51 Years of Serving Gutes Essen:
The Delicious Essence of apetito

Company founder Karl Düsterberg prepares to sample a dish prepared by apetito Chef Karl Zahn for the institutional feeding sector.

Each day more than 1.3 million people dine on apetito products. It is a story of success that has a 51-year history.

In 1958, Karl Düsterberg founded apetito AG, starting with 10 fellow workers who produced four different ready meals, frozen in aluminum trays. Today, the apetito group has 8,100 employees who work in the group’s headquarters in Rheine, and at its subsidiaries elsewhere in Germany, Holland, the UK, France and Canada. The company has become one of the top caterers in Germany, providing meals and catering concepts for nurseries, schools, canteens, hospitals and senior homes. Another mainstay is the meals-on-wheels market. In 2008 apetito achieved sales of EUR 667 million, up 10% over 2007.

In 2003 apetito entered retail stores for the first time with its own brand. This year, apetito convenience, the German subsidiary specializing in frozen ready meals for the retail trade, saw sales rise by 5%.
COSTA Meeresspezialitäten, the Emden-based subsidiary specializing in fish and seafood, was able to slightly strengthen its market position for frozen fish while remaining market leader in the shellfish segment. The brand, which was acquired by apetito in 2007, previously belonged to the Oetker group.

With the premium brand of Mövenpick, apetito also entered the German chilled food market in late 2008.

But making profit is only one side of the coin, as apetito is committed to other important issues, such as sustainability, environmental protection and humanity. In the past financial year, apetito has shown that company responsibilities are being dealt with on various levels. Its professional quality management was re-audited by external partners. Furthermore, the “Best Employer” project emphasized apetito’s family friendliness. Sustainable environmental protection remains a crucial part of the group’s policy, and apetito is proud of its environmental performance achievements.

Founder Karl Düsterberg was awarded Quick Frozen Foods International’s Golden Crystal Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He handed the reins of the firm over to his son Wolfgang in 1982, who managed it until 2007. In another change of generation, leadership was passed on to Andres Ruff. Yet 93-year-old Karl Düsterberg, who is still around on a regular basis, and his sons Wolfgang and Michael, members of the supervisory boards, keep their eyes on things.