Ralf Pohle (MSc. Agric) has been active in agricultural marketing since 1991 and is now the managing director of the FMIG association. He worked as a key account manager in Cologne and a consultant for horticultural marketing in Tanzania. Ralf is also responsible for trade fairs and international affairs at the marketing company of the Lower Saxony agricultural and food industry. He has been committed to the organizational development of the association from the very beginning in 2009. He personifies the very values that have helped shape FMIG – sustainability and the responsible handling of nature and environment. Ralf enjoys a very close and professional relationship with many partners from around the world.
Expertise and range of services
Food-Made in Germany e. V. (FMIG) was founded in May 2009 on the initiative of medium-sized companies in the German food industry. The association supports the international food trade.
We offer all food exporting companies expertise and contacts in their international pursuit to expand into foreign countries. FMIG sees itself as a cross-sector, entrepreneurial initiative and a central point of contact for export issues, especially for small and medium-sized food exporters.
The association represents the external interests of its members in the areas of sales and export promotions. We assist our members where ever possible in issues relating to export promotions and export subsidies.
The close affiliation with our supporting members and with the many agricultural marketing organizations of the federal states help us stay in very close contact with virtually all food manufacturers in Germany. We reach over 1,500 companies in the industry via our network. We are committed to service that builds trust and partnerships that create success. With our members and with our international target audiences abroad.
FMIG cares for future
The economy, social affairs and the environment are all in the same boat. That is why we believe in sustainable management. Global food security with healthy food, climate protection, nature-friendly agriculture and food processing, social standards. Food-Made in Germany e. V. actively addresses these challenges. 70% of our member companies are certified organic processors and our sponsoring members are closely networked with German state and federal politics.
Together with the Centre for Sustainable Management (ZNU) of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Society at the University of Witten / Herdecke, we support the ZNU Standard for Sustainable Management. The requirements of the ZNU standard for sustainable management cover two subject areas:
- sustainable corporate management ("How do you design sustainable corporate management?")
- sustainability issues ("What exactly are you doing?").
The spin-off consulting company fjol offers our members advice, workshops and software solutions for the implementation of their own sustainability strategies through to external certification according to the ZNU standard for sustainable management.
German Foods. Taste, appetite and quality are key.
German food is rich, hearty and diverse. It's comfort eating with high-quality, often locally sourced ingredients. The cuisine of Germany has been shaped not only by the country's agricultural traditions but by the many immigrants that have made the country their home over the centuries.
It's definitely more than a mere mix of beer, sauerkraut and sausage. Today Germans appreciate well-prepared, well-served meals as much as they do a quick bite on the go. This is a country of food markets, beer gardens, wine festivals, food museums and high-end restaurants. The cuisine is intensely creative, and ingredient driven. And the products have an excellent reputation worldwide.
Food-Made in Germany e.V. has its roots in the German regions. Join us on a culinary tour across Germany. Visit our sponsoring members in the federal states.
We’ve come a long way
Founded in 2009
25 German food producers and three regional marketing associations found Food Made in Germany e. V. The founding members accept that a „Made in Germany“ label be more impactful and appealing for international partners than a regional German label. Most of the founding members trade internationally but do not have the means or the capacity to establish their own international business units. This becomes a core task for FMIG.
Our network in 2020
FMIG has continually grown and today works with over 70 members, 10 regional marketing associations and 8 national associations. Our members are export-experienced but mainly small and medium sized firms, committed to quality and reliability. Whether traditional food, product innovations, certified organic produce or private labels: Professional partners all over the world profit from well-known German brands and hidden champions.
FMIG works closely with all stakeholders in German food exports:
- Federal government agricultural export departments
- Associations and corporations
- Funding bodies and institutions
- Private sector advisory institutions and consultants
Our strategy
A good strategy is like a key. It opens doors and reveals. Anyone can make things bigger, more complex, and more hypothetical. It takes a touch of imagination and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Our strategy has focus. It identifies the critical factors and eliminates the rest.
Our effectiveness depends on our ability to forge trusting relationships. With our members and with our international target audiences abroad. This is why, we believe in SERVICE that builds TRUST. And PARTNERSHIPS that create SUCCESS.
Uncompromising mission
- To serve the interests of all members, supporting members and partners
- To bridge the international culinary gap between Germany and the rest of the world
- To position FMIG as the intermediate of choice
Unique experiences
- To recommend international platforms for all customer touchpoints
- To help members experience the countries of interest
- To provide tailor made recommendations
Unquestionable value
- To deliver value for the membership
- To offer value for international buyers, importers and retailers
- To embrace the FMIG values
Profile & spectrum
Thanks to our network, we can work in a targeted, cost-effective and efficient manner. We offer exporters a cross-sector exchange of experience.
Our primary task is to support our members:
- Provide advice, information, service and representation
- Establish meaningful contacts with importers
- Support international sales promotions by GEFA
- Secure special rates for translation services and business information
- Group concepts and conditions
- Cooperate with recommendation partners worldwide
- Promote your profile on our website and beyond
- Procure market research data for your specific product group and country
- Assemble country, market and food retail data, statistics, studies as well as contact details
In addition, we are also the preferred contact address for internationals buyers, importers and foreign retailers who are reviewing the business potential of German Foods in their countries.
Key contacts
Executive board
Elected by our members
Advisory board
The advisory board represents the interests of our supporting members and advises the executive board
Our partners
GEFA e.V. promotes the framework conditions for the export of food and agricultural products. The Association is the Federal Government's point of contact in all questions of export promotion, forms a communication platform between politics, business and export target countries, coordinates the cross-product tasks of export promotion, implements them and supports the product-specific export promotion of its members in accordance with the statutes, e.g. through government advice and export promotion projects.
On behalf of GEFA e.V., GEFA Export Service GmbH organises cross-product German joint pavilion at international trade fairs, organises business trips abroad, organises meetings with buyers and promotional campaigns for German foodstuffs and buys, for example, licences for market observation and analysis.
The ZNU is an application-oriented research institute in the Faculty of Management, Economics and Society at the University of Witten / Herdecke. With our fifteen-strong team, a committed entrepreneurial advisory board and over 80 ZNU partner companies, we work continuously in research, teaching, further education and conferences to ensure that sustainability in business and society becomes more and more a matter of course.
We focus on the transparent measurability of sustainability. The ZNU standard for sustainable management was developed for this purpose. It offers a holistic view of corporate management, as well as the environment, economy and social issues, and is useful for the systematization and gradual further development of sustainability activities.
True to our motto driving sustainable change, we make sustainability tangible in practice and enable managers of today and tomorrow to consciously use the personal and entrepreneurial opportunities of a more sustainable economy and to differentiate themselves sustainably from the competition.
The spin-off consulting company fjol offers management consulting, workshops and software solutions for the implementation of their own sustainability strategies through to external certification according to the ZNU standard for sustainable management.
The European Sales and Marketing Association (ESMA) was formed in 1976. Over the past 40 years, ESMA has become Europe’s most prominent distributor and manufacturer organization for consumer goods. As a non-profit organisation, run by members on behalf of members, they stimulate the exchange of ideas, build connections, and leverage contacts to drive local and export sales. ESMA is an association of over 92 distributors and 40 food manufacturers in 42 countries.