Germans continue to shop sustainably, but switch to cheaper products. Brand suppliers and specialist dealers suffer as a result.
(Photo: nenetus – stock.adobe.com)
Dusseldorf Entrepreneur Nicola Baumgartner wrote to her customers at the end of July: “We need your help! Because the crisis has hit Shuyao tea culture hard… I had to file for bankruptcy just before our 16th birthday.”
Shuyao from Düsseldorf sells organic teas and sustainable drinking cups “made in Germany”. Half of the 19 employees are people with disabilities who find it difficult to get a job. That is why Shuyao was awarded the “Inclusion Prize of the German Economy” by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in 2020.
But now inflation and consumers’ drive to save have caused business to collapse. Sales in the web shop fell by half. “In times of inflation, Germans continue to treat themselves to vacations, and at home many save on high-quality, sustainable food. We haven’t increased our prices, but after all there’s cheaper organic tea in bags,” says Baumgartner, who built Shuyao into the number one tea brand in German teleshopping.
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