Gmundner Milch & Gmundner Keramik expand alliance

New design for Gmundner Milch products

Partnership expansion

Gmunden, September 2019

Driven by digitalisation and changing consumer behaviour, more and more companies are looking for alliances to develop unique selling points and market advantages. Strategies used by Coca-Cola, Apple and BMW worldwide can also open up new opportunities in regional areas. Two traditional Upper Austrian companies, Gmundner Milch and Gmundner Keramik, have agreed to step up their cooperation from autumn 2019. The alliance will provide an important boost for Gmundner Milch’s regional milk and cheese products.

Regional is the trend

It’s nothing new. The trend towards buying local products is becoming increasingly prevalent. Hanni Rützler, food trend researcher at the Zukunftsinstitute (Future institute) in Frankfurt describes the development as a trend towards „brutal local“ food. The trend not only involves a shift towards regionally-sourced food, seasonality now also play an important role in consumer choice. These trends are driven by the current climate debate, loss of trust and a new wave of creative start-ups in the food industry. „There are many reasons why we should choose regional products and services, such as shorter transport routes, added value for the region and working together to save our environment,“ says Michael Waidacher, Managing Director of Gmundner Milch.

As an agricultural co-operative owned by around 2,300 farms, Gmundner Molkerei is a dairy company with its roots firmly embedded in Upper Austria. Its historic ties to the region form a common bond with a fellow traditional Salzkammergut Lake District company: Gmundner Keramik. „We are and have always been a company that combines our strong local heritage with the demands of the domestic as well as international market,“ says Bernhard Kletzmair, Managing Director of Gmundner Keramik. „Gmundner Keramik has been based in Gmunden since 1492, and over the years it has become synonymous with high-end Austrian tableware. The timelessly beautiful Flamed series design is unique worldwide and eye-catching, and therefore the ideal choice for this excellent local cooperation.”

Partnership expansion

The new agreement builds on a long history of cooperation between the two companies. Until now, the use of Gmundner Keramik product designs has been limited to the cheese range, but from autumn it will be gradually expanded to the entire Gmundner Milch range. „We are pleased that from autumn 2019 we will be able to offer a new look  for the majority of our fresh products,“ says Waidacher about the relaunch. „In the interest of resource conservation, we have decided to make the transition to the new product design as smooth as possible. We don’t want to simply destroy packaging material,” adds Waidacher.

The first products with the new design will be available in stores in October. The first phase will be completed by the end of the year. Further changes are planned for the beginning of the new year. In addition to the design cooperation, the two companies also plan to work closely in other areas such as marketing evaluation and look forward to a long-term partnership.

Sustainable design with tradition

The implementation of the design was jointly developed. The concept involved creating a design with clear and unmistakeable Gmundner Keramik lines and applying the design to the packaging of the dairy products. „We consciously opted for reduced lines. Supermarket dairy refrigerators are full of meadows and cows. With our new packaging design, we wanted to shift the focus to the Gmundner Keramik Flamed design with its different colours,“ says Michael Waidacher, Managing Director of Gmundner Milch. During a customer survey on taste, the design was presented to approximately 200 consumers and feedback was gathered.

Gmundner Keramik: Handmade since 1492

It is the exquisite craftsmanship that makes Gmundner Keramik so unique. At the manufactory in Gmunden, one-of-a-kind pieces are lovingly manufactured in series. “Every product from the Gmundner Keramik manufactory is unique – crafted and painted by hand. They are as unique as the people who buy them. We are therefore all the more pleased if they can now be enjoyed at the family table with the unique, high-quality products from Gmundner Milch,” says Bernhard Kletzmair, Managing Director of Gmundner Keramik. If you love tradition, you have to revive it from time to time. That’s why the timeless Flamed series design, which you can soon see on Gmundner Milch packaging, will not only appear in green, but also in red, grey, blue and yellow and, from the beginning of the year also in white.