Theresia Quint has managed the Quint butcher shop in Kenn near Trier for 20 years. She converted the business to organic and wanted to invest in new production facilities. But the wheels of administration turned too slowly. (Photo: © Quint)
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March 1, 2024
The Quint butcher shop will cease production on March 31. It wasn't planned at all. Company CEO Theresia Quint wanted to invest five million euros. But bureaucracy thwarted her plans.
Theresia Quint planned to invest around five million euros in a renovation and new construction project for her butcher shop – a family business in Kenn near Trier that would have celebrated its 100th anniversary in four years. However, bureaucracy and slow administrative processes thwarted her plans. The process, from the initial building application in 2021 to the building permit in October 2023, ultimately took too long. Instead of investing, the businesswoman is ceasing production entirely at the end of March.
The process from the initial building application in 2021 to the building permit in October 2023 ultimately took too long. Fire safety requirements and those of the veterinary office repeatedly clashed. New plans had to be drawn up, and decisions were delayed because government employees were on vacation or sick. "Files were shuffled back and forth or not processed at all for six months," reports Theresia Quint, who laments the lack of entrepreneurial thinking within the administration and the absence of cooperation between the authorities.
In the meantime, construction costs exploded, and the economic situation and the skilled labor market changed. The building permit ultimately came too late to apply for funding. To do so, the company would have had to issue tenders within two months of receiving the building permit, obtaining three bids for each bid. The project was supposed to be completed and operational by the end of 2024. "The timeframe was unrealistic, so we had to make a quick decision."
On January 24th, the decision was announced that the meat processing plant, founded in 1928 , would cease production on March 31st, 2024. Over the past three years, one thing led to another: first, the delay in obtaining the building permit, and in the meantime, rising energy costs , changing consumer behavior , high inflation, rising interest rates , and last but not least, a shortage of skilled workers.
The Chambers of Skilled Crafts in Germany - HWK Trier
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In 2023, the family business celebrated its transition to 100 percent organic production . The restructuring involved ten years of work and dedication. The new building was also intended to bring production up to the latest energy efficiency standards . "I now have to sell the equipment I've already purchased at a loss," says the businesswoman, who ran the butcher shop for 20 years.
Together with her son Luis Sanktjohanser, she still runs several Edeka supermarkets in Trier and now wants to focus on the grocery retail sector – especially since one of the stores is currently being renovated. "It's all just become too bureaucratic, so we can no longer operate in all areas." Incidentally, cooperation with the Trier city administration is excellent. "They sat down with us as developers and tried to find solutions together that work for both sides."
Theresia Quint is still waiting for a clarifying call from the Trier-Saarburg district. The district administrator and the state premier have also not responded. It's not a sign of solidarity, she says, to court large corporations while putting obstacles in the way of small businesses that want to do something and are committed to the region. Or to design standards – in the area of hygiene, for example – for industry and then impose them one-to-one on smaller businesses. Or to not enforce the same strict requirements imposed on a butcher shop with the same level of rigor when it comes to mobile chicken roasters. "It all just doesn't add up anymore; we're overburdening ourselves with bureaucracy."
Bureaucracy: The Biggest Concern in the Butchers' Trade. In autumn 2023, the German Butchers' Association surveyed member companies about the situation in their businesses. The survey revealed that bureaucracy is the biggest concern for these companies. According to the industry portal fleischwirtschaft.de , just over 90 percent of butchers said they were worried about increasing bureaucracy. Over 60 percent even described their concerns as significant. Bureaucracy is a greater burden than the shortage of skilled workers or rising energy costs.
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