The Tönnies Group is a German

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

in the

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

that operates internationally. Its core business is

meat processing The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally no ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

. For pork, Tönnies is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

market leader Market dominance describes when a firm can control markets. A dominant firm possesses the power to affect competition and influence market price. A firms' dominance is a measure of the power of a brand, product, service, or firm, relative to ...

. With a revenue of over €6 billion, the company is one of the largest meat groups in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The company is based in

Brørup Brørup is a railway town, with a population of 4,516 (1 January 2022),Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, with its administrative headquarters in

Rheda-Wiedenbrück Rheda-Wiedenbrück (; Westphalian: ''Raie-Wienbrügge'') is a city in the district of Gütersloh, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The twin community lies within the valley of the river Ems in the Westphalian Lowland south of the ...

East Westphalia Ostwestfalen-Lippe (, literally ''East(ern) Westphalia-Lippe'', abbreviation OWL) is the eastern region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, congruent with the administrative region of Detmold and containing the eastern part of Westp ...

, Germany. Tönnies pursues an

internationalization In economics, internationalization or internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strateg ...

strategy with 25 foreign offices, German and international production sites.

History

The company was founded in 1971 by Bernd Tönnies, joined by his brother Clemens Tönnies a while later. On July 1, 1994, Bernd Tönnies died. Before he died, he gave 40% of the company's shares to his brother Clemens Tönnies. After his death, his two sons Robert and Clemens junior Tönnies inherited the other 60% of the shares. In 2008, Robert and Clemens junior Tönnies both gave 5% of the share to Clemens Tönnies. In 2012, Robert Tönnies announced that he took over the 25% share of his brother, from then on owning 50% like Clemens Tönnies. Subsequently, Robert Tönnies claimed back the 5% that he gave to Clemens Tönnies, resulting in multiple legal disputes. In 2015, Tönnies took over the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

pork company Tican with 1,9 millionen slaughtered pigs in 2013/14. On Wednesday, 17 June 2020, work was ramped-down at the Tönnies slaughterhouse in

due to an outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

infections originating from there. By that date, 657 employees had tested positive for the virus. That afternoon the district of Gütersloh closed all schools and children's daycare centres until summer holiday. It also closed all post offices and cancelled training for FC Gütersloh 2000 as well as an upcoming

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

demonstration. By 20 June, the number of infections had exceeded 1,000.

Structure

The company has around 19,640 employees (as of 2021) and an annual revenue of €6.065 billion (2021, compared to €7.5 billion in 2019). The export share is about 50 percent. Main owner and company's chairman is billionaire Clemens Tönnies with a share of 45% of the food industry giant. The company is divided in eight business segments: pork,

sausages A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. W ...

and beef,

convenience Convenient procedures, products and services are those intended to increase ease in accessibility, save resources (such as time, effort and energy) and decrease frustration. A modern convenience is a labor-saving device, service or substance ...

, ingredients,

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, as well as international and central services. In Rheda-Wiedenbrück, the company has its headquarters and operates Germanys largest pig slaughterhouse.

Controversies

The

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is a global union federation of trade unions with members in a variety of industries, many of which relate to food processi ...

(IUF) criticizes Tönnies for "miserable working conditions", with more than 70% of the employees at the main plant employed under

temporary work Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...

contracts. In 2019, Clemens Tönnies was temporarily suspended from his position as chairman of the supervisory board of the German soccer team FC Schalke 04 because of accusations of racist statements. On 30 June 2020, Clemens Tönnies decided to step down from his role as the chairman of Schalke's supervisory board after 19 years in service. In March 2022, Tönnies was criticised for trying to recruit meat factory workers among

Ukrainian refugees Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

at the Polish-Ukrainian border.

References

External links

* {{coord, 51, 51, 48, N, 8, 19, 20, E, region:DE-NW_type:landmark, display=title Meat companies of Germany Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia Food and drink companies established in 1971 Family businesses of Germany German companies established in 1971 1971 establishments in West Germany