TOP 10 OPERATORS 6: GEBR. HEINEMANN


July 2020, when travel restrictions had already been partially lifted, turnover was still 75% below the turnover of July 2019. “Even if travelling slowly resumes,


the second half of 2020 will remain far below expectations and the results of 2019. A short-term improvement of the difficult situation is therefore not to be expected.” As reported, Heinemann has


devised a package of measures to slash costs and secure its liquidity although it acknowledges that the impacts of the travel slump will mean reverberations in the future. Operating expenses, investments


and current assets have been reduced, while discussions with partners over rents, concession fees and supplier conditions in light of drastically pared-back passenger volumes have achieved ‘initial successes’. Aside the most important human


cost, the deep wounds inflicted on economies through mass redundancies in businesses has been sobering. To absorb some of this short-term


pain, personnel savings of slightly more than 30% were made in the first half of this year through job cuts and use of government subsidies. However, Ernst notes that further


adjustments will need to be made to the staff structure at sites worldwide


and at its corporate headquarters to scale back costs in the long term and adapt the organisation to new market conditions. At the time of writing, many


Heinemann shops have resumed trading. While that is certainly good news, the company expects years to pass before sales recover to 2019 levels. As such, Heinemann believes


the recovery in air travel and most other distribution channels in the travel ecosystem will vary considerably dependent on the geographic location.


Rising sales per passenger “Even though travel will change and we will have to adapt to a different, new market, we are certain that the travel retail market will remain an important part of travel and especially of airports in the future,” commented Max Heinemann. “Our initial observations are


positive: we are seeing in our re- opened shops that the few travellers also buy and we are even recording rising sales per passenger. “Our medium and long-term focus


is the same as before the coronavirus crisis: we are and will remain the reliable partner in travel retail and we will do everything in our power to ensure that Gebr. Heinemann can continue to develop successfully


Clean Beauty: Conscious, sustainable value driver


Gebr. Heinemann has declared that shaping a sustainable future for the


company has never been more important. Shortly before this issue went to


press, the Hamburg-based travel retailer published its second UN Global Compact (UNGC) Communication on Progress. Heinemann joined the United Nations


Global Compact in 2018, in doing so integrating the UNGC’s ten universal principles on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption into its own corporate strategy. In the period August 2019 to August


2020, Heinemann has introduced ‘Clean Beauty’ products at additional sites that meet customer demands for more environmentally friendly and sustainable consumption choices. It has also made Corporate


Responsibility a business priority, having engaged with suppliers from different


OCTOBER 2020


industries through a sustainability panel; carried out an extensive human rights risk analysis of around 24,000 products in the Heinemann Australia range with findings due to be published in a Modern Slavery Statement; and has donated goods and food otherwise destined to closed airport shops to charitable institutions, food banks, migrant worker charities and frontline healthcare workers. “Our aim is to remain an innovation


driver in the travel retail market in the future,” said CEO Max Heinemann. “We want to encourage a sustainable value chain in which we work closely with our suppliers and partners, jointly defining and fulfilling high environmental and social standards and working to ensure that these are adhered to in the market.”


TOP 10 OPERATORS 29


“In the first half of 2020, the Heinemann Group recorded a decline in turnover of almost 60% compared to the same period last year, in spite of the strong months of January and February.”


Stephan Ernst, Chief Financial Officer, Gebr. Heinemann


in the fifth generation. As a family business, we think in generations, not in quarters.” Gebr. Heinemann declined to offer


further comment to TRBusiness when approached for this report. «


In February 2020, Sydney Airport extended the Heinemann Tax & Duty Free concession for an additional eight years beginning in 2022


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