The market for organic and vegan products is a growth market. But the stock market prices of some companies have plummeted unprecedentedly. Which stocks have potential – and which investors should urgently stay away from.
By Erika Neufeld
The demand for more sustainable and healthier food has been growing for years. Current industry figures recently presented by the Federation of Organic Food Industry (BÖLW) support this: sales of organic food in Germany rose by five percent to around 16 billion euros in 2023. Organic spreads, baked goods and delicatessen even recorded double-digit sales growth. But milk alternatives, which have been growing rapidly for years, were also among the public’s favorites with an increase of 15 percent, the association writes in its press release.
It is all the more surprising that companies that produce vegan and ecological products are hardly present on German stock exchanges. There was correspondingly great euphoria when Veganz became the first vegan company to go public over two years ago. The Berlin company took in around 40 million euros, but was only able to maintain its price, which at the time was an average of 90 euros, for a few months. The stock slipped and lost more than 80 percent of its value.
After that, it languished in a low double-digit range for over a year – until it got new momentum in the middle of last year. Founder Jan Bredack drew attention to himself with new ideas: he announced in the media that he wanted to get his company back on the road to success with technological innovations, such as an assembly line farm for the production of vegetable protein. Since then, the share price has been going up again; since June 2023, it has been up 94.47 percent and is currently trading at 21.10 euros.
But the annual report for the third quarter of 2023 is sobering: Veganz achieved sales of less than 13 million euros. In the same quarter of the previous year it was still more than 17 million euros. What is still visible in the report are the measures that the company has taken to combat the downturn: both material and personnel costs as well as other operating expenses have been massively reduced. That gives hope. This is what the latest annual report says: Based on the healthy cost structures created in recent months and the ramp-up of new vegan products, Veganz plans to increase its sales compared to 2023 and become more profitable.
Source: Stern
