Food retail expert brings wealth of experience to set the course
Dr Johannes Steegmann is to become Chief Executive Officer of the EAT HAPPY GROUP. Following positions at Fressnapf, Rewe and McKinsey, the food retailing expert will take on the role of CEO at the EAT HAPPY GROUP from 1 November 2024 to initiate the next stage of growth and professionalisation for the company, which specialises in ultra-fresh convenience concepts. With its shop-in-shop concept ‘EAT HAPPY’, the EAT HAPPY GROUP stands for fresh, handmade sushi and Asian specialities – at more than 3,500 locations in supermarkets in Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria and Slovakia.
”The new role is a great opportunity for me to bring my experience to an exciting company with high growth potential and a very strong culture,” says Johannes Steegmann. “I look forward to working more closely with Edeka, Rewe, Kaufland and other retailers in Germany and beyond, and to continuing the EAT HAPPY success story with the team. The demand for sushi is growing in all European countries, the freshness and quality of EAT HAPPY products is first class and the local teams are highly skilled and authentic. The range attracts new customers to the supermarkets, increases the loyalty of existing customers beyond sushi and generates attractive space productivity. I am convinced that with the right levers, much more can be achieved in existing and new locations. The key words are branding, product range and keeping in touch with partners and end customers. My goal is to make sushi fans in Europe happy.”
”In Johannes Steegmann, we have found the perfect candidate to set the course for the next growth phase, both internally and externally, and to further develop the EAT HAPPY GROUP,” says founder and chairman of the advisory board Christian Kraft. “Johannes has experience in the transformation of medium-sized retail companies and is familiar with the expansion of innovative business models. His strategic and analytical skills, his knowledge of food retailing and his marketing expertise will help the company move forward.”
New CEO brings expertise in marketing, organisational development and scaling business models
Steegmann began his career at Bertelsmann AG and then spent nine years at McKinsey&Company, specialising in retail, consumer goods and start-ups. In 2011, he joined Rewe Group, where he initially headed the Corporate Development & Consulting division. In 2013, he founded Rewe digital and, as Managing Director Marketing & Ventures, assumed responsibility for the customer-facing e-commerce and omni-channel functions, the internal digital marketing agency and the Innovation & Ventures division. In 2017, he also assumed responsibility for traditional marketing at Rewe. Most recently, Steegmann was CEO of the Fressnapf Group from 2020 to 2024, where he drove the transformation to an omni-channel ecosystem by introducing new POS concepts and technologies, setting up a new e-commerce platform including a marketplace, installing an app with its own customer loyalty system and loyalty infrastructure, emotionalising the brand image, introducing modern working methods and management principles, and executing M&A transactions in six European countries.