"We will master the future together"

In an interview, Managing Director Oliver Strelecki talks about the challenges, successes and future plans. 

Oliver, you have been with the Melitta Group since 2011. How has Melitta changed since then?

As a group, we are now much more international and digital. This is important for us as a company, but I also find it personally very enriching.

We have also made the experience that we master challenging phases together as a group. The diversity of our business sectors and their business models helps us in this regard, as does the cohesion in the workforce. 

Five years ago, you took over the management of Cofresco as Managing Director. Today, more than 1,000 employees are part of the team. What was the biggest success during this time? 

For me, the founding of our subsidiary Vishuddh Recycle in Bangalore in 2022 is certainly one of the biggest and greatest projects at Cofresco. In April of this year, we received the CSR Award from the German Federal Government for the associated social business concept of our Fair Recycled Plastic initiative. 

At Cofresco, we are currently seeing continued very pleasing growth in almost all sales channels. Of course, this is very motivating.

The recyclate produced by Cofresco in Bangalore is already being used in the production of the Swirl and HandyBag bin liners....

Correct. Although our garbage bags have been made of 100 percent recycled plastic for years, our goal is to make the garbage bags entirely from our self-produced recyclate. The material supplied by our colleagues from India – around 170 tonnes in January alone – is of the best and, above all, of constant quality. This simplifies further processing enormously.

Which products are the guarantors of success outside of Germany? 

Internationally, the food service sector in particular is doing very well – and in particular our patented Wrapmaster System, a film dispenser system for aluminium foil, baking paper and cling film for large gastronomic businesses. In England, we have 80 percent market penetration with 90 percent customer loyalty with the product – this shows how much our customers appreciate the product. We plan to establish the system more in Europe – in Germany, Benelux, the DACH region and Spain – and in the USA.

In terms of direct sales, you are on the right track with the corporate start-up "Future Stories"...  

Yes, "Future Stories" offers innovative and sustainable household products for style-conscious consumers and enables us to diversify our business and tap into new, younger target groups. With a small budget and a lot of passion, the team does a great job. 

What other challenges do you currently see for Cofresco? And how do you approach them?

Digitalization and the implementation of our Honest100 sustainability strategy are key topics in our business sector: At the beginning of June, we converted our ERP system together with IT to harmonize our processes and make them more efficient. Starting from our plant in Brodnica in Poland, we converted all connected purchasing, logistics and sales processes – synchronously at four locations in three countries. A mega project that went really well.

At Honest100, we have achieved our self-imposed goals for half of our product portfolio. It's not going quite as fast as we had planned, but we're on a very good path. 

What do you appreciate most about the Melitta Group?

Clearly: the team spirit and mutual support. My colleagues inspire me every day – whether in my own team or in exchange with other departments. We learn from each other, remain curious and tackle challenges together. That's what makes Melitta special for me and gives me confidence.