After Edeka (the largest retailer in Germany) dropped out of the competition for Erfurter Teigwaren GmbH, the company has now taken over private-label pasta manufacturer Pastificio Rey Srl from Italy, which is around half the size. Edeka confirmed the purchase to the Lebensmittel Zeitung. 25 employees were all taken over. The takeover makes use of waste and reduces flexibility to meet customers’ demands with quality and high value, it says. Pasta Rey owns a lot of pasta and produces many of these products.
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In-house produce plays a role for more and more food retailers. Aldi is made out of mineral water, but also in the plant of tea. Edeka, Rewe, and the Schwarz Group (the production arm of Lidl in Germany) have their own production facilities for meat, bread, and baked goods. The Schwarz group also owns its own production facilities for ice cream, chocolate and nuts, coffee, paper, pasta, and soft drinks. Edeka also has his own juice, wine, and mineral water. Now, with Pasta Rey, a pasta maker also is a pasta maker.
Ivo Petroff, International Retail, Grocery Category Manager at Walmart Canada, says, “Securing the supply of core commodities continues to be a top priority for large retail. This raises the fundamental question about the future role of retail in production: getting into production might be tricky and distractive for a retailer. However, vertical integration of sourcing channels for controlled and dependable supply will be strategic.”
