Eggelbusch is one of the TOP 100 innovators and receives the TOP 100 seal 2021

Medium-sized company in the meat processing industry combines traditional craftsmanship, modern industrial production and clever product development

Eggelbusch is one of the innovation leaders of Germany’s medium-sized companies and has been awarded the TOP 100 seal 2021. With around 180 employees, the medium-sized company in the meat processing industry develops and produces clever products for well-known discounters and its own Eggelbusch brand, among others. For the TOP 100 seal, the family-owned company had proven its innovative strength in a scientific selection process led by Ranga Yogeshwar and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

 

Tradition and innovation, craftsmanship and a high degree of automation are topics that have a high priority at Eggelbusch. Snezana Schürmann, who manages the company together with Claus Schürmann in the third generation, is all the more pleased about the award: “We are on a very good path and are changing from a classic butcher’s business to a producer who, as one of the few in the industry, can respond to market needs with clever products in a very short time. This is only possible with a lean organizational structure that relies on the individual responsibility of each employee.” Eggelbusch had to face around 120 test criteria from five categories in the selection process: Innovation-promoting top management, innovation climate, innovative processes and organization, external orientation or open innovation, and innovation success. Due to the current situation, there was an additional criterion, the entrepreneurial reaction to the Corona crisis.

Snezana Schürmann: “We deliberately applied for the award in this difficult year because we see ourselves as a pioneer in the meat processing industry in the field of modern organizational and personnel development. Through effective collaboration and a good climate of innovation, we have proven that under Corona.” In this extraordinary situation, it was necessary to be particularly flexible and fast. To this end, a Corona crisis team was formed, which was able to develop and implement measures in a short time. Schürmann: “An important core of the measures was the separation of the staff in production and administration into different work groups that worked at different times. This way, in the event of infections, we could have deployed the replacement teams that were able to ensure all company operations. At the same time, we created individual concepts for the customer’s needs.” After all, it was not just a matter of maintaining the company economically, but also of counteracting a loss of production and thus supply bottlenecks in the food retail sector, among others.

Eggelbusch also acts quickly in the development of customized concepts and products in the meat processing industry, combining traditional craftsmanship and modern industrial production. Successes include product concepts in small batch sizes with a unique selling point, such as the fresh pack with sachets in portion sizes especially for single households. The particularly resource-saving design reduces packaging material by around 33 percent. This innovation was originally planned regionally as a pilot project for a large discounter. In the meantime, the packs are being placed nationwide. Agile processes and flat hierarchies make it possible to bring such developments to market maturity in a maximum of six months. Schürmann: “Other companies need significantly longer for this.”

The fact that an innovative company does not stand still is demonstrated by the current test phase in the market of mixed packs, in which cheese and sausage specialties are offered together. “We are constantly on the lookout for new innovative products, with which, after all, we also secure competitive advantages for our customers,” says Snezana Schürmann. Currently, the managing partner is pleased about a new operating number. Schürmann: “With the expansion of the production skills of mixed packaging with cheese and sausage, the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV) has intensively audited our company. In addition, we successfully passed the audit for the renewal of certification according to IFS Food 6.1 with the Higher Level. We are very proud of this.”

 

TOP 100: the competition

Since 1993, and thus for the 28th time, compamedia has been awarding the TOP 100 seal to medium-sized companies for special innovative strength and above-average innovation success. Since 2002, scientific management has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke, founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The mentor of TOP 100 is the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research and the BVMW association of small and medium-sized enterprises. More information and registration at www.top100.de.

 

Copyright: Eggelbusch