Retail: Delivery start-up Gorillas forges alliance with Alnatura

retail trade
Delivery start-up Gorillas forges alliance with Alnatura

The grocery delivery service Gorillas and the organic retailer Alnatura have agreed on a strategic partnership for the German market. Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa

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With the corona pandemic, express delivery services became popular. Now the providers have to convince with additional arguments. The Berlin start-up Gorillas relies on ecological and organic products.

The food delivery service Gorillas and the organic retailer Alnatura have agreed on a strategic partnership for the German market.

The Berlin start-up will therefore include over 250 Altnatura products in its range from June 10th, both companies announced on Wednesday. The cooperation had previously been tested in a pilot project in North Rhine-Westphalia.

With the increase in the segment of organically produced products to a share of over 15 percent of the entire range, a frequently expressed customer wish is being met, said Gorillas CEO Kağan Sümer of the German Press Agency. 56 percent of the orders already contained organic products.

«It’s not about doing greenwashing and just adding more organic products to the range because of the better image. This is a matter close to our hearts.” Sümer admitted that customers are very price-sensitive due to general inflation. “But organic doesn’t automatically mean expensive either.”

Criticism of working conditions

The Berlin start-up Gorillas is not without controversy. On the one hand, traditional retailers fear that companies like gorillas will undermine them with large cash injections from the investor scene. On the other hand, unions criticize the working conditions for the gorilla drivers. Sümer said there is a clear contradiction between reality and public perception. 90 percent of gorilla drivers would also recommend their job to friends and family members. “It shows that we are doing a lot of things right.”

Gorillas was also a pioneer in the industry by offering drivers permanent employment, said Sümer. Gorillas also has a works council and offers employees opportunities for advancement. According to him, around 450 of the gorilla drivers have already progressed to more highly qualified positions. The company currently employs around 14,000 people worldwide as drivers and in the warehouses.

The organic retail chain Alnatura was also able to increase its sales during the corona pandemic. The company from Darmstadt now operates 144 stores with a focus on Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin and Hesse. According to the company, more than 1,300 different organic foods are produced under the Alnatura brand, some of which are now also being marketed via gorillas.

dpa

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