Annual balance sheet 2020: Tönnie's market leader for organic meat
Rheda-Wiedenbrück, April 1, 2021 - The Tönnies group of companies developed stably in 2020 despite the restrictions caused by the corona. After a strong first half of 2020, the balance sheet for the second half of the year is, as expected, weaker. The corona-related closure of the plant in Rheda has an impact here. Nevertheless, the company looks back positively on the year as a whole. "The Corona year 2020 was the greatest challenge in the company's history for our company and its employees," said Clemens Tönnies, managing partner of the international group of companies. “In the first half of the year, with the beginning of the corona pandemic, we were asked by politicians to produce more and to fill the supermarket shelves in lockdown. The four-week shutdown of the plant and the subsequent cutback in production due to the corona outbreak, which the employers' liability insurance association has now classified as an industrial accident, has put a strain on Rheda's economic balance sheet. "
Despite this regional burden, Tönnies is economically satisfied with the results of the entire group. "Our company consists of 29 production sites around the world, 28 of which had a solid year," says Clemens Tönnies. With the corona prevention measures introduced, Tönnies is considered a blueprint for prevention in the food industry around the world.
In 2020, the internationally active company recorded an annual turnover of around 7,05 billion euros (-3% compared to 2019). The stagnation is mainly due to the significantly lower pig price (annual average 9,3% lower than 2019) and the four-week shutdown of the plant at the Rheda site.
Change in the pig market
The pig market was swirled around in the past year, in particular by the gastro lockdown. The export ban on pork to third countries due to African swine fever in Germany has also severely restricted exports. The price per kilogram of slaughtered weight varied between EUR 2,02 and EUR 1,19 last year, which of course has a significant impact on the company's turnover.
"We need long-term stable and adequate prices for agricultural producers, which are higher than in the last quarter," says Dr. Wilhelm Jaeger, Head of the Agriculture Department. “If we want to maintain agricultural production in Germany in the future, we need social acceptance. That is why we are committed to the goals of the Borchert Commission of Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner, ”said Jaeger. “We have almost achieved our goal of establishing housing type 2 as the standard in the supermarket. The start date is June 2021. "
Organic market is growing
At the same time, Tönnies continues to invest in open-front stables and the organic market. “We see good growth opportunities in the organic segment, where we are already the market leader today. If the consumer demands more organic products due to a rethink, we deliver. "
Tönnies processes a total of 16,3 million pigs (-2%) at its German locations, whereby the decrease relates exclusively to the four-week closure of the Rheda-Wiedenbrück location in East Westphalia and the subsequent production cutback. The company has grown strongly at the other locations, especially abroad. 4,5 million pigs were processed in Denmark, Spain, Great Britain and Poland (+ 17%).
Beef division: New Badbergen plant opens
The development of beef is particularly encouraging. The new beef competence center in Badbergen has started production. Here, too, Tönnies consistently implements his concept of slaughtering and producing meat as a biological unit. The demand for beef has grown steadily over the past few years. “Our investments of around 85 million euros in the beef competence center in Badbergen are now paying off for the first time. The quality is top, ”reports the managing director of the Beef division, Ulrich Steinemann. “We are bundling our quantities in a highly specialized, digitized location that sets standards worldwide. The automation rate is extremely high, so that fewer than 500 employees at the site support the company. "
Even if the ongoing gastro lockdown across Europe is affecting sales, burger patty production is running successfully at the new location. Since Tönnies in the cattle sector mainly supplies food service to European countries such as France and Great Britain, which are also affected by the lockdown, the division did not achieve any growth in 2020. Tönnies processed a total of 420.000 cattle, including butchering, at its German locations. That is 4% less than in the previous year.
International growth at foreign locations
Internationally, Tönnies is consistently continuing its growth strategy. Investments in Great Britain, Denmark, France, Spain and Poland amount to a three-digit million amount. In Great Britain alone, Tönnies is investing 25 million euros in its locations. With sales of over 500 million euros, Tönnies is the market leader there in numerous segments. “The UK market is a growth market for us. We want to meet the growing consumer demand there with our quality meat, ”says Tönnies International Board Member Frank Duffe.
The production sites in Denmark, France and Poland are also developing very positively economically. In Spain, a letter of intent to build our own slaughterhouse in the Aragon region was signed. The foundation stone for the joint venture with the Chinese Dekon Group was laid in China a few weeks ago.
The veggie market is growing
Tönnies is also continuing its growth path in the market for vegetarian and vegan meat substitute products. The company has bundled its activities in this segment with the consumer brands "es schmeckt", "Vevia" and "Gutfried veggie" in an independent division of Vevia 4 You GmbH & Co. KG and an independent production plant in Böklund.
"Last year we built our own plant for vegetarian and vegan products at our headquarters in Böklund," reports Maximilian Tönnies. "We are now expanding this capacity further and doubling the production area, since consumer demand and trust in the products are growing sustainably." Interest in vegetarian and vegan products has been increasing for years. "We see the production of vegetarian and vegan foods not as competition to our meat products, but as an independent market segment and an excellent addition to our already very broad product portfolio," emphasizes Maximilian Tönnies. “It was important for us to take the next step of independent, separate production under the highest hygienic requirements. This is part of our sustainability agenda t30, with which we are sustainably developing the entire group of companies. "
Generation transition in full swing
With the t2019 sustainability agenda adopted in 30, the company is in the full process of becoming the most sustainable food company in the industry. Maximilian Tönnies (30) is taking on more and more responsibility in the entire group in addition to the division management of the zur Mühlen Group. "I am pleased that the generation transition is in full swing," says Clemens Tönnies (64). "Max is going into the next generation with the highly motivated management team."
Image copyright: Tönnies.