners of the group are independent merchants, and they live from passing their business on to the next generation. They also always need young talent, which is why it is especially close to our hearts. This includes not only an appropriate salary level – trade is certainly not known for that – but an attractive company. And we at Edeka are taking this path by strongly emphasizing our image, promoting acceptance among consumers. We already appear in kindergartens with actions on healthy nutrition, we go to schools to educate about nutrition, and also to sharpen the profile of Edeka as an interesting and attractive employer. When you have 13,000 trainees, it means you need several thousand new ones every year. Yes, we are constantly searching, of course for the best, and so far we have succeeded in ensuring sufficient young talent.
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Interviewer4:08
The Chairman of the Board of Edeka AG, Markus Mosa, you have provided great headlines regarding the labor market. I think it was a four-digit number that you are going on the offensive and want to offer jobs. Is the offer still standing?
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Markus Mosa4:23
Yes, it still stands. Even if it is a week old, it still stands. We are convinced that despite all the crisis reports, we have every reason to look confidently into the coming year. We did not go public with effect-seeking, but these 8,000 we mentioned are actually backed by appropriate measures. We know how many markets we open every year – even this year, on average, almost every day a new Edeka or Netto Marken-Discount store is launched. For that we need many, many hands. Furthermore, we want to constantly promote our sales in existing markets, which we have succeeded in doing with great success in recent years. That means we need more hands, more heads, and that is why this number of 8,000 is very realistic and backed by measures.