In Crisis – Travel Retail Voices: “The deepest valley I have ever experienced,” says Rüdiger Behn of Waldemar Behn

There’s something that’s goin’ round, that’s shutting our borders down
It’s a bad time for our sick and our old
CNN’s nightly lullaby, tells of hundreds more that’ve died
I shut off the TV and think all alone, how long can this go on?Jeff Orson, Pray

Welcome to In Crisis – Travel Retail Voices, our podcast series in which we speak to industry executives around the world to see how they and their businesses are coping with the COVID-19 crisis.

Today’s episode features Rüdiger Behn (right), Managing Director of family owned German drinks company Waldemar Behn, now in its fourth generation. Behn is the owner of a diverse portfolio of strong brands, from Danzka to Dooleys to the enormously popular fig vodka Kleiner Feigling.

The Behn story is a compelling one. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect, certainly in today’s context, is that its origins trace back to an epidemic. The Behn family hailed from Hamburg in the 19th century, but after completing military service in 1872, Rüdiger’s great grandfather Waldemar was not allowed to return to the Hanseatic city because of an outbreak of cholera there.

As Waldemar’s father had been a brewer, his son started opening kiosks selling beer to the workers who were digging the Kaiser-Wilhelm Kanal (the Kiel Canal, linking the Baltic with the North Sea). It was 1 October, 1892, and that’s how the company was established, very much a temporary business model.

[Click on the YouTube icon to view a fascinating history of the Behn Group from when it celebrated its 125th anniversary]

120 years, two world wars and numerous financial crises down the line, the Behn Group has grown into one of the most respected players in the international drinks industry.

It’s an impressive tale of survival; one built on values expressed on a sign outside group headquarters in Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein on Germany’s Baltic coast. It reads ‘Courage, Strength and Independence since 1892’. In the face of a global pandemic that has had a devastating impact on the German economy, Behn needs to draw on those values as never before, as Rüdiger Behn told Martin Moodie in a phone interview last weekend.

“It seems we have no Coronavirus [within the company] … so from that point of view we can’t complain but business-wise of course it’s a total disaster,” says Rüdiger Behn.

“The on trade is locked down here in Germany and in a lot of other countries. And if we look a little bit further into the upcoming future, it won’t change dramatically. This is what I’m afraid of. Because while we will see a reopening of bars and restaurants beginning mid-May, probably, this will be a very, very careful opening. So capacity will go down by -50%.

Cannes show uncertain

“Big city parties or anything like that will be forbidden at least till the 31st of August… and nobody knows what will be in September and October. I’m not sure if you would see us in Cannes [at the TFWA World Exhibition, which TFWA said recently will proceed, albeit with a reduced cost structure and changes to the format -Ed] this year,” said Behn.

“TFWA have tried to make everything a little bit easier and a little bit cheaper. But are you sure that this exhibition will be allowed? Do the French want to have the next cluster?”

Rüdiger Behn believes the economic cost of the crisis is increasingly as serious, possibly worse, than the medical tool. “We have got a lot of recovered people. So for the time being, we have about 50,000 people sick with Corona now, which is not that bad.

“And we have all our hospitals more or less empty for the time being, because everybody told them to be alert for the upcoming wave of Corona-infected people and nothing really happened. So right now here the hospitals are 50% empty. That’s a strange situation… so that’s my concern, that we are running down our economy.”

Talking about the impact of the outbreak on the group’s business, Behn said; “I’m 62 years old now and I went through a lot of valleys and of course, I was hiking on some nice summits, but this is the deepest valley I have ever experienced. I have no idea if we can keep all people, all our employees… I guess we could be smaller after this.”

The Behn Group was profiled by Martin Moodie in this feature story in 2013. Click here to download.

Previously on In Crisis – Travel Retail Voices

April 23: James Prescott, Harding

April 21: Scott Collier, Toronto Pearson International Airport

 

April 21: Lal Arakulath, Kreol Group

April 20: Lisa Bauer, Starboard Cruise Services

April 17: Dan Cappell, Ontario International Airport

April 13: Gautom Menon, Wild Tiger Beverages

April 13: Sarah Branquinho, Duty Free World Council

April 10: Sinead el Sibai, Dubai Duty Free

April 7: Jonathan Holland of Jonathan Holland & Associates, Singapore.

April 7: Rob Wigington, Executive Director at the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association, US.

April 7: José Luis Donagaray and Inés Sisto Patron, ASUTIL

April 5:  Stewart Dryburgh, Nestlé International Travel Retail,

April 4: Pier Giuseppe Torresani, Masi; and Steve Corrigan, long-time duty free drinks executive

April 2: Founder of Duty Free Global, Barry Geoghegan

April 1: Vice President of Miami-based Essence Corp, Patricia Bona.

29 March: William Grant & Sons President Asia Pacific Doug Bagley

29 March: PMA Canada National Director – Duty Free Jeff Orson

27 March: Paul & Shark Global Travel Retail Director Catherine Bonelli

26 March: King Power Traveler President Rakhita Jayawardena

25 March: Public health expert Dr. David Heymann

24 March: King Power Group (Hong Kong) Group Chief Executive Officer Sunil Tuli

22 March: The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie

21 March: China Duty Free Group President Charles Chen

20 March: Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Colm McLoughlin

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