Du bist hier der Chef! - Die Verbrauchermarke

What Du bist hier der Chef! - Die Verbrauchermarke does

Du bist hier der Chef! - Die Verbrauchermarke is a German consumer co-creation food brand operating under a hybrid legal structure combining a registered non-profit association (Die Gemeinschaft "Du bist hier der Chef! Die Verbrauchermarke" e.V.) and a private limited company (DBHDC - Die Verbrauchermarke UG). Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Eltville am Rhein, Hessen, the organization enables consumers across Germany to directly vote on product characteristics, quality criteria, and pricing through an online configurator and questionnaire platform. Its product portfolio includes Verbraucher-Milch (launched in 2020 as the first co-created food product in German retail), alongside eggs, yogurt, potatoes, and apples, all sourced from partner farms under fair-pricing arrangements that pay farmers 0.11 EUR/liter above the German organic milk average.

The underlying technology consists of a community voting and product configuration platform, a transparent cost calculator that discloses price composition, and a GDPR-compliant voting tool with real-time price display and export functions. Products are distributed through German food retail channels without proprietary e-commerce. The organization also operates the Open-Source Kompost, a knowledge repository of impact reports, white papers, playbooks, and product calculations licensed under CC-BY-4.0, intended to enable replication of the co-creation model.

Revenue is generated through three streams: (1) consumer product sales via retail (primary), (2) annual membership fees (1 EUR registration) for the non-profit association, and (3) B2B consulting and white-paper services for organizations implementing co-creation models. The 13-person team is led by managing director Nicolas Barthelmé (also 1st Chairman) with Marleen Riedel as 2nd Chairman. The community has grown to 5,000+ active members, and the organization has earned endorsements from Ökotest, Verbraucherzentrale, and Utopia, alongside media coverage from major German outlets.

Name

Du bist hier der Chef! - Die Verbrauchermarke

Legal name

Die Gemeinschaft „Du bist hier der Chef! Die Verbrauchermarke" e.V.

Website

https://dubisthierderchef.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Du bist hier der Chef! is a German consumer co-creation food brand where 5,000+ community members vote on product characteristics and pricing for fair-priced, sustainably sourced food products including milk, eggs, yogurt, potatoes, and apples distributed through German retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fair Trade Consumer Food Products

NAICS

Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing (311520)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020)

akta.pro primary industry

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing Certification Services (AFALAMAD)

Keywords

• Consumer food products
• Community co-creation
• Fair trade dairy
• Sustainable agriculture
• Food transparency

Headquarters

HQ city

Eltville am Rhein

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees for the non-profit association. Membership costs 1 Euro for registration and provides access to exclusive surveys, partner farm visits, and general assembly participation.
2. Consumer Product Sales: Revenue from selling co-created food products including milk (since 2020), eggs, yogurt, potatoes, and apples. Products are sold at fair prices that guarantee stable and fair compensation for producing farms.
3. B2B Solutions and Consulting: Co-Creation playbook and consulting services for businesses interested in implementing consumer co-creation models. They offer white papers and implementation guidance for companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Die Verbrauchermarke is a German consumer community brand that lets consumers co-create fair food products through an online voting/configurator platform. German consumers vote on product characteristics, quality criteria, and pricing, and the resulting products (milk since 2020, plus eggs, yogurt, potatoes, and apples) are sold in German food retail with transparent cost breakdowns and guaranteed fair farmer compensation.

Product overview

Du bist hier der Chef! is a German consumer community brand operating as a hybrid organizational model (e.V. association + UG limited company) focused on democratic food product development. The core offering consists of consumer food products (primarily milk launched in 2020, with additional products like eggs, yogurt, potatoes, and apples) that consumers co-create through a voting/configurator platform. The initiative's Open-Source Kompost provides freely accessible knowledge resources including impact reports, whitepapers, and playbooks documenting their co-creation methodology. The ecosystem includes a membership association (Der Verein) for community participation, a WhatsApp information service, and a product-voting questionnaire system - all designed to give consumers democratic control over how their food is produced, priced, and distributed.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Verbraucher-Milch (Consumer Milk) Fresh milk co-created by German consumers through online voting on quality criteria and pricing, ensuring fair farmer compensation (0.11 EUR/liter above the German organic milk average), regional sourcing, animal welfare, and full price transparency. Available in German food retail since 2020.
• Verbraucher-Eier (Consumer Eggs) Eggs produced under the initiative's co-created specifications including fair farmer compensation, animal welfare standards, and transparent pricing, sold through German food retail.
• Verbraucher-Joghurt (Consumer Yogurt) Yogurt co-created by consumers through voting on product specifications and pricing, produced under fair-trade and transparent conditions, sold in German food retail.
• Verbraucher-Kartoffeln (Consumer Potatoes) Potatoes produced under the initiative's co-created standards for fair farmer pay, regional sourcing, and transparent pricing, distributed through German food retail.
• Verbraucher-Äpfel (Consumer Apples) Apples co-created by consumers with community-voted specifications, fair farmer compensation, and transparent cost breakdown, sold in German food retail.
• Co-Creation Playbook and Consulting Professional services and consulting for companies and NGOs interested in replicating the consumer co-creation model, including white papers, playbook, and implementation guidance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 27% higher willingness to pay for better co-created products
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Partner Farms (Partnerbetriebe)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural farms that produce co-created products under fair pricing arrangements. These partner farms benefit from stable and fair compensation determined through community voting. The initiative audits partner operations and controls compliance with chosen criteria.
• SEND (Social Entrepreneurship Netzwerk Deutschland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEND is a network for social entrepreneurship in Germany. Die Gemeinschaft is a member of SEND, supporting the initiative's social entrepreneurship model for food system transformation.
• Bundesverband Nachhaltige Wirtschaft (BNW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal Association for Sustainable Economy. Supported by BNW, indicating alignment with sustainable business practices and the green economy movement in Germany.
• Famtastisch StiftungminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFantastic Foundation. A supporting foundation for the initiative.
• Farm Food Climate ChallengeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClimate challenge initiative in the food and farming sector. Supported by this initiative.
• Project TogetherminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollective impact platform supporting collaborative projects. Supported by Project Together.
• German Food RetailerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRetail stores selling co-created products including milk, eggs, yogurt, potatoes, and apples. Products available in German retail since 2020.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Naturland: German international organic and fair-trade certification association commonly seen on German dairy shelves. Not a direct product competitor but a standards body whose labeling ecosystem DBHDC's fair-pricing and organic claims must coexist with.

Broad incumbents

• Bioland: Germany's largest organic farming association, setting organic standards and licensing its mark to thousands of producers including dairies. Shapes the same organic-plus-fair-pricing narrative that DBHDC leans into, even though its role is standards and certification rather than direct consumer product.
• Upländer Bauernmolkerei: German farmer-owned cooperative dairy in Hesse marketing fair-price, organic milk with above-market farmer compensation. Geographically and strategically adjacent to DBHDC and competes for the same 'fair organic milk' shelf position with cooperative-scale advantages.
• Alnatura: Major German organic food retailer and brand with private-label dairy and an established national footprint. Functions as both a potential distribution route and a competitor for organic/fair-priced shelf space against DBHDC's Verbraucher-Milch.
• Die Faire Milch: German fair-milk initiative by DMK that pays dairy farmers above the market average and markets the story to German consumers. Operates in the same fair-compensation milk category as DBHDC but at industrial scale and through conventional retail without the co-creation layer.
• Andechser Molkerei Scheitz: One of the largest German organic dairies, supplying Demeter and Naturland organic dairy products nationally. Competes in the same organic/fair milk category as DBHDC but with conventional co-op scale and a national retail footprint.
• Berchtesgadener Land: Established alpine dairy brand from Bavaria marketed on regional origin, animal welfare and fair farmer compensation. A direct shelf competitor to DBHDC's consumer milk in German food retail with significantly larger volume and historical brand presence.

Direct peers

• Crowdbutching: German community-driven platform that lets consumers jointly purchase meat directly from farmers, similar in mechanism to DBHDC's consumer co-creation voting model for food. Operates in Germany/DACH with comparable transparent farmer-pay focus and small-team execution.
• Marktschwärmer (Food Assembly): Community-supported food ordering network operating in Germany where local producers and consumers meet via pop-up markets and online pre-orders. Shares DBHDC's community-led distribution philosophy and direct-to-farmer economics without traditional retail gatekeepers.
• CrowdFarming: Spanish-origin, Europe-wide online platform that connects consumers directly to farmers through adoption and crowdfunded harvests, conceptually parallel to DBHDC's consumer co-determination of food production. Comparable fair farmer compensation and transparency narrative across both.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/hashtag/dieverbrauchermarke
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/du-bist-hier-der-chef-die-verbrauchermarke

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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