17.11.2008
Hochland AG has taken over the hard cheese and sliced cheese brand “Grünländer” from the Bechtel Group. All rights to the brand “Grünländer” and the relevant trade will be transferred from Bechtel to Hochland AG. The production of “Grünländer” remains with Bechtel as before. As part of a supply contract, Bechtel will produce "Grünländer" cheese exclusively for Hochland. Hochland will apply its marketing and sales expertise to expand the brand “Grünländer” both nationally and internationally.
The two contractual parties signed a purchase contract to this effect on Thursday November 13th. The transaction is to take effect as of January 1st 2009 but is still subject to the approval of the monopolies commission.

Sustainable growth perspectives
This contract allows Hochland AG to broaden its brand portfolio with the addition of the brand “Grünländer”, which has shown dynamic growth in the German cheese market in recent years. This gives the Allgäu-based company access to a further brand in the hard cheese and sliced cheese sector, which has by far the highest sales in the cheese market. Hochland AG thus moves into third position of brand manufacturers of the "Yellow Line" in Germany.

The company, based in Heimenkirch, sees considerable growth opportunities in the marketing of “Grünländer” in its core strategic sales regions of Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Russia and Romania. Hochland AG, which has marketed its brands solely through self-service sales to date, will thus also gain access to counter sales, tapping into this sales channel for its own products, too.

In future, the Bechtel Group will focus on its core expertise relating to the “Yellow Line”, the efficient production of cheese, and will expand this in the future. "In terms of the brand ‘Grünländer’ we have reached a dimension where extensive investments in marketing and sales are indispensable for further growth,” says René Guhl, managing director of the Bechtel Group based in the Upper Palatinate. “By transferring this to Hochland, the brand will benefit hugely from existing marketing expertise."
Hochland guarantees sufficient order quantities of hard cheese and sliced cheese in the years to come, thereby enabling reliable planning in the long term.
 
"Both companies will be able to expand their business on a lasting basis and have accessed excellent future perspectives by taking this step,” says Ulrich Christ, Managing Director of Hochland AG.

Hochland takes over Grünland processed cheese plant in Kempten / Allgäu
Parallel to the takeover of the brand “Grünländer”, the processed cheese plant in Kempten will pass into the hands of Hochland Deutschland GmbH. Hochland will continue to operate the plant.

Bechtel Group
The companies of the owner-managed Bechtel Group based in Schwarzenfeld / Upper Palatinate look back over a long tradition of production of milk and cheese products. The Bechtel Group’s successful production range includes cheese articles of the “Grünländer” brand, and it also produces and markets Bechtel milk products of the brands “Bayernkrone” and “Albflor”. With its Kempten plant, Bechtel has five sites in Bavaria to date as well as one plant in the Czech Republic. With a staff of some 490, the Bechtel Group generated a consolidated turnover of 310 million euros.

The “Grünländer” brand
The “Grünländer” brand is marketed both through self-service and counter service, being the fastest growing brand in the German hard cheese and sliced cheese segment. “Grünländer” is currently in second position in the turnover ranking of all brands. “Grünländer” products mature under strict conditions and are characterised by their distinctively mild taste.