German wholesaler Metro has announced that it has spun off its food start-up hub NX-Food as an independent company.
The move aims to enable NX-Food to offer its services to clients outside of Metro and position itself as a leading boutique consultancy for food innovation.
Fabio Ziemßen and Veronika Pountcheva will serve as the managing directors of the new independent limited liability company.
'Strong Consulting Aspect'
Pountcheva commented, “The particular strength of the new company is the implementation expertise provided by the strong consulting aspect. This means that we are taking the issues out of the food tech bubble and breaking it into operational cases.”
Pountcheva is also the Metro’s global director of sustainability.
The team includes Charlotte Dyba as a junior consultant and Frank Anders, who will be responsible for strategy.
Previous programme manager, Clement Tischer, will be responsible for innovation and partnership and Valeria Karahan will be in charge of communications and marketing of the new company.
'Alternative Food Universe'
Ziemßen stated, ”For years, an 'alternative food universe' has been changing the world of the food industry, retail, and catering. Anyone who wants to grow in this environment is well advised to open up to new trends and to consider innovation as an opportunity.”
NX-Food plans to work with start-ups on food innovation to display competence in terms of assortment.
Currently, the company is connected with around 800 founders and is in talks with other players outside Metro.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
