Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Wolff, your company has a history of 120 years in trading natural resources. From your perspective, what steps were important for the development of Norevo?

Alexander Wolff: Particularly in the 1980s, the foundation was set for further company development, because this period saw two significant changes. Firstly, a phase of internationalization began by establishing further locations not only outside of Germany, but also outside of Europe. Secondly, a production site was established in Germany, where the resources the company had previously only traded were now also processed and refined. The next major development step followed in 2010 with a management buy-out and the founding of Norevo GmbH. Previously, we had been part of a conglomerate as a Food Unit, from which we then bought ourselves out. Our current success confirms that our strategy back then was correct, which is our success story of the last 13 years. We are very pleased to be where we are today.

Wirtschaftsforum: Where do you stand today with Norevo, both structurally and in terms of numbers?

Alexander Wolff: Our headquarters are here in Hamburg – traditionally, so to speak, as this has been our base since the beginning. We have international locations in Hungary, China, Singapore, Mexico, and Argentina. We are, if you will, a global medium-sized company. Worldwide, we have about 230 employees, slightly less than half of them in Germany, and we generate an annual turnover of approximately 85 million EUR. Since the founding of Norevo in 2010, we have been continuously growing and expect this growth to continue. Whether this will also be reflected in the sales figures depends on the prices and availability of the individual raw materials in our product range, as this market is very volatile. In principle, however, we are geared for further growth in all areas.

Wirtschaftsforum: Earlier you mentioned that the strategy followed since the management buy-out has been successful. What exactly is behind this?

Alexander Wolff: We have successfully set the strategic course by making the company extremely focused on transparency. This is necessary, especially because we work with natural resources and there are so many factors worldwide that need to be considered in the overall market situation: crop failures, price and currency fluctuations, the respective political situation. On the other side, at the end of the 2000s, we streamlined our portfolio and focused on the areas where we have a strong market position. Even as Norevo GmbH, we continued this strategy from 2010 and set further focal points within the portfolio in 2012/13—with the Confectionery Performers, our specialty products for the confectionery industry. Five years ago, we made another strategic decision by establishing a new business division, natural waxes, which we believe will prove to be important in the future—because with it we can address not only the food sector, our core industry, but also the cosmetics and technical industries.

Wirtschaftsforum: Which products in the portfolio are most important for Norevo?

Alexander Wolff: The entire area of Confectionery Performers, as mentioned, is strategically very important for us because we can also pass on a lot of value to our customers here. In this area, we are also the most innovative, with frequent new product developments. These are functional products for the confectionery industry that improve our customers' products in terms of taste, appearance, durability, manufacturability, etc. There is a large market here where you can really score with innovation. We try to recognize the needs of our customers and also trends in advance in order to continuously initiate new product developments.

Wirtschaftsforum: What is the significance of sustainability for Norevo?

Alexander Wolff: All our products have one thing in common: they are renewable and therefore sustainable. In the producing countries, supply relationships have sometimes existed for generations. We've always had to operate sustainably to stay in business in the long term. Three years ago, we also hired a Sustainability Manager. She takes care of measures we can implement to reduce our CO2 footprint, as well as ESG issues. Sustainability is deeply embedded in all our processes. Along our value chain, we have also initiated numerous social projects to support people from our purchasing countries and take social responsibility.

Wirtschaftsforum: What is your future vision for Norevo?

Alexander Wolff: We would like to continue growing sustainably and organically, and bring innovative products to the market. Our goal is to carve out more market potential within our niches.

Wirtschaftsforum: A personal question to conclude: What drives you in your work?

Alexander Wolff: I enjoy working internationally with many different people on exciting products every day. It's great when you see food in the store and know: our product is in there.