Gold-decorated wood paneling, ceiling paintings and marble columns - in the glamorous Palais Todesco, opposite the State Opera in Vienna, we meet Gerald Hackl, the CEO of VIVATIS Holding AG, for an interview. The K. & K. Hofzuckerbäcker Gerstner is housed in this historic location, the latest achievement of VIVATIS Holding AG (subject to approval by the Federal Competition Authority), a subsidiary of Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich. "Gerstner is a brand with a global reputation and has been proving the highest quality as an opera ball caterer for years, so we want to expand the gastronomy competence of our own catering brand GOURMET," explains Gerald Hackl. Born in Perger, he now lives with his family in Puchenau and has been at the helm of VIVATIS Holding for eight years. We spoke to the likeable top manager about trends in nutrition, labeling of origin in gastronomy and the commitment to Austria as a business location.
UPPER AUSTRIA: Mr. Hackl, VIVATIS Holding AG, based in Linz, is one of the largest purely Austrian companies in the food and beverages industry. Established branded goods manufacturers such as Maresi, Bauernland or KnabberNossi, to name a few, are under their roof. What many people don't know is that the VIVATIS Group also includes the catering brand GOURMET, which runs the Wiener Rathauskeller, Café Schwarzenberg and, more recently, Gerstner in Vienna.
Gerald Hackl: Yes, exactly. We are now one of the larger restaurateurs in Austria, which was not really our focus originally. Our GOURMET catering brand includes not only classic gastronomy and communal catering but also event gastronomy. After all, we generate more than 50 million euros in sales in this area. In addition to the Rathauskeller and the Café Schwarzenberg, we also do the catering in the Wiener Stadthalle, in the Ernst Happel Stadium, in the Kunsthistorisches and Technisches Museum and, following approval by the Federal Competition Authority, now also for the traditional Gerstner store.
What are your plans for Gerstner?
We want to develop further in the beautiful city of Vienna and play at the forefront. We now have this opportunity and are approaching the whole thing with a lot of respect and modesty. The historic Palais Todesco on Kärntner Strasse is beautiful. Taking over such a traditional operation is a huge responsibility that we face with humility. I am very pleased that we, as an Austrian company, are allowed to continue this traditional brand.
You have been in the food industry for 20 years. How did that happen?
I came into contact with the food industry very soon because I earned my business studies as a beer driver in the Enns brewery. I then worked in the baked goods and dairy industry until 2004, and a year later I took over the management of the efko group. At the beginning of 2013, I switched to VIVATIS Holding AG as CEO. The food industry is a very broad area. What really fascinates me is the path from the raw materials such as meat, milk and vegetables to the finished product and to the consumer. The focus is on enjoyment, because what could be nicer than eating comfortably with family or friends and drinking a good glass of wine.
You have been CEO of VIVATIS Holding for eight years, what do you like about this job?
The exciting thing is definitely the diversity. The VIVATIS Group has several very different business models. Under the umbrella of the holding there are small and medium-sized Austrian companies in the food and luxury goods sector and in a special service sector, such as the daily frozen food logistics and our animal carcass processing companies PUREA. With our catering brand GOURMET, we are the market leader in community catering in Austria and supply around 300,000 people every day in non-Covid times. This starts with the youngest children in after-school care centers and in kindergartens, right through to 2,700 schools and 2,500 companies with people in work who we supply with food.
