Interspar reacts

How cooking is done while shopping

Johannes Holzleitner is head of 10,000 employees at Interspar.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel, Interspar/Helge Kirchberger)

From bin liners to cooking pans, from socks to napkins, plus a large cross-section of groceries: Interspar has mastered the balancing act of a broad product range. Nevertheless, the retail company is also facing enormous challenges. The reason: the changes in society. Managing Director Johannes Holzleitner reveals how the company is responding.

The slowdown in consumer sentiment; a decline in meat consumption; the growing popularity of vegan products; an increased preference for cheaper items, which is also ensured by the private labels of food retail chains - there are a number of issues that also concern Interspar boss Johannes Holzleitner. "A food retailer like us is of course always a reflection of social developments. We are also guided by this," he says.

Interspar spent 19.7 million euros on an artisan bakery in Marchtrenk, which opened in 2024.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

What trends will prevail? "We are moving even more towards having ready-made products, making cooking easier, offering vegetables pre-cut and meat and fish already marinated," he explains. The delicatessen at Interspar is therefore becoming "more and more gastronomic": "We used to sell a few olives and a few salads. Now we are definitely moving towards offering ready-made dishes such as lasagne in the future."

I believe that we are only at the very beginning of a development - basically in society. As Interspar, we naturally want to be the spearhead in meeting these needs. This is also relatively easy for us because we have the largest area, the largest range and therefore also the most diverse offering.

Johannes Holzleitner, Geschäftsführer Interspar Österreich

"We are actually the better green market"
How does Interspar position itself? "We don't want shopping to be a tedious, run-of-the-mill experience, but rather we want to turn a visit to Interspar into a journey of discovery." The aim is to create a feel-good marketplace: "We all like going to the green market and I think we are actually the better green market because we have everything in one place."

The difficulty? "Society is becoming more and more polarized and the poles are moving further and further apart - we also see this in our customer group and therefore in purchasing behaviour." This can be seen, for example, in the development of demand: on the one hand, customers are increasingly turning to S-Budget own-brand products, while at the same time buying more premium items.