Vegan products are not a niche topic for Petrella!
Interview with Maurice Stein, Sales Manager of Petri Feinkost GmbH & Co. KG
Petri Feinkost GmbH & Co. KG is best known for its fresh cheese spread Petrella. However, the company generates the majority of its revenue in the private label business for discounters and full-range suppliers. In an interview with Wirtschaftsforum, Sales Manager Maurice Stein revealed, among other things, how Petri Feinkost is currently exploiting the enormous growth potential in the market for vegan products.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Stein, the most well-known product of Petri Feinkost GmbH & Co. KG is likely the Petrella cream cheese spread – yet it only accounts for a relatively small portion of your total sales.
Maurice Stein: Indeed, the largest part of our business activity is focused on our private label business, in which our products are distributed under the brands of discounters and full-range retailers. This includes particularly popular segments such as our cream cheese mini-roll, which enjoys enormous popularity across Europe and which we have never offered under the Petrella brand. However, whether we market our products ourselves or appear with the brands of our retail partners – our entire activity is determined by our special quality standards.
Wirtschaftsforum: How can your company stand out from its competitors?
Maurice Stein: We are known for invariably using fresh ingredients, which we source locally whenever possible. Therefore, fresh herbs such as chives or garlic are delivered daily to our production sites, where they are primarily processed by hand – we have preserved the craft-based approach that characterized the foundation years of our company six decades ago to this day. We emphasize this special quality promise, for example, through transparent packaging, which allows customers at the point of sale to directly recognize the exceptional freshness of our product. Thus, we have been able to position ourselves distinctly as a premium manufacturer of fresh cheese specialties and also build up a strong export business across Europe, where many larger companies find it significantly more challenging. The freshness promise of our products is at the same time our limiting factor – due to our strict expiration dates, we remain confined to the European market, which we, however, serve in considerable depth.
Wirtschaftsforum: What innovations are currently at the center of your attention?
Maurice Stein: Consumer behavior has changed significantly in recent years, as the number of people who pay close attention to a conscious diet and also to a good sustainability record of the products they consume has increased significantly overall. Therefore, we can see an exciting market with great growth potential in the field of vegan nutrition, a market we have been serving since last year with plant-based alternatives to our classic cream cheese products, which quickly found a high acceptance among consumers. Already, 30% of sales in our Petrella brand are plant-based products. Therefore, we will significantly expand our commitment in this segment in the coming years and introduce a lentil-based product to the market by the end of 2024.
Wirtschaftsforum: So vegan nutrition is no longer a niche topic?
Maurice Stein: In the past, many companies have introduced vegan products to the market that could not compete with conventional products in terms of taste — so the consumer decision had to be primarily driven by an intrinsic commitment to vegan nutrition or the best possible sustainability record.
On the other hand, our goal is to also cater to flexitarians who might want to reduce their consumption of meat and dairy products without having to compromise on quality. Petri Feinkost now has the expertise to produce high-quality products using fresh ingredients even in this context. We are always on the lookout for additional raw materials that could potentially achieve an even greater impact.
Wirtschaftsforum: What else will change in your company in the coming years?
Maurice Stein: We will certainly further diversify both in our product range and in our manufacturing processes, not least so that we can produce our vegan products in their own production lines, thus eliminating even the slightest contamination with animal products. The widespread shortage of staff will meanwhile lead to a further increase in our degree of automation, while in recent years we have already achieved significant streamlining of our business processes thanks to a new inventory management system and additional digitization measures. Furthermore, Petri Feinkost is currently experiencing a transformation in its corporate culture, in which we are steadfastly committing to our traditional values such as quality and reliability, while simultaneously becoming more flexible and agile in order to better meet the requirements of being an attractive, modern employer.