His high level of personal commitment, a strong entrepreneurial sense, strategic insight and his open, direct, motivating way of dealing with customers, producers, employees and partners within the industry were the decisive factors for the members of the renowned jury of experts. Last Friday, Steven Gätjen presented the Taspo 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2018' award to Armin Rehberg, CEO of Landgard eG, at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin.
Dr. Svea Pacyna-Schürheck, Head of Quality and Sustainability Management at Landgard (l.) and presenter Steven Gätjen (r.) presented the award in the category "Best Concept Environment & Sustainability" to the representatives of Schloss Fleesensee in Göhren-Lebbin, which were awarded for the hotel's own agriculture "Project Organic". - (c) taspoawards.de/ Photographer Andreas Schwarz & Moritz Rennecke
"As CEO of Landgard, Armin Rehberg is not exactly an anonymous company president, but rather an authentic entrepreneur and a person who is 100 percent identified with the cooperative, its products and the industry," said Oliver P. Kuhrt, Managing Director of Messe Essen. "With passion, creativity, courage and unconventional ideas that inspire and persuade people, he has managed to breathe new life into the producer cooperative, as well as stabilize it. Its proximity to the market, member companies and employees were key factors in helping to steer Landgard on a sustainable course.''
The 'German gardeners' product' label, advertising initiative 'Flowers - 1000 Good Reasons', 'Cash & Carry future market Herongen' and the newly designed flower hall of the International Green Week in Berlin are just some of the milestones on this new and successful Landgard path. Together with his team, Armin Rehberg has put up exciting concepts and licensing collaborations with strong partners as a completely new approach to marketing in the green sector. And we are sure that even more exciting elements will follow."
Visitors of the Taspo Award Gala got a taste of this excitement on the evening of the awards itself. To welcome the guests at the exclusive Berlin Hotel Grand Hyatt, Landgard had put up an eye-catching light installation, focused on the façade of the opposite building, highlighting the green industry through its initiative "Flowers - 1000 good reasons".
Entrepreneur of the Year 2018
After studying business administration, Armin Rehberg began his career at Aldi Süd in Germany and the USA. Immediately afterwards, the graduate in Business Management, who is currently 53 years old, was a member of the management board at Norma for many years. From there, he joined the Rewe Group as a member of its Executive Board. Afterwards, Rehberg was mainly an entrepreneur and managing director. He has extensive experience and detailed knowledge of all functional areas of trading companies.
Since May 2013, Armin Rehberg, CEO of Landgard, has been responsible for Sales/Marketing, Producer/Procurement, Human Resources, Corporate Communications/Marketing, Corporate Auditing, Corporate Development/Strategy, Legal/Compliance and Sustainability/CSR.
As both engine and driver, he has consistently worked within the Producer Cooperative to implement modern, forward-looking ideas and projects, such as for the establishment of the "German Gärtnerware" label and "Germany tastes"; provenance and quality certifications for flowers and plants as well as fruit and vegetables from regional German cultivation. With the development of Cash & Carry future market Landgard Herongen, under his leadership Landgard took an important step into the future of specialist retailing as an attractive, modern marketplace with digital elements.
Also on the subject of sustainability, Landgard, under the leadership of Rehberg, created a stable foundation for a greener future. Since 2015, the Producer Cooperative has been pursuing a comprehensive company-wide sustainability strategy with the four pillars "Green Products", "Climate, Energy and Environment", "Employees" and "Society".
As part of the gala hosted by Steven Gätjen (r.), at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin, Armin Rehberg, CEO of Landgard eG (l.), was given the Taspo "Entrepreneur of the Year 2018" award.
(c) taspoawards.de/ Andreas Schwarz & Moritz Rennecke
With great personal commitment, he is also 100 percent behind Landgard's claim to set new impulses on the market as the source of ideas for the industry. A testimony to this are the numerous new and successfully expanded concepts and license agreements with strong partners. These speak of exciting aspects of flowers and plants as well as fruit and vegetables, thus creating new incentives for customers. At important international trade fairs such as the IPM in Essen, the Fruit Logistica in Berlin or the spoga + gafa in Cologne, year after year the visitors will be persuaded by Landgard's creativity.
Armin Rehberg not only identifies himself intensively with "his" cooperative, but also with the green industry as a whole. In 2015, Landgard was the first company in the industry to launch the "Flowers - 1000 Good Reasons" campaign, just in time for the first highlight of the season, Valentine's Day. Since then, the goal of the largest flower and plant sector in Germany is to make young consumers in particular more interested in flowers, to inspire them with new ideas and, above all, to refresh the image of flowers and plants.
At the beginning of 2018, Landgard's "Flowers - 1000 Good Reasons" initiative set the task of turning the well-known Flower Hall of the International Green Week into a sparkling 'Source of diversity', aided by numerous partners from the green sector, through a new holistic concept and thousands of flowers and plants. The Landgard Initiative also aims to ensure that the Flower Hall will become a thriving crowd pleaser for the approximately 400,000 visitors of the International Green Week from 2019 to 2021.
"On behalf of Landgard, 3,000 employees, 3,300 member companies, over 1.9 billion euros turnover, and so much passion, I thank you. This award is a recognition and an incentive at the same time. It is the confirmation of the new, modern Landgard as a successful producer cooperative - digital, international and sustainable. For responsible market leadership and for acting instead of talking, for cooperation and cohesion. The fact that I can now accept the Taspo Award as Entrepreneur of the Year in Berlin tells me that we have done many things right in recent years. It is a confirmation for me as an entrepreneur and as a person," said Armin Rehberg.
Excellent Landgard member businesses
With their innovative products, concepts and services, several strong Landgard member companies had caught the eye of the expert jury of the Taspo Awards 2018. Bock Bio Science GmbH was awarded the "Taspo Award: Innovative Product", Green Brain GmbH received the "tendence Award: Best Marketing Concept" and the "ambiente Award: Best Product Presentation at the POS". PlusPlants GmbH received the "modiform Award: Best Cooperation of the Year".
Armin Rehberg: "We cordially congratulate our growers on these great successes. Strong members like you are the basis on which we can successfully work together in the future."
As Landgard's leading modern marketing cooperative for flowers and plants, as well as fruit and vegetables, this year's Landgard Award was the first to receive support in the new Best Environment & Sustainability category. On behalf of the Producer Cooperative, Dr. Svea Pacyna-Schürheck, Head of Quality and Sustainability Management, presented the trophy to the representatives of Schloss Fleesensee in Göhren-Lebbin, who were awarded the prize for their own farm "Projekt Organic".
The industry periodical, Taspo, awarded companies and people in the green sector last Friday in categories like "Breeder of the Year", "Innovative Product", "Gardener of the Year", "Florist of the Year", "Best Marketing Concept", "Best Digital Strategy", " Best Concept - Environment and Sustainability "," Best Cooperation of the Year "and the Gold Award for "Entrepreneur of the Year" for Outstanding Achievements in the green Industry. For this industry, the gala and the award ceremonies are truly the highlight of the year.
For more information: www.landgard.de