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Brief portrait: Tofutown.com
The company Tofutown.com GmbH was founded in 1988 in Cologne under the name of Viana Naturkost GmbH by a group of experienced food producers, brave tofu makers and young musicians. Since then the company has practised »Business without Guilt« (e.g. the use of purely vegetable organic raw materials, in part from Fair Trade). Even after 15 years the company sees itself as a dynamic »Veggie Start Up Company«. TofuTown.com has grown to become a renowned producer of entirely vegetable foods such as meat alternatives and dairy free milk and cream products within Europe. It is part of the Tofutown.com philosophy to produce using one's own know how and not simply »bring into circulation« (i.e. have others produce), which is commonplace in such marketplace niches as organic foodstuffs.More than 60 vegetarian products are made in the middle of the beautiful natural countryside of the Volcanic Eifel region, in the town Wiesbaum, which has earned itself the description »Tofutown.« Tofutown.com is known for its excellent, tasty »Viana Real Smoked Tofu«, the vegetable drinks »SoActiv®« and »ReisActiv®«, the meat alternatives »Velami®«, »Vegetarian Kebab« or »1/2 Pound Veggie Mince«, the dairy free cheese »Pizzarella®« and the »Viana Soya Coffee Creamer«. The exquisitely fine »Country mild smoked« from the product range »Classic Veggie Carpaccio« won the German Vegetarian Union's Trend Prize 2004. The export share of turnover is about 30%. Tofutown products can be found throughout Europe and even in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Youth researches
Continuous innovation and development are the key to success in the future-oriented branch of plant-based foods. The creative department at Tofutown.com is unstoppable and works night and day on new products, methods and marketing strategies.Quality
Newest state of the art production facilities and machinery as well as an adaptable quality management system are an important basis of all products made in Tofutown. The employees take part in regular quality and hygiene training.The competent and experienced quality control team at Tofutown.com is scientifically supported and advised by Prof. Dr. Krämer (Department of Food Microbiology at the University of Bonn).
Customer Relations
Many people have an unquenchable thirst for information regarding healthy and new products free of meat and dairy products. Tofutown.com supplies them with information, recipes and ideas via the internet. As many as 15,000 users visit the web sites each week. Apart from that there is the »Viana Tofutown News«, a multilingual lifestyle newsletter included with many Viana products, which reaches an annual circulation of one million (four editions).Animal welfare, environmental protection, health
We believe in Food Democracy. The Tofutown.com philosophy is that every human should have the opportunity to get an entirely vegetarian product whenever and wherever he or she is hungry or thirsty. If it comes from Tofutown, it's much more delicious and far healthier than something similar containing meat or dairy products. Today's consumers know that they shape their own future with their purchases. The food they purchase is produced - or bred - according to the amounts they buy. An increasing number of people uses this awareness in the best democratic fashion and consciously influences which foods will be more commonly supplied in the future.Tofutown.com doesn't get on a high horse about its labels or try to give you a bad conscience or waken fears. Tofutown.com doesn't want people to feel they have to justify themselves, but wants rather help to them with its products and services. Every day Tofutown.com seeks to convince by means of enjoyment and the quality of its products. The Tofutown.com motto is: »We value and respect each of our customers equally and are thankful for the trust and the many assignments we receive each day from throughout Europe.«
Tofutown.com is glad to receive customers' suggestions as well as supportive or critical reactions and promises to reply in the shortest time possible. It is certainly surprising that about 80% of our customers are average consumers. The remaining 20% are vegetarians, whose numbers are on the rise throughout Europe.
Sustainability
Responsibility is beneficial. Tofutown.com supports such different social issues as small regional groups (a soccer club, Wiesbaum's 1,200 year jubilee, the Solidarity Circle for West Africa in Hillesheim, the Nature Protection League Upper Kylltal) or the international animal welfare organisation PeTA.Tofutown.com GmbH awards a prize (»Communication Prize Nutrition and Sustainability«), which rewards private and voluntary initiatives promoting sustainable forms of nutrition and animal welfare.
By means of its purchasing of raw materials Tofutown.com seeks to promote socially-minded and sustainable suppliers. For example, the vegetables come from local organic farmers and the soybeans used are not only »organic«, but also »fair« (80% come from Fair Trade projects, in particular from Brazil).
Very Big Numbers
10,000,000,000,000,000 organic carrots
200,000,000,000,000,000 organic soybeans
3,000,000,000,000,000,000 grains of organic rice and organic wheat (re-counted twice just to make sure)
60 products
500,000 tofu burgers and 1,000,000 real vegetarian sausages per year (guess who made the »real« tofu sausage in the movie »Men« by Doris Dörrie?)
500,000 faithful and enthusiastic Viana customers as well as brand new fans of the label VeggieLife
Approximately 35 employees, including some 18 women and 17 men, 15 married (2 already divorced (presumably not only because of Tofutown.com)) and attention: no less than 20 singles. Approximately 6 mothers and 8 fathers were responsible for at least 25 children (100% vegetarian food has a very positive effect on fertility). 7 languages, 8 different nationalities, the youngest is 18 and the oldest over 50 (for reasons of deference we shall be no more exact). Two incorrigible fans of Bayern Munich (sorry about that), one Borussia Mönchengladbach fan, one staunch Cologne fan, some animal lovers, several vegetarians, two vegans, an honest-to-goodness Catholic, several bikers and bikeresses, two ex-punks, a voluntary fireman, just people like you and me.
Further information on the web sites (Please don't surf when hungry. Tofutown.com products make your mouth water): wwww.tofu.de, www.ernaehrung-nachhaltigkeit.de, www.tofutown.com, www.viana.com
February 2005
Reprint only with source acknowledgement (also when only an excerpt). Please send a specimen.
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