30/08/2015 · 13:00

Veganz, DM Bio and Trend it Up: Drugstore retailer DM is gearing up for battle

Yes, this is a rather tabloid-sounding headline! However, for the last six months German drugstore chain DM has dominated the retail headlines in Germany with a slew of interesting and innovative projects: In April, the DM group introduced its new organic food brand DM Bio (de-listing organic brand Alnatura in the process). Then, DM announced that it would launch an online store plus a brand new own label make-up brand (Trend it Up). And this July, the newspapers reported that DM had entered in a distribution agreement with Berlin-based vegan supermarket chain Veganz to retail a 50-sku portfolio of vegan brands, superfoods and raw food products.

Trend it Up (4)

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11/08/2015 · 09:44

New project: Beautyjagd.de – Organic beauty news in English!

I have a new editorial project and it has already become one of my favourite assignments. I don’t know if you’ve come across Beautyjagd.de? It’s the biggest organic beauty blog in Germany and German-speaking Europe and offers well-researched articles on a wide range of topics – brand profiles, detailed product reviews, interviews, articles about regional beauty brands…..It’s one of the few beauty blogs I read for fun and not just for professional purposes.

Anyway, I’ve been a fan of Beautyjagd for years so I was delighted when Julia (who runs the blog) approached me with the following idea: she wants to offer her readers an English-language version of the most important articles (for those times when Google Translate simply won’t cut it!) and asked me for help with the translation and localisation of the content. Yay!

Instead of translating every single article we decided it would be best to publish a condensed English version of the most interesting features that have appeared on Beautyjagd. And you can check out the first English installment here. Enjoy!

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04/08/2015 · 17:02

Brand Profile: CremeKampagne

I first came across Berlin-based organic skin and body care brand CremeKampagne last autumn when I visited Original Unverpackt supermarket in Kreuzberg. Original Unverpackt is Berlin’s first supermarket to sell groceries in bulk and without packaging – you bring your own containers or buy reusable packaging in the store.

I was at OU to write an article for Mintel (read the article here or check out this profile) and was walking around the store, checking out products and taking pics. OU sells a lot of regional labels and in their personal care section they carried a selection of skin and body care products from a small Berlin brand: the aforementioned CremeKampagne.

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05/07/2015 · 11:29

Company Profile: Farina

While 4711 Echt Kölnisch Wasser is arguably the best-known fragrance manufactured in the German city of Cologne, there is another – and much older – local Eau de Cologne company. Farina can trace its roots back to 1709 and although the brand’s fragrances are a lot more exclusive than 4711, its customer base is equally international.

Farina Haus (6)

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01/07/2015 · 17:53

Cake design extraordinaire: Les Gourmandises de Miyuko in Zurich

I visited the most amazing patisserie in Zurich yesterday – the famous Les Gourmandises de Miyuko. I’d been in Freiburg (a city in Southern Germany, close to the Swiss border) and was travelling back to Berlin.

Freiburg doesn’t have an airport and Berlin is up in Eastern Germany (the travel time between the two cities is around 6 ½ hours by train) so it was actually cheaper and faster to fly to Zurich and then take the train across the border.

And a stop-over in Zurich is always a bonus! I had booked my return train and flight so I’d have a free afternoon in the city and after a quick visit to Kunsthaus museum to check out the new exhibition “Europa: The Future of History” (interesting!) I walked over to Kreis 6 district to visit Miyuko.

Zürich, Juni 2015 (12) Continue reading →

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15/06/2015 · 12:03

DMY International Design Festival Berlin 2015: [Show Report]

As expected, last weekend’s DMY International Design Festival was very interesting indeed. The organizers had selected a different location this year: DMY 2015 was held in Kraftwerk, an old power station which was originally built in the early 1960s. It was the first time I’d actually visited the Kraftwerk; I knew it only as a location for events, exhibitions and concerts and the building also hosts legendary techno music club Tresor.

We’re talking major industrial charm here, lots of towering concrete, pipes everywhere, slightly gothic and very atmospheric – a bit of a contrast to the soaring spaces of Tempelhof’s airport hangars from last year but still very effective. Made for some stunning photos! The festival featured five official sections this year – Showroom (for established designers and brands), Education (for design school and universities), Lab (for up-and-coming young talents), Berliner Zimmer (“Berlin Room”, a special area for Berlin-based designers) and DMY Store, a shopping area for design fans.

DMY intro (3)

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10/06/2015 · 13:24

Events: Berlin Food Art Week 2015 and The Green Market (Summer Edition)

June is going to be such a busy month! In addition to the annual DMY International Design Festival next weekend (11th to 14th June 2015, I have my press accreditation already and have been looking forward to this festival for weeks!), there are two more fabulous events that are taking place in Berlin this month: Berlin Food Art Week 2015 and Green Market Berlin, the city’s first Vegan lifestyle market.

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03/06/2015 · 10:59

Mintel article: Organic makeup brand Und Gretel launches in Germany

Here is my January Mintel article: the launch of new certified organic colour cosmetics brand Und Gretel. It’s a well-designed brand concept with impressive packaging, a selective distribution and a very premium price-tag. Find out more about it here: Und Gretel Cityscape. As always, please respect the copyright. Thanks!

 

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11/05/2015 · 15:47

Next Organic 2015: [Show Report]

Last Sunday, Next Organic 2015 took place in the terminal hall of Berlin’s now defunct Tempelhof airport. I’d been to last year’s trade show and loved it – read the 2014 blog article here – so I was very excited when 10th May finally rolled around! Although Next Organic is smaller than, for example, regional organic show BioOst it is also a great deal more exciting. Probably because Next Organic focuses strongly on culinary and food trends and has a much more local flavour.

Next Organic 2015 (20)

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01/05/2015 · 17:12

Brand Profile: 4711 Eau de Cologne

On a recent trip to Cologne I visited the flagship store of legendary fragrance brand 4711 in Glockengasse street. 4711 Echt Kölnisch Wasser is one of the most famous German perfume brands, with an interesting and rather convoluted brand history.

4711 Store (8)
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