Rau Consultants

What Rau Consultants does

Rau Consultants GmbH is a privately-held, Munich-based specialist personnel consulting firm exclusively serving the food industry, founded in 1974 and operating under the RAU | CONSULTANTS corporate brand. The firm is led by Managing Directors Dr. Tim Rau and Matthias Hennig and employs 25+ sector-specialist consultants across six integrated service lines: Executive Search, Food Recruitment, Interim Management, Compensation analysis, Training & Coaching, and the foodjobs job board plus Active Sourcing sub-brand. All services are delivered through direct consultant engagement rather than self-serve digital platforms, with publicly disclosed price anchors of approximately €200k+ for executive search mandates, €80–200k for permanent placement, and up to €80k for interim and coaching engagements.

The business operates across five German office locations (Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Warburg, Düsseldorf) and extends internationally through the International Food Recruitment Alliance (IFR-A), a cooperation of specialist food recruiters providing local presence across European markets. Its enterprise customer base spans ingredients suppliers, beverage companies, snack and confectionery manufacturers, and other food value-chain participants, with named clients including ADM, Wild, Adelholzen, XOX Group, and Yagora. The firm has executed 200 placement mandates and 80 interim manager days in 2025 and reports that over 400 companies have relied on its services cumulatively.

Rau Consultants is a founder-owned GmbH with no external parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, and no M&A activity in the input data. Marketing is executed through content (salary analyses, articles, white papers), an email newsletter, presence at industry events such as PLMA Amsterdam, and LinkedIn, with the company's thought-leadership around EU pay transparency (Entgelttransparenz, effective June 2026) reinforcing its Compensation advisory stream. The firm has been recognized by Handelsblatt as one of Germany's 'Beste Personalberater' in both 2025 and 2026 and has maintained climate-neutral operations through certified climate protection projects since 2013.

Name

Rau Consultants

Legal name

Rau Consultants GmbH

Website

https://rau-consultants.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rau Consultants GmbH is a Munich-based, founder-owned specialist personnel consulting firm exclusively serving the food industry, offering executive search, permanent and interim placement, compensation analysis, and leadership training across five German offices and European markets via the IFR-A alliance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search and Personnel Consulting

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Food industry recruitment
• Interim management placement
• Compensation benchmarking
• Leadership training coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

München

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Placement and Executive Search Services: Contingency or retainer-based placement fees for filling permanent and interim positions in the food industry. Services include executive search, expert placement, and leadership recruitment.
2. Training and Coaching Services: Leadership training and coaching services provided to food industry companies and professionals.
3. Compensation Analysis Services: Salary surveys and compensation analysis services for the food industry.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Rau Consultants is a specialized personnel consulting firm that recruits and places executive, expert, and management personnel for the food industry. Its core services span executive search, permanent and interim management placement, compensation analysis/salary benchmarking, and leadership training and coaching, supplemented by an industry-specific online job board (foodjobs.de) and active sourcing services.

Product overview

Rau Consultants operates as a multi-service personnel consulting firm for the food industry, offering a portfolio of complementary services under the RAU brand umbrella. The core offering consists of five integrated consulting services: Executive Search for top-level leadership placement, Food Recruitment for expert and management positions, Interim Management for temporary staffing needs, Compensation for salary analysis and benchmarking, and Training & Coaching for leadership development. Supporting these core services are two specialized sub-brands: foodjobs.de (a dedicated job board) and foodjobs Active Sourcing (proactive candidate sourcing). The company also participates in the International Food Recruitment Alliance (IFR-A), an international network enabling placement services across European markets. All services are specialized exclusively for the food industry and delivered through a team of consultants with deep sector expertise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RAU | EXECUTIVE SEARCH: Executive search services for top-level positions in the food industry
• RAU | FOOD RECRUITMENT
• RAU | INTERIM
• RAU | COMPENSATION
• RAU | TRAINING & COACHING
• foodjobs
• foodjobs Active Sourcing

Products and services

• RAU | EXECUTIVE SEARCH Executive search service placing top-level leadership (C-suite, Geschäftsführung) in the food industry on a permanent or interim basis.
• RAU | FOOD RECRUITMENT Specialized recruitment service filling expert and management positions across all functional areas of food industry companies (production, sales, purchasing, marketing, quality, supply chain), available as permanent or interim placements.
• RAU | INTERIM Interim management service providing temporary executive and specialist personnel to food industry companies during transitions or project needs.
• RAU | COMPENSATION Compensation analysis and benchmarking service providing salary surveys, pay equity analyses, and market data for the food industry.
• RAU | TRAINING & COACHING Leadership development service offering management training programs and executive coaching for food industry professionals.
• foodjobs.de Specialized online job board for the food industry, connecting candidates with employers across the food value chain.
• foodjobs Active Sourcing Proactive candidate sourcing and recruitment marketing service for food industry companies, operated by foodjobs Active Sourcing GmbH.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 400 companies have relied on their support
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• International Food Recruitment Alliance (IFR-A)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal cooperation of leading recruitment consultancies with uniform processes and quality standards. IFR-A places managers and specialists along the entire food value chain from agriculture and production to logistics and trade, as well as related industries such as plant engineering. Provides local presence and expertise in all important European markets.
• Diversity Charter (Charta der Vielfalt)minorOthersSignatory of the Diversity Charter, demonstrating commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
• Education and Research InstitutionsminorOthersCollaboration with academic institutions for workshops, internships, master's theses, and grants.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Egon Zehnder: One of the world's leading executive search firms with a strong consumer and industrial practice including food and beverage. Comparable as a broader incumbent in executive search, but with a multi-sector focus rather than Rau's food-only specialization.
• Spencer Stuart: International executive search firm serving consumer and industrial clients including food and agribusiness. Comparable as a global incumbent in C-level search, but offers broader sector coverage than Rau Consultants.
• Michael Page Deutschland: Global recruitment firm with significant DACH presence and a consumer goods / FMCG practice covering food and beverage roles. Comparable in filling mid-to-senior food industry positions, but operates as a multi-sector generalist rather than a food specialist.
• Hays Deutschland: Large global recruitment firm with strong presence in Germany and dedicated practice areas including food and beverage manufacturing. Comparable in providing recruitment services to food clients, though operating across many industries with much broader scale.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a large executive search and talent acquisition practice serving consumer and food clients. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering executive search at scale, though not specialized exclusively in the food industry like Rau Consultants.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search firm with practice areas covering consumer products and food. Comparable in placing senior leaders for enterprise clients, but operates across many industries rather than exclusively food.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with consumer markets practice covering food manufacturers. Comparable in delivering senior-level search mandates to large enterprises, though not exclusively food-focused like Rau.

Direct peers

• Stanton Chase: International executive search firm with sector-specialized practices including consumer products and food. Closely comparable to Rau in delivering senior-level search and leadership advisory services for food and beverage clients, with overlapping mid-market and enterprise coverage.
• Odgers Berndtson: Global executive search firm with a dedicated consumer and retail practice addressing food and beverage clients. Comparable as a senior-level search peer operating across Europe and serving food industry clients, similar to Rau's DACH-anchored model.

Emerging players

• foodjobs GmbH (RAU subsidiary competitor perspective): Food-industry specialized online job board operated as a subsidiary of RAU. Comparable as a niche recruitment channel targeting the same food industry candidate pool, but distinct in being a digital job marketplace rather than a consulting-led executive search firm.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rau-consultants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rau Consultants