Reico & Partner Vertriebs GmbH is founded
Konrad Reiber, who always had a strong connection to nature, founded the company together with other partners after many years of experience in the animal feed industry.
His mission was to significantly improve the lives of people, animals and plants in a natural way according to the principle of mineral balance.
Beverage trade is established as a second pillar
Once the storage capacity was exhausted at the company's location in Buchloe at the time, the search for a larger building began.
At the same time, a home beverage service based in neighbouring Lindenberg was looking for a successor for the business.
Consequently, Reico expanded to include beverage sales as a second pillar and was then based in Lindenberg.
The search for another location begins
As more and more beverage stores and home service tours were developed, the storage capacity in Lindenberg likewise reached its limits.
The proposal to extend the hall was rejected by the former Buchloe town council. This resulted in the search for another location.
The search concluded with a suitable plot of land on the Oberostendorf industrial estate.
Relocation to Oberostendorf
What began with the groundbreaking ceremony on Saint Nicholas Day in 1997 ended successfully on May 1st 1998.
After building a new warehouse covering 1,800 m² and an office of 360 m², there were no more obstacles to the relocation.
All employees got involved and helped to take Reico a further step forwards.
Difficult times for the young company
On 5 November, BSE spread across Europe.
This was followed by state regulations to control the disease. The young company was forced to burn the entire stock of animal feed.
Many customers took the disease as an opportunity to stop paying their outstanding invoices. This meant that there were not only no goods available anymore, but also a large number of unpaid invoices.
The entire sales force also fell apart.
The development of beverage logistics
While Reico spared no effort in trying to compensate for the losses with additional products such as a massage office chair, a beverage loading lift and a special oil filter, the beverage department was outsourced to an independent company.
“Reico Getränke- und Veranstaltungslogistik” was created under the leadership of a new co-owner and managing director.
After just two years, the then managing director saw no future in the beverage trade.
As a result, he intended to sell his shares again. Since no buyer could be found at short notice, he surprisingly filed for bankruptcy.
In addition, the managing director declared private insolvency, which made Konrad Reiber the sole debtor as a shareholder.
Desperately, every effort was made to overcome the crisis.
For example, dog muesli was made in the Reiber family's old stable using machines the company had built itself.
When no success resulted from all this, Reico was also close to bankruptcy.
A new start in direct selling and sales in Austria
During what had become a hopeless situation, Konrad Reiber was advised to offer his products in direct sales.
At first, his reaction was negative. This was due to the company's lack of liquidity as well as a lack of trust in this sales concept.
Thanks to the conversation partner's persistence and how he addressed the existing preconceptions about direct selling, Konrad Reiber began to reconsider.
Following extensive deliberation and consultation with his family, the decision was taken to shift Reico's focus to direct selling.
Without any means of payment, a lot had to be improvised. The first packing table consisted of five stacked Euro pallets.
Although it was still tough at first, there was a positive trend.
In addition to Germany, the Austrian market was now also served.
Management is expanded from the company's own ranks
Daughters Manuela Kunz and Petra Reiber, who had already been trained at a young age and had now both completed a commercial apprenticeship, officially joined the company as partners.
Efforts finally pay off
Sales doubled as early as 2004, and again in 2005.
To accomplish this feat, Konrad Reiber drove 137,000 km across the country and won over many new customers and independent sales partners at the 137 seminars he ran.
Modernisation in the company and BDD membership
Due to the positive business development, the packing stations that previously consisted of beer tent sets were finally converted into industrial packing tables.
An automatic box sealing machine and a pallet winder were among the modernisations.
Plus, after a one-year review, Reico & Partner Vertriebs GmbH was officially admitted as a member of the German Direct Selling Association (Bundesverband Direktvertrieb Deutschland e.V., BDD).
Warehouse restructuring and start of sales in Italy
With ever-rising demand for products, the requirements on warehouse capacity also changed.
As a result, the packaging line was expanded from three to six packing bays and a storage platform was installed to provide an additional 300 m² of storage space.
Due to the increasing demand for products and the newly acquired storage capacities, it was now possible to tap into another country after Austria: Italy.
Today, Italy is the largest buyer of Reico products after Germany. The Italian market is meanwhile also supported by an independent local company.
20 years of Reico and market leader in direct selling
After a couple of turbulent years, there was a reason to celebrate and be grateful.
To mark its 20th anniversary, the company hosted various events. More than 300 sales partners were now part of the company.
In the same year, Reico was awarded the Network-Karriere Value Culture Award for the first time.
However, the biggest milestone was that, in addition to the anniversary, the company could celebrate its market leadership in the direct selling of dog and cat food.
Expansion in Oberostendorf
The steadily increasing order situation once again pushed storage capacities to their limits.
The existing storage capacity was expanded to 3,000 m².
Management sets the course and company enters Slovakia and the Netherlands
Daughters Manuela Kunz and Petra Reiber, who had been active as partners, took over the management of the company in the second generation.
Manuela Kunz assumed responsibility for sales and marketing, and Petra Reiber for finance.
The course for a successful future was thus set.
In 2014, the fourth and fifth sales countries were added with Slovakia and the Netherlands.
Another new building for administration and the start of sales in the Czech Republic
An ever-increasing workload could only be handled by new employees. Space had to be created for them to work.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new administration wing took place in 2016, and its offices and social facilities were finally occupied in 2017.
The existing office building was also renovated.
Moreover, another market was opened up this year in the Czech Republic.
Reico products are also sold in Poland
Following the Czech Republic, Poland became the next country where the products were now sold.
Bavaria's Best 50
In 2020, Reico was proud to receive the "Bavaria's Best 50 " award for the first time, which is awarded by the Bavarian government on the basis of criteria such as financial stability, innovation and social commitment.
Direct sales market leadership for pet food and the BDD Company Prize
Reico has now become the market leader in the entire pet food segment in direct sales.
In addition, another award was presented by the German Direct Selling Association: the BDD Company Prize, which is based on annual sales growth.
Launch of the company's own production brand and another BDD accolade
Another milestone was achieved with the first in-house production brand HEIMATGLÜCK.
HEIMATGLÜCK comes from the company's own factory in the Allgäu region, which is run by Christian Kunz – the grandson of the company's founder.
Reico was once again awarded the BDD Company Prize and also began to offer its own products in Lithuania.
"Bavaria's Best 50" for the second time
Reico Vertriebs & Partner GmbH was awarded "Bavaria's Best 50" for exceptional growth for the second time, once again serving as one of the role models for Bavarian economy.