Storecheck Austria – a blend of tradition and regionality with modernity

It’s about time we did a store check in our favorite neighboring country, too! We went to Austria, or more precisely to Vienna, to look around the supermarkets there and possibly discover exciting brands and packaging designs. Of course, we were particularly interested in comparing it to Germany – and indeed, we noticed a few differences. In the following, we will first briefly discuss the country of Austria and then the most striking features and (own) brands in the Billa stores in our opinion.

Austria – more diverse than you might think

If you don’t know Austria very well, you probably think of high mountains with lots of snow and even more skiers when you think of the country. But the small federal republic south of Germany is surprisingly diverse. This diversity can be found in various areas and starts with the landscape: mountains and skiing are not the only things! In the capital Vienna, for example, you will look in vain for (high) mountains, and even if some passionate cross-country skiers venture through the parks on the very rare days when there is snow, you will have to go to other regions of the country for real skiing pleasure. In addition to the mountains, which are of course abundant, Austria offers some lakes and large cities that are full of attractions.

Due to migration, there are many cultures in the country, which are also tangibly lived. The Turkish markets are a prime example of this. These include outdoor markets as well as small to medium-sized grocery stores with typical products from Turkey. The minds of Austrians are also quite contrasting. In addition to the numerous grumblers, or people with a grumpy disposition, there are those with a sense of humor, with the so-called Viennese charm, which can be defined as friendly and charming sarcasm. The dialects in Austria are at least as diverse – and confusing – as they are in Germany. In Vorarlberg, for example, people speak completely differently than they do in Vienna. And in the supermarkets, tradition and regionality as well as modernity coexist and sometimes interact.

A brief introduction to the Austrian supermarket landscape

The “big two” in Austria are Spar and Billa, including their larger variants, i.e. Spar Gourmet, Eurospar and Interspar, and Billa Plus respectively. In addition, there are Adeg – like Billa and Penny part of the Rewe Group – and Sutterlüty. However, the “Ländlemärkte” of the latter food retailing company are only found in Vorarlberg. They are characterized by a very large regional offering – according to their own statements, the largest in the world. Penny, Lidl and Hofer (the Austrian counterpart to Aldi) operate as discounters. For our store check, we primarily looked around Billa and Billa Plus and will focus on the special features there in the rest of this article.

Billa – many private labels with clear differentiation

While walking through the supermarket, we quickly noticed that Billa has many private labels. Thanks to the clear differentiation of the various brands, there is something for every type of consumer.

Here is an overview of the most important private labels with a short description of their USP:

Billa immer gut: solid quality at a family-friendly price
Billa Genusswelt: affordable enjoyment for those with high culinary standards
Billa Bio: good and affordable organic quality
Ja! Natürlich: top-quality organic products, more expensive than Billa Bio
Vegavita: modern vegan products at a fair price
Free: gluten- and lactose-free products
Da komm’ ich her!: regional products at moderate prices
Clever: low-cost brand at discount prices (the counterpart to Ja! in Germany)

Billa Bio under the microscope

The store brand Billa Bio is still relatively new. It first hit the shelves in 2021 to offer consumers a comparatively affordable and visually younger, more modern organic alternative to Ja! Natürlich. In recent years, the assortment of this store brand has been increasingly expanded. Also worth mentioning: in the wake of the introduction of Billa Bio, Billa has greatly reduced the previously quite extensive Alnatura assortment.

Overall, we found the design of the Billa Bio, Billa Genusswelt and Billa brands to be consistently noteworthy. The packaging designs of these products are characterized by a contemporary visual language with modern layouts, friendly, bright – often pastel – colors, unusual compositions and food shots, as well as an interesting use of typography. The humorous subtitles on the Billa Bio packaging, for example, are very creative. Examples:

Curry spice: “Don’t worry, eat curry”
Sage tea: ”Gets top marks from every singing fan”

Ja! Natürlich at the check

Ja! Natürlich was launched as early as 1994, when the organic trend that we have been experiencing for several years was still very far away. In the meantime, the brand has become the largest organic brand in Austria. It originally started with about 30 items – now the range includes over 1100 products, and counting.

On the one hand, the focus of Ja! Natürlich is on supporting regional agriculture – 80 percent of the products come from Austria – and on the other hand, on species-appropriate animal husbandry. According to the brand, it sets standards for its producers that in many cases go far beyond the legally prescribed measures.

Like Billa Bio, Ja! Natürlich also speaks a modern design language, albeit with a more elegant and, if you will, higher-quality accent. What particularly caught our eye were the exciting shapes, the play with patterns and the harmony between the bright, friendly colors, the stylish typography and the elegant food shots. The themes of “healthy,” “organic” and “sustainable” are beautifully packaged here – in the truest sense of the word.

Features of Vegavita

“Living la Vegavita”: In 2023, after seven years in the same design, Billa’s own brand Vegavita, which, as the name suggests, specializes entirely in vegan products, was relaunched under the slogan ‘Living la Vegavita’. While white and green were the clearly dominant brand colors before, the brand now appears much more colorful and, similar to Billa Bio, focuses on light, pastel tones.

General interjection: We already noticed during some of the last store checks that brands are striving to break away from the color coding for vegan products, which has been dominated by green for a long time. In Austria, we saw the trend of working with the entire color palette more and more, which was confirmed once again.

The Vegavita logo as a brand staple has also changed significantly. Although the brand has retained the stamp/sticker concept, the brand name is no longer emblazoned in green on green, but in white on black. Furthermore, the food shot is clearly the focus of the new design – previously, it was the logo. The modern, playful typography has remained the same. Vegan, modern, hip and trendy – these are the characteristics that define Vegavita.

(Vegavita formerly: https://medianet.at/news/images/cache/13/2020/09/Vegavita.jpeg and https://www.cash.at/news/media/12/leer-110782.jpeg)

Tradition and national pride

Austria is proud of the diversity of its domestic brands and products – this is also reflected in the supermarkets. During our store check, we came across numerous Austrian manufacturers. Some of them have been around for a very long time, some even have centuries under their belt.

One of these “old hands” is Kastner, a company producing gingerbread and biscuits that was founded in 1559. In our view, the brand successfully combines tradition with modernity. The logo, for example, bears witness to the company’s long history, both visually and in terms of content; at the same time, the rest of the design appears thoroughly contemporary, without neglecting the classic aspect.

The packaging concept for the Everest brand of premium rice is also convincing, with the traditional cotton bag with Indian patterns to symbolize the product’s origin, as well as modern colors and typography.

Pelzmann with its Asian aesthetic, Grossauer (polenta) and Staud’s are also among the Austrian brands that show that tradition and modern design do not have to be mutually exclusive.

While Billa is writing a new design history of the supermarket chain with its own brands and some of the “old” Austrian manufacturers are successfully combining tradition and modernity, other domestic brands have designs that tend to attract negative attention. One example is Schärdinger with its tablecloth and edelweiss look. Although the cheese packaging has a strong color coding, overall the design looks very outdated.

But it can be even more extreme, as Auinger proves: the brand’s canned food looks like it’s a relic from the 1970s! The food shots, title and overall branding: Auinger wasn’t just inspired by tradition, it seems like he got stuck in the past.

SalzburgMilch für Kinder – a dubious outlier

Of course, children are attracted to a different design language than adults. However, the Alex and Lisa milk packages from SalzburgMilch overdo it with the childishness. Apart from that, the packaging clearly stands out from the rest of the brand’s range. The other products appear simple, tidy and modern – the children’s milk, on the other hand, is somewhere between conservative and kitsch. Nevertheless, a relaunch is difficult in view of the popularity of the drinks.

The unbroken Manner cult

A store check in Austria without Manner? Unthinkable. The Viennese company is something of a national treasure. Founded in 1890, the hype surrounding the famous Manner wafers has not diminished in the slightest. The brand is unmistakable thanks to its traditional and still impressive color coding. Over the years, Manner has continuously expanded its range. Thanks to the memorable branding, these other products can also be recognized from afar at first glance, to see which manufacturer they come from.

Manner obviously also knows how to advertise creatively, as the truck we encountered while walking through the city shows.

Kasnudl Stadtküche Vienna

In the Billa supermarket we visited, we came across a small area dedicated entirely to Kasnudl Stadtküche Wien. The manufacturer’s products are made from 100 percent certified organic and regional ingredients. These are typical Austrian products, such as Kasnudln, Teigtascherl and Knödl in various varieties.

International products from the Balkans and Turkey

During our store check, we not only discovered countless Austrian products, but also a fairly large selection of international foods. Since many Serbs and Croats, as well as Turks, live in the country, numerous brands and products from these countries are available. Some of them are also available in Germany.

We were particularly struck by the spreads of the Slovenian brand Argeta. They are distinguished by an innovative form of packaging with a rounded underside. Otherwise, we saw all kinds of snacks and drinks that are popular in the Balkan region and Turkey, but are also very popular in other countries.

Yoghurts and protein products

We criticized Schärdinger for the old-fashioned approach to cheese packaging. But the brand can do better: the small yoghurts in a glass jar deserve to be called “innovative” and have a completely different look. Although they still have traditional elements, they are combined with modern illustrations and typography.

Among the protein products, we also saw a few exceptions to the typical black design of this category, which approach the topic in a decidedly colorful way. The best examples are the packagings of Mucki.

Big surprise in the refrigerated section

We didn’t think we’d be surprised in the refrigerated section of all places. But we’ve never seen a design like that of the Black Turkey anywhere else in the world – and we’ve been to quite a few countries for our store checks. Moser, the manufacturer, relies 100 percent on personal branding and tries to convince consumers of its own tradition. But does this idiosyncratic design actually work? We’re skeptical.

In stark contrast, the tofu products and the meat substitutes available are thoroughly modern. From the bright colors to the contemporary illustrations to the typography, all the details show that these foods are aimed at a younger, hip audience. In any case, the Billa refrigerator section is anything but boring or dull. Here, too, variety reigns.

Also worth mentioning: while looking at the freezer section, we discovered frozen vegetables from Iglo in paper packaging.

Beverages: creatively designed cans

In our previous store checks, we found that the beverage cans in particular were of interest because, compared to other types of packaging, they generally radiate much more experimentation and creativity. This trend has also been confirmed in Austria. Successful examples include the iced teas from Arizona and Rauch, as well as the Mama lemonades in various flavors, which are differentiated by differently-looking matryoshkas.

Sweets and snacks

In the confectionery section, in addition to the distinctive Manner products, the GoodtoGo brand of vegan keto bars particularly caught our attention. As in other countries, many brands in Austria are also trying their hand at the smart snacking sector. So the competition is huge, making successful branding crucial. GoodtoGo’s clever use of color and typography makes it stand out on the shelf and look inviting.

Final Word

Austria’s supermarkets are diverse and offer a varied mix of tradition, regionality and modernity. This contrast characterizes practically all shelves in the food sector. While we generally found the modern concepts to be extremely successful, we were almost appalled by some traditional packaging designs – with Auinger as the negative highlight. To draw a brief comparison with Germany: the design language of Billa’s own brands is significantly more modern than that of most of our own brands. Kaufland, Rewe and Edeka definitely have a lot of room for improvement.