ZENTRAG eG
A strong partner for the traditional food sector
Welcome to ZENTRAG, the Zentralgenossenschaft des europäischen Fleischergewerbes (Central Cooperative of the European Meat Trade).
Since 1947 ZENTRAG eG has been the focal point for the traditional butcher trade and offers its member cooperatives a stable partnership, a wide range of trading and associated services as well as efficient sales support concepts. We also represent the interests of the meat trade in relation with the general public and we actively promote its development with the Gilde Stiftung (Gilde Foundation) and the Gilde Akademie (Gilde Academy). Even more services in accounting and logistics are available to our members via our Gilde Service and Gilde Frischelogistik branch. And Gilde foodservice is catering for wholesale customers, hotels and restaurants. In all our branches maximum food safety and the associated certifications as well as sustainable company management have always been our prerequisites.
38 local butcher cooperatives and economic organisations benefit from the advantages of this powerful alliance – 35 of them in Germany and others in Austria, Luxemburg and Switzerland. Our customers come from the meat sector and from companies in the wholesale, the restaurant, hotel and catering sector. We supply a total of 19,000 businesses.
ZENTRAG is a symbol for the power of the cooperative principle and for the basic virtues of the traditional meat trade. The epitome of these values is our master brand Gilde, available ever since 1954 with an enormous product range for meat processing, production, catering and over the counter sale. In the last six decades, the Gilde assortments have always satisfied the needs of consumers and professionals. Now and in the future ZENTRAG will professionally implement the market trends of our sector in these branded products. In short: Gilde as the leading brand offers modern butcher shops the best products, services and solutions.
ZENTRAG eG
Key services
- Comprehensive partnership for the medium-sized butcher trades
- Purchase pooling in the food- and non-food-sector with prominent manufacturers
- The brands Gilde and fd with over 600 articles in the range of foodstuffs, delicatessen, casings, packaging and fresh poultry
- Diversified service range in advertising, marketing and sales promotion
- Representation of the butcher trade interests in relation with the general public
- Gilde foodservice GmbH for bulk buyers, gastronomy and hotel caterers
- Gilde Stiftung for young talent support, education and training
- Gilde Akademie for vocational training, exchange of experiences and dialog
- Gilde Service for accountancy and business consultancy
- Gilde Frischelogistik as your central logistics provider
At a glance
A strong community spirit for the individual success of each butcher business – that’s the winning formula of the whole ZENTRAG group.
ZENTRAG eG
ZENTRAG Group
ZENTRAG eG: Management board and supervisory board
We boost the food business!
Foundation of ZENTRAG eG
Just after the 2nd world war, in 1947: butcher cooperatives in the city of Hameln start ZENTRAG – the Zentralgenossenschaft des deutschen Fleischergewerbes eG (the central cooperative of German meat trade). The initial goal was to create an institution for centralised purchasing and thus to strengthen the competitive position of the butcher trade. In the beginning ZENTRAG eG was limited to the regions Nordrhein-Westfalen and Niedersachsen, but just a few months later the cooperatives of southern Germany joined and the headquarters were transferred to Frankfurt. The success-story continues: In 1958 ZENTRAG eG could already count 171 butcher cooperatives as members.
We also gained members in Europe: since 2010 ZENTRAG is the Zentralgenossenschaft des europäischen Fleischergewerbes (central cooperative of European meat trade) with member cooperatives in Germany, Austria, Luxemburg and Switzerland.
ZENTRAG eG evolved from a purely purchase orientated enterprise to a multi-level service provider with high marketing expertise. On top of the advantages of purchase pooling we offer future-orientated marketing concepts and efficient sales support. We are currently concentrating on the dynamical process of strategic and structural development and reorganisation of the cooperative group – in order to continue giving our members fundamental competitive edges.
On our agenda for the future feature the digitalisation of the business transactions and contemporary paperless communication with our members and clients – as a fundamental part of the development potential of the federation of cooperatives.