Austria: Seewinkel growers leave LGV to start own company

Some hundred cultivators of vegetables in Seewinkel, a region in Austria, are leaving sales company LGV after a 20-year collaboration. The growers plan to start a company of their own.

In 1992 the Seewinkel growers joined 'LGV-Frischgemüse', and for almost twenty years the umbrella company 'Sonnenregion Ostösterreich' supplied the country with fresh vegetables. The original intention was, apart from the possibilities of a joint marketing campaign, to battle foreign competition. LGV and 'Sonnengemüse-Vertriebsgesellschaft' (SGV) are now parting ways. For some time, there had been internal disagreements, mostly between de growers and the Vienna management. The official reason, however, stated in a press release, is that LGV wants to focus on indoor vegetables. According to SGV secretary Josef Peck: “Because the majority of our members are cultivating outdoors, we have decided to leave LGV.”

Peck himself is positive about the divorce and considers it a step towards independence. The group of Seewinkel growers united under the new name 'Seewinkler Sonnengemüse'.