share is a German consumer goods brand and certified
B Corporation with products in the food, beverage and personal care sectors. Based on the
one for one model one needed item is given away for each item purchased. As of February 2024, share claims to have financed more than 162 million relief efforts. In 2022 and 2023, share was named Germany's "Strongest Startup Brand".
Company history
Share was founded in 2017 by Sebastian Stricker, Iris Braun, Ben Unterkofler and Tobias Reiner. The idea is based on the donation initiative founded by Stricker for the UN World Food Program
ShareTheMeal.
The first share products, consisting of water, nut bars and soap, were sold in March 2018. In addition to the launch in the online store through a cooperation with
REWE Group
The REWE Group is a German diversified retail and tourism co-operative group based in Cologne, Germany. The name REWE comes from "Revisionsverband der Westkauf-Genossenschaften", meaning "Western Buying Co-operatives Auditing Association".
His ...
and
Dm-drogerie markt
dm-drogerie markt (usually abbreviated as dm) is a chain of retail stores headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, offering cosmetics, healthcare items, household products and health food and drinks. The company was founded in 1973, when it opened ...
in over 5,000 stores in Germany. In its first year, share generated sales of 10 million euros. It was the largest launch of a social consumer goods brand in Germany.
In 2019, Bitburger Holding invested 1 million euros, followed by cooperations with Aral and
Eurowings
Eurowings GmbH is a Germany, German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and main ...
. Since the end of 2019, share has also been sold in dm, Merkur and Billa stores in Austria.
Since 2020, share has been cooperating with
Shell plc
Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...
and
Deutsche Bahn
(, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG).
DB was fou ...
as a sales partner,
[ in June 2020, the brand launched in dm stores in the Czech Republic and supports local food banks with food donations, among other things.
In 2021 Creadev, a French investment company controlled by ]Association Familiale Mulliez
The Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM) is the holding company of the Mulliez family. The entrepreneur family originates from around the Lille area of France, and is one of the wealthiest families in the country. AFM was founded in 1955 by Gér ...
, acquired a stake in Share.
In 2023, share launched a current account in cooperation with the bank ING Group
ING Group N.V. () is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, whol ...
and a mobile phone offer in cooperation with the German telco company Congstar
Congstar GmbH is a mobile network operator headquartered in Cologne, Germany.
The company is a subsidiary of Telekom Deutschland, and specializes in discount mobile phone service marketed to younger people.
In August 2014, Congstar's serv ...
.
Company
Share invests around 7% of its turnover in social projects.[ In its first year, the start-up sold over 8 million products, financing the construction or repair of 51 wells in ]Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
, Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, as well as the distribution of 2 million meals and 550,000 bars of soap in national and international aid programs. To this end, share works with aid organizations such as the World Food Programme
The World Food Programme (WFP) is an international organization within the United Nations that provides food assistance worldwide. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and the leading provider of school meals. Founded in 1961 ...
, Aktion gegen den Hunger, Caritas Austria
Caritas Austria (German language, German: ) is an Austrian social aid organisation of the Catholic Church in Austria, Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1903. It consists of a national office and nine regional Diocese, diocesan Caritas organisatio ...
, Welthungerhilfe
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. – or Welthungerhilfe (; literally: World Hunger Help) for short – is a German non-denominational and politically independent non-profit and non-governmental aid agency working in the fields of development coop ...
and Tafel Deutschland e. V. In the meantime, more than 30 million aid projects have been financed with the sale of share products.
Products
In addition to the initial products of mineral water, organic nut bars and hand soap, the company now also sells flavored water, milk substitutes, organic chocolate, organic student food and bamboo toothbrushes, staple foods such as rice, pasta and flour as well as shower gel, shampoo, hand cream and toilet paper. share also sells stationery, hats and scarves.
Image
The start-up received a lot of attention in the German press for its Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...
model and an innovation in the packaging sector, the first mineral water bottle made from 100 percent recycled used plastic on the German market.
A few months after its launch, share was certified as a B Corporation and was awarded the "Best for the World" B Corp in the "Community" category in 2019. This makes share one of the 10% of companies worldwide that provide the greatest benefit to the community.
However, Kathrin Krause from the Federation of German Consumer Organizations criticized the fact that share does nothing to address the causes of hunger or the price pressure that retailers exert on their producers. But overall the reception is predominantly positive. Melchior Poppe from German magazine Focus Online particularly emphasizes the holistic approach of share – in both an ecological and social context: "Sustainability across the board – affordable and with positive effects for everyone."
Burkhard Wilke, Managing Director of the German Central Institute for Social Issues, criticized a "certain lack of transparency" at share, as the exact amount of the respective donation is not indicated on the product.
Weblinks
Company website
References
{{Reflist
German companies established in 2018