Witzenhausen: Organic groceries, supermarkets and delicatessen

As almost all West-German small towns with an intact historic centre Witzen­hau­sen has both, a health food shop in the tradition of the Lebensreform movement at the beginning of the 20th century (the Reformhaus "Schön und gesund"), and a Weltladen fair-trade shop driven by volunteers.

But there's also a traditional organic corner shop offering all you need for food, household, hygiene and recreational treats: the Schach­tel­halm (German for "horsetail", the plant). Unfortunately I arrived too late a Saturday to catch more than a glimpse from the outside.

The local brewery, Schinkel, a start-up of the university milieu, was Hesse's first organic brewery, but to date only a few of their beers are certified organic. You can get (and taste) them at the brewery's own salespoint, Schinkels Biershop.

Unterrieden

If you come to Witzenhausen on the Werratalradweg from Bad Sooden-Allendorf the bicycle route is running through the village Unterrieden, a part of Witzenhausen on the Eastern side of the river Werra right before the river turns to the West. On the main road through Unterrieden, the Ludwigsteinstraße, you'll find no less than three farm shops, described here from South to North.

The farm shop of the Absatz­ge­nos­sen­schaft Unter­rieden (AGU), a co-operative of both, organic and conventional farms in the village famous for its cherries, offers a wide range of locally produced food and beverages: fresh greens, sausages, cheese, bread, honey, preserves, fruit juices, wines and spirits. Only a fraction of it is organically certified, and unfortunately you cannot tell how much inorganic fertilisers and poisonous pest control has been used to produce products missing a certificate. When I asked about bread and rolls the shop keeper told me that the bakery had been organic in the past, but since the baker retired the products have been coming from the only remaining artisanal bakery in town. Some of the (fruit) wines and honey definitely sport the European organic label.

The AGU shop also stocks organic jams and spreads of Knofi & so ("garlic and such") in very small glasses, perfect as a small gift. The label belongs to a community of passionate market gardeners with a focus on direct trade. They are operating a small manufactory and market boothes. The one in Ludwigsteinstraße is unmanned, with an honesty box to put your money in. When I was there in August there were lovely tomatoes, but when I returned in September the booth was temporarily put down, so I suspect it is there only when excess greens are available. The "Knofis" also offer basic guest rooms for cyclists and backpackers.

Poultry lovers must not miss the poultry butcher's shop Frischgeflügel Roth. Unfortunately the shop is open only two days a week and was on vacation when I was there, so the vending machine in front of the shop was empty, too. The butcher co-operates with almost all organic poultry farms in the region.

• Reformhaus "Schön und gesund" Walger, Walburger Str. 8, Mon–Thu 9–13,15–18, Fr(Sat) 9–18(13)
• Weltladen, Brückenstr. 16, Mon–Sat 10–13, Mon,Wed,Fri(Tue,Thu) 15–18(19)
• Schachtelhalm, Walburger Straße 19, Mon–Wed,Sat(Thu–Fri) 9–13(18), Mon–Wed 14:30–18
• Schinkels Biershop, Am Sande 9, Mon–Fri 8:30–15, every first Wed/month 17–20
• AGU-Hofladen, Ludwigsteinstr. 6, Unterrieden, Tue–Fri(Sat) 8(7)–12, Tue–Fri 15–18
• Knofi & so, Ludwigsteinstr. 32, Unterrieden, daily 24x7 during the main harvest
• Bioland Frischgeflügel Roth, Ludwigsteinstr. 40, Unterrieden, Fri(Sat) 10(9)–18(13)

Göttingen: Zero Waste

While thriving during the covid-19 pandemics, package-free supermarkets have been facing hard times thereafter, and in big cities with high rents we've seen a wave of shop closings. Even the beautiful grocery Wunderbar unverpackt ("Wonderfully devoid of packaging") which opened in May 2018 wasn't able to survive and closed for good in 2023.

To refill dry food supplies from gravity bins pay a visit to the Naturalia grocery at Wöhlerplatz, a traditional crammed organic corner shop which offers a small assortment of dry food (pasta, cereals, nuts, rice and the like) in self-service dispensers. Apart from this eggs, bakery items, fruits, veges and cheese can be taken home in your own jars and bags. In addition the place is also a tea shop – so bring your tea boxes for refill. If you stay in town for a longer period of time consider to collect stamps on the Göttingen Climate Card ("Klima-Karte") here each time you use your own bag or box. When you collect 16 stamps from a number of (not necessarily organic) shops, market boothes and restaurants in town you will be rewarded with a climate-positive goodie bag and earn support for climate projects in town. The shop-keeper seems to run a small farm herself as she asks for apologies in case she'd appear in the shop past 10 am, to help sheep giving birth.

The second organic grocery to collect Climate Card stamps from is the Bioladen an der Burgstraße, a dedicated anti-fascist neighbourhood grocery next to Cafe Inti. A few years ago this cosy full-retailer replaced a branch of an organic bakery based in Klein Lengden with shops both there and in Göttingen, delivering to many organic markets in the greater region. The Sunday-open place has the air of a traditional organic corner shop and makes an extra effort to offer products packaged in returnable glasses, among others wine gums. More liquorice and jellies can be bought by the piece, and together with the cheese and bakery counter (which fills about half of the entire location), the racks with fruit and veges and the dairy products and drinks in deposit glasses and bottles my estimate is that more than half of the goods can be bought without disposable packaging. You can fetch a coffee in your own mug or a deposit cup.

The shop also has an innovative approach to keep away wasps from ripe fruits: small trays filled with over-ripe fruit juice on a window sill a little apart from the entrance attract the insects which are occupied there as long as you don't disturb them.

The second and much larger organic supermarket in the inner city belongs to the Alnatura chain. Although it doesn't have an explicit focus on zero waste the staff at the bakery cum cheese counter is happy when you come with your own boxes and bags, and there's a good selection of products in deposit glasses and bottles. There are no cafe tables and chairs, but you can take out coffee drinks and tea (in deposit mugs) and choose from a great selection of sandwiches. Even in the evening hours you will usually still find a sandwich.

Geismar and Diemarden

The Gemüseladen in the Western suburb of Geismar, near the church of St. Martin, is not participating in the Klima-Karte scheme. However, this organic greengrocery is offering an abundance of regional produce which you can take home in your own bags.

On the other side of the street you'll find Le Bol, a bio-dynamic organic French-German artisanal sourdough bakery – according to locals making the best bread in town. Needless to say that you can come with your own bag and that the bread keeps fresh much longer than ordinary fare. Given that the baker has to rise early so you can have fresh bread in the morning, opening hours are restricted to the morning ihours except on Thursdays.

If you are on a bike tour or stay in town a little longer consider a visit to the Naturmilchhof Gartetal organic dairy farm. To get their continue from Geismar to the village of Diemarden about four to five kilometres away. Buying fresh milk, oat drink, yogurt, kefir or cheeses from the farm's own dairy is unfortunately somewhat inconvenient as you must register at the farm's web shop to use their self-service farmshop guarded by surveillance cameras. Then you would use the computer inside the shop to register your purchase, and your debt will be detracted from your bank account. I haven't checked whether this works with any European bank account. All liquid and semi-liquid products come in returnable plastic bottles and jars with a deposit. The shop is closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Non-food

Household items supporting a package-free lifestyle can be found at the factory outlet of the eco postal order shop Waschbär near Geismartor. Here you may also refill cleaning agents, liquid soap and detergents to get a stamp on your Climate Card. Unfortunately the shop is going to close for good by the end of October, 2024.

Tea

In the 1990ies owner-driven tea shops offering a great selection of loose-weight teas, herbal and fruit blends were quite a thing, and fortunately they have been surviving in Göttingen so far. With the years, their assortment of organic teas has increased, and I haven't found one who refused to fill my tea boxes (even though you may ask for it verbosely).

The Teehaus Kluntje isn't just a nice shop for teas and everything you need for tea ceremonies or small recreational everyday tea breaks, it also serves you a good cup of tea. However, it's a bit too focused on being a gift shop if you prefer tea shops with a reduced atmosphere.

Personally I prefer the wooden interior of Teehaus Schmidt which nicely brings out the timber frames of the old house. Here the focus is clearly on tea and spices. An interesting fact: The place was a students' start-up in the 1970ies.

In a city with as many tea lovers you won't be surprised to find a branch of the Tee Gschwendner franchise. Just like other franchises of this brand they sell more conventional than organic teas, but the shop assistants will show the right types when you ask for "bee-o" (bio) teas and place your tea box on the till.

Fortunately Göttingen still has many cosy carefully curated owner-driven shops. When I tried to visit the traditional confectioners' shop cum delicatessen Alfred Ewert on recommendation by locals it was too late to find it open, and the products on display in the shop's windows weren't organic. So I decided not to list it here. However, pink@norden.social recommended it as a veritable loose tea shop, so I suggest that you pay a visit and check for organic labels and the "bio" keyword.

• Naturalia Naturkost, Kurze Str. 17, Mon-Fri(Sat) 10–18(13)
• Bioladen an der Burgstraße, Burgstr. 18, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8:30(8)–18(14), Sun 9:30–11
• Alnatura, Lange-Geismar-Str. 61–64, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Der Gemüseladen, Bäckergasse 1b, Geismar, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–18(13), Sat in July/August 8–12
• Le Bol, Mitteldorfstr. 9, Tue–Wed,Fri–Sat(Thu) 9(15)–12(18)
• Naturmilchhof Gartetal, Schwarze Gasse 6, Mon–Sat 8–18
• Waschbär, Kurze Geismar-Str. 5–7, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–19(18)
• Teehaus Kluntje, Lange-Geismar-Str. 33, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9:30–18(15:30)
• Teehaus Schmidt, Barfüßer Str. 6, Tue–Fri(Sat) 10–18(15)
• Tee Gschwendner, Kornmarkt 9, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18(17)
• Alfred Ewert, Weender Str. 84, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9:30–18:30(14)

Closed

• Wunderbar unverpackt, Groner-Tor-Str. 22 (there's still a shop in Braunschweig)

Organic Eschwege and Bad Sooden-Allendorf

• Eschwege
• Bad Sooden-Allendorf
• Dietzenrode

Eschwege

Although Eschwege provides medical and cultural facilities for many smaller (and in the past often more important) small towns around and moreover is one of the few (West-)German towns where people transport by railway was discontinued in the 1980-ies and re-opened (with a new railway station) by the end of 2009, I couldn't find any cafe, restaurant or eatery serving at least a few organic items.

Even the organic convenience store Biotop on the premises of the former mutual savings bank ("Sparkasse") does not have a cafe corner. But you can order a roll with cheese of your choice to take with you from their bakery and cheese bar. The friendly and well-assorted shop with its archetypal wooden interior offers all you need of organic food and household necessities, and, as delivery service "The rolling organic shop" ("Der rollende Bioladen") also serves the neighbouring municipality of Bad Sooden-Allendorf.

If you cannot find all you want here, the town's Reformhaus (health food shop) and the Tegut supermarket offer a good selection of organic products alongside with their conventional fare.

For organic eggs you may also take a bike tour to the "Regiomat" vending machine of the nearby organic Werragut farm. There you can also order and collect bread and rolls from the farm's bakery; their hens are butchered and sold by Frischgeflügel Roth in Witzenhausen.

Bad Sooden

The medieval spa twin-town with its beautiful half-timbered houses does no longer have an organic corner store, but it sports a Sunday-open shop selling herbal teas, organic skincare, natural perfumes and incense, books on wellbeing, a selection of fairly traded sweets and more: Eden – gesund & mehr in Sooden.

For organic food on the Sooden side of the Werra river (including unpackaged organic bread and rolls) head to the (conventional) Tegut supermarket in the Sooden industrial area (more or less a lifeless parking lot). A branch of the drugstore chain DM a five minutes walk from the train station is offering a huge range of pre-packaged organic dry food and preserves as well as certified natural bodycare.

Spa guests and patients of the various rehab clinics in the medieval salter town are the main target audience of Café Feldmann, the spa town's grand cafe and confectioners' shop by the spa gardens (Kurpark). The cafe used to be a customer of the no longer existing organic Bäckerei Schill, but the breakfast rolls you get when staying overnight in the attached bike-friendly bed & breakfast place or have breakfast at the cafe are no longer organic in 2024. The milk used for coffee drinks and tea are organic, and eggs served for breakfast or lunch, too. The waitress had to find out herself when I inquired, so there's still a chance that more organic ingredients are (occasionally) being used in the kitchen, but I can't tell.

Allendorf

On the other side of the train line and the Werra river, in the older town of Allendorf (in the medievals Sooden was the "industrial area" while everyone, from the salters to the owners of the salt pans lived in Allendorf) you'll find a fully organic wine shop cum cafe, the Laden 41. In addition to the wine, you'll find honey, greek olive oil and preserves, local cheese, and bread and rolls from the Werragut farm. The latter you have to order upfront, but since the shop keeper always orders a little more you may buy a bread spontaneously. Unfortunately it's open only three half days of the week. Whether you are interested in having an organic coffee, beer, lemonade or a glass of wine, or are in the mood for a chat with locals, mark them in your calendar.

Thursday in general is the weekday when many smaller shops in the region open for the first time, and so does Café Clown, a cosy small cafe directly located at the Werratal bicycle route, with a beautiful view at a branch of the Werra river with the picturesque "Tiny Venice" ("Klein-Venedig") neighbourhood (in the past the houses of the local fishermen). Here you can have comforting home-made cake (including the filling Westphalian Pickert, a sweet potato cake), coffee, and frozen yoghurt often made from regional, sometimes organic ingredients. Tea, milk and eple juice are generally organic, and if not asked specify that you want the organic variety of sugar beet syrup on your Pickert.

The cafe's name derives from the owner's charity work as a clowndoctor. Her partner is an architect and urban planner who has been planning and conducting social house and neighbourhood building projects with natural materials for decades. The two also offer accommodation in their adjacent tiny house, carefully restored with natural materials and equipped with a rain shower. Ring them for booking even though you find the place on AirBnB.

How can a bookstore survive in a once important medieval smalltown? The Buchhandlung Frühauf in Allendorf has found a way by offering more than books and stationery: The bookseller added regional products to his assortment, both, books with a regional context, and a shelf with drinks and preserves from the region (some of them organic) and a few organic wines to go with your book. Until autumn 2023 they also sold organic bread and rolls by the organic bakery Bäckerei Schill until the baker retired without finding a successor to take over the workshop.

Oberrieden

However, there's still an organic bread bakery in Bad Sooden-Allenberg: The organically certified community-supported agricultural (CSA) collective Höhberg-Kollektiv in the village of Oberrieden (which is a part of the municipality) runs both, a dairy and a bakery in addition to a market garden and a school farm. First of all they distribute their products to their subscribers, but from Monday afternoon to Wednesday evening you can buy excess produce by leaving cash in an honesty box. How frequent you can find bread or dairy products there I cannot say.

Dietzenrode

The vicinity to the Witzenhausen department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences certainly plays a role in the comparably high density of CSAs and organic market gardens in the region. Just across the border between Hesse and Thuringia, the Gemüseinsel ("vegetable island") in Dietzenrode is the one closest to Allendorf, about half an hour by bicycle. This CSA market garden has a booth cum fridge where you can buy freshly harvested vegetables 24x7 without being a member. You pay by putting your money in an honesty box, so come with sufficient cash.

The Gemüseinsel is located on grounds formerly used by the Inselhof, a more than 30 years old organic farm, established by Witzenhausen graduates after the reunification of Germany. The farmers couple is gradually about to retire: They gave up mixed farming recently, but are continuing with a vegetable garden and fruit orchards. The latter provide ingredients for the farm's distillery. You can order their special small-scale spirits on-line or buy them from the farm shop which in summer 2024 still offered frozen and preserved meat and sausages from the last flock of animals, vegetables from the garden and apple juice from the orchard, cheeses from farmer friends and a small selection of organic bodycare. Their products are all organic, but no longer certified.

• Biotop – der rollende Bioladen, Marktstr. 20, Eschwege, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(8)–18(14)
• Reformhaus, Obermarkt 11–13, Eschwege, Mon,Tue,Thu,Fri(Wed) 9(8:30)–18,Sat 8:30–13:30
• Tegut, Bahnhofsstr. 25–27 , Eschwege, Mon–Sat 7–21
• Werragut, Auer Str. 38, Eschwege, daily 24x7
• Eden – gesund & mehr, Am Haintor, Bad Sooden, Mon–Fri(Sat) 15(10)–18(16), Sun 14–17
• Tegut, , Bad Sooden, Mon–Sat 7–21
• DM, Städtersweg 1–2, Bad Sooden, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Café Feldmann, Landgrafenstr. 5, Bad Sooden, Wed–Sun,PH 8:30–18
• Laden 41, Kirchstr. 41, Allendorf, Thu–Fri(Sat) 15(10)–18(13)
• Café Clown, Steinweg 1, Allendorf, Thu–Sun 12–18
• Buchhandlung Frühauf, Kirchstr. 77, Allendorf, Mon–Sat 8:30–13, Mon,Tue,Thu,Fri 15–18
• Solawi Höhberg-Kollektiv, Hilgershäuser Str. 20, Oberrieden, Mon 16–Wed 20
• Solawi Gemüseinsel, Kreisstr. 1, Dietzenrode, daily 24x7
• Inselhof Hofladen, Mühlpl. 18, Dietzenrode, Wed(Sat) 14(9)–18(13)

Closed or no longer organic

When the artisanal baker Schill closed his workshop in October 2023 the region lost its only organic baker. He also delivered to Café Himmelspforte, the parish café of Allendorf's Lutherian St. Crucis church, with its beautiful outdoor seating next to the "bible garden" with a display of plants mentioned in the bible. Nowadays the only organic item the café offers is one type of organic tea bags.

• Bäckerei Schill, Am Wasser 9, Frankershausen
• Café Himmelspforte, Kirchpl. 1, Allendorf, May–Sep Wed–Sun 14–19

Organic Hof (Saale)

With the word Hof meaning "farm" in German it is a tough job to search the web for organic places in this nice medieval town in Franconia. To many the name of the city may be known as the first West-German train station on a train ride crossing the border between the two former German states, the GDR and the FRG, but in fact the city dates back to around 1230. Extra state fonds for being a frontier town are a thing of the past, but the town still has a philharmonic orchestra, a theatre and a noteworthy film festival. It's frequently reachable by regional trains (e.g. two hours from Nuremberg or 2.5 hours from Leipzig or Dresden) and has a beautiful station building. The city is also a nice stop when you take the Saale-Radweg bicycle route, if only to get a glimpse of an archetypal West-German city of the 1990ies.

Daily necessities

Located between the main train station and the centre of the old town you will find Voll gut, a traditional owner-run organic supermarket. Pick a tomato or other small vegetable, choose some cheese and a roll, and the friendly shop keeper will prepare a sandwich for you, to take away or to eat at the sole coffee table with an organic coffee drink or tea. There's no dedicated zero waste corner with gravity bins, but you will find a decent selection of dry food in deposit glasses as well as dairy products, plant-based milk alternatives and beverages in returnable glasses and bottles. Some cottage cheeses and preserved meat spread come in glasses which you can return without a deposit.

Hof isn't far from Töpen, the homebase of one of Germany's major organic wholesale traders, Dennree, and hence the city's branch of the affiliated Biomarkt supermarkets, the Biomarkt Speisekammer in the neighbourhood of Alsenberg (south of the main train station) may count as a local organic supplier. The shop emerged from a smaller traditional organic shop in Ludwigstraße.

Of course, there's also a traditional health-food shop in the pedestrian area of the inner city, the Reformhaus "Gesund&fit". As in any other Reformhaus you'll find organic dry food and sweets, dairy products and vegetarian alternatives, bakery products, herbs and spices, tea and beverages, canned food and preserves, natural bodycare and sustainable cleaning agents, but only about half of it is organically certified, so check labels if unsure.

Sweets, chocolates, tea and more

If you like tea for real you should better pay a visit to one of the city's tea specialist shops. Tea 4 You near Lorenzkirche offers a decent selection of organic green, black and herbal teas. Bring your own tea boxes or jars to avoid waste.

More organic tea as well as organic seeds can be found at the Alraune tea shop in the Westend neighbourhood. The shop moved recently, so do not be surprised if you find it listed under its old address on the opposite side of traffic-heavy Marienstraße, in number 52.

If you have a sweet tooth pay a visit to the Feinzeugs confectioner's store in the old town. It's not dedicated organic, but there's a decent selection of organic sweets, cookies, olives, oil and other delicatessen. They used to sell the city's official organic and fair-trade certified chocolate, the "Hofschokolade", produced by the city's oldest confectioners', the Viennese style coffee house Café Vetter, but this city marketing product does no longer exist.

The cafe is located in the Münsterviertel, a nice neighbourhood dating from the Wilhelminian period, to the right of the attached bakery shop. With its red plush chairs it invites to have an organic tea or coffee drink. Unfortunately this artisanal bakery cum confectionery does not use organic ingredients. Just like the Voll gut supermarket it accepts the local "currency", the Hof Geld, a re-usable plastic card voucher scheme supporting the local economy.

There's a second Café Vetter branch by the city's hospital. However, I wouldn't expect more organic items in these surroundings.

Coffee and lunch

For partially organic, vegetarian or vegan lunch and/or an organic coffee drink with or without a piece of home-made cake head to cafe Jasmin, indoors lovingly decorated with small figures and other nick-nack. It's the place where you, in other cities, would expect to mingle with students, artists, young parents with prams and/or health-conscious office workers during their lunch break. However, just as in any other shop I managed to visit during my lunch break and on my way to the train station in the early afternoon, it was far from crowded, despite the outdoor seating and the beautiful summer weather.

Artisanal toys and gifts

Wooden toys and games, doll houses, pottery, candles, stationary, oils, honey, liqueurs and other high-quality products made by people with handicaps can be found at the Invito manufactory shop in the suburb of Stelzenhof. The nice shop near Lorenzpark unfortunately does no longer exist.

• Voll gut, Bismarckstr. 39, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–19(14)
• Speisekammer, Wunsiedler Str. 7, Mon–Wed(Thu–Fri) 8–19(20), Sat 8–18
• Reformhaus "Gesund & fit", Karolinenstr. 48, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9:30–18(14)
• Tea 4 You, Lorenzstr. 18, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(10)–18(16)
• Alraune, Marienstr. 45, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–18(13)
• Feinzeugs, Altstadt 24, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9–18(14)
• Café Vetter, Biengässchen 2, daily 7–17
• Jasmin, Karolinenstr. 34, Wed–Sat(Sun) 10–18(14)
• Invito, Schaumbergstr. 4, Tue,Thu,Fri(Wed,Sat) 10–18(13), on the four saturdays before X-Mas 10–16

More to try

Without doubt a hundred percent organic or (when it comes to body care and household chemistry) of natural origin are the products of Violey, a leading and reliable organic webshop in Germany. They ran a nice chemist's shop in the old town, opposite the townhall (Rathaus), but when I came there in summer 2022 I came a little too late: A few weeks ago the shop closed for good, in favour of an outlet store on the premises of their warehouse which I did not have time to visit.

• Café Vetter am Klinikum, Eppenreuther Str. 28 , Mon–Thu(Fri) 7:15–18(15), Sun 12–17
• Violey, Wilhelm-Maybach-Str. 4, Tue–Fri(Sat) 10:30(9:30)–18(13)

Closed

• Violey, Ludwigstr. 27 (natural bodycare and household chemicals, now online only)
• Eine-Welt-Laden, Marienstr. 5 (fair trade shop)
• Invito, Mühlberg 19 (moved here)
• Speisekammer, Ludwigstr. 9 moved here
• Kafe Kampschulte, Karolinenstr. 34 (replaced by Cafe Jasmin)
• Kampschultes Kultur-Kantine inside Hof Theatera, Fröbelstr. (unknown whether the successor, "Mocky's Backstage Bistro" offers organic drinks and uses organic ingredients)
• Kreperia Kampschulte, Lorenzstr. 3

Munich: Organic supermarkets

Organic supermarkets can be found on almost every second street corner in Munich but density varies from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

• Supermarket chains
• Independent full-retailers
• Zero-waste supermarkets
• Co-operatives with membership schemes
• Sunday-open groceries

Organic supermarket chains

In addition to a local organic supermarket chain, Vollcorner (consisting of about twenty markets in Munich and around), Munich hosts several branches of Germany's biggest organic chains Alnatura and Denns (both with more than 10 markets each within the city boundaries). The decline of the Basic chain (see below) which formerly dominated the city centre lead to the opening of a new centrally located Denns supermarket on the premises of a former Lidl branch in May, 2024 (the first Denns supermarket in the city centre did not survive tucked away in the basement of a mall).

Until mid of 2023 Munich was the home of the Basic supermarket chain with 11 markets – early in 2021 this chain restricted its activities to South Germany and Austria and sold all other nation-wide branches. However, these measures did not stop the decline of the company driven by management failures, resulting in an insolvency. The Munich shops were taken over by the conventional supermarket chain teGut. Under the new management only the original Basic shop near Isartor and a second one near Nordbad are surviving as organic supermarkets, at least until the end of 2024. After this grace period the company plans to evaluate whether 100 percent organic supermarkets will be part of their concept. The bakery and butchers' counters inside the former Basic headquarter in Bogenhausen are still 100 percent organic as is its greengrocers' section.

TeGut is not the first conventional full retailer experimenting with fully organic supermarkets: With the Naturkind supermarket in Harlaching the Edeka co-operative is also running an experimental organic supermarkt in Munich, their first and only in town.

With Basic on the verge, there are two regional full retail chains left in town: Landmann's with branches in several Bavarian towns, but only one within the Munich city boundaries (including an artisanal butcher's counter run by the Biometzgerei Pichler), and Vollcorner which does not have branches outside the Munich S-Bahn network. In addition there are still many small independent supermarkets, often using a Biomarkt sign, and even some homely, surviving corner shops.

Vollcorner has been making notable efforts to support zero-waste shopping for a long time, and burried many of them due to low customer acceptance. Shopping here you can however be sure not to (indirectly) support huge, globally operating multinational concerns as Vollcorner consistently delists organic brands sold to such companies. So you will find neither Logocos brands (Logona, Lenz, Sante, Heliotrop, Fitne) anymore since the company was bought by L'Oreal (which is partially owned by Nestle), nor Pukka tea (Unilever). Wine-lovers may also collect the corks made from natural cork and return them for recycling at any Vollcorner shop.

On weekdays most organic supermarkets keep open between 9 am and 8 pm, Vollcorner markets open at 8 am. Saturday opening hours vary, the big retailers and Vollcorner close at 8 pm. All groceries except the Biokultur supermarket in the basement of the central train station are closed on Sundays.

Apart from these full range retailers there is a small local food only chain, not offering any toiletries or detergents: Herrmannsdorfer specialises in meat products, bakery items and beer produced in the Herrmannsdorfer Landwerkstätten in Glonn, somewhat outside Munich. The shops close quite early, but if you come during daytime they stock sufficient dry food, dairy products, fruits, veges, sweets and more to spare you the trip to a second shop. Unlike the Basic chain Herrmannsdorfer allows you to buy meat in your own containers.

In 2015 a branch of the hyped Italian Eataly delicatessen chain opened within the architectonically interesting glass and iron construction of Schrannenhalle near Viktualienmarkt. It's true, they offer a good range of organic products, and organic food items are labelled as such on the shelves, but it's nevertheless a disappointing experience: Almost no fresh organic fruit and veges (not even the fresh herbs are organic), only pre-packaged organic meat (forget about the well-assorted meat counter), and the organic wines and spirits in the basement are not marked "bio" on the shelves, so it's very hard to find them.

Independent full-retailers

If you want to support the local economy, both Vollcorner, Munich-based Basic and Herrmannsdorfer shops are all fine, but you may prefer to support independent markets where the owners are actually running the stores and create a homely and personal atmosphere. Often you will find products not on sale by the big chains.

When traditional Grüner Markt chain closed down end of September 2014, their main house in the Altperlach neighbourhood made an exception. Housed in a vault it has a pleasant italophilic, somewhat venerable atmosphere, definitely worth a visit. The perfect surroundings when shopping for delicatessen, and a must-go during the Christmas season. It's now dubbed Mohrhof Perlach.

The other big independent is Schmatz ("smack") in the Glockenbach neighbourhood. Step by if only for the lovely decoration of their bodycare section. Kids are invited to play in an old-fashioned corner shop, and selected items are lovingly set on display. It's the only organic supermarket playing music in the background. By the end of 2018 they issued a ban on fresh herbs in plastics packing, and in 2022 there's a dedicated unpackaged shelf with dry food in deposit glasses.

For the picturesque yet upmarket farmshop feeling in the city aim for Stemmerhof on top of the Sendlinger Berg. Once upon a time a wealthy village farm opposite the village church the nicely restored houses are now the home of an organic supermarket and a range of small owner-run shops. The supermarket's butcher's cum delicatessen disk will happily sell lunch snacks to eat on the spot or to take-away. The same enterprise also runs a second branch in the suburb of Grünwald, just a street crossing opposite of Alter Wirt hotel and restaurant.

In the posh Lehel neighbourhood near the Eisbach river within the Englischer Garten park you'll find an independent organic supermarket with a touch of a spice and greens bazaar, the Bioparadies Biomarkt. Its friendly staff was even willing to open after closing time, to sell me a left-over bread on a Saturday afternoon. The serviced bakery and cheese counter is also the place to refill your spice jars with loose-weight herbs and spices. The supermarket is conveniently located opposite the tram stop "Paradiesstraße".

The former Erdgarten supermarket a ten-minutes walk away from Pasing train station (or two minutes from Pasing Marienplatz square) reopened as a branch of the local Vollcorner chain September, 2019 and continues to serve organic and vegetarian wholefood lunch as well as coffee and cake. They also have a nicely decorated bodycare section. Whether they'll continue to serve knitters with a fine selection of organic wool I am not aware of.

If you by chance happen to strand near the Klinikum Harlaching hospital, don't dispair: two tramstops in North-Eastern direction on the left side (just follow the tram line along Grünwalder Str.) you'll find Biowelt, a crammed independent organic supermarket with a superb selection of both, bodycare and frozen convenience products: All you need if visiting a friend or relative in the hospital in urgent need of a proper meal. Starting with lunch time they offer a helping of organic soup and a small selection of snacks. You may ask for a sandwich made on the spot. The shop also has a zero waste corner with dispensers for legumes and a small selection of other dry food as well as an assortment of dried fruit. Make sure to step by check-out to weigh your containers before you fill them.

Attending a conference at one of the huge Bogenhausen hotels near Effnerplatz? Your lunch break should be sufficient to follow Bülowstraße in Western direction to Herkomerplatz. Here you'll find not only a Herrmannsdorfer butcher's shop cum grocery cum eatery and the Hofpfisterei bakery branch next to it, but also a pleasant family-owned organic supermarket dubbed Biovolet. The Riemensberger family placed some bar tables in the entrance area to have a snack, and there is a second branch in Eching (formerly a Grüner Markt branch). Pay with your EC (VPay) debit card, and they donate a few cent to the BioBoden co-operative which buys farm land in order to lease it to organic farmers. On Thursdays you will receive a 10 percent discount if your shopping cart is worth more than 50 euros.

In the neighbourhood of Schwabing one of the oldest organic groceries in town is located, these days rather boringly dubbed Echt Bio Markt which is the brand of a network of small-scale independent organic supermarkets. The pleasant, traditional shop in Tengstraße offers refill for organic household detergents.

However. not all supermarkets of this brand have been long established: The independent owner-run Echt Bio Markt in Nymphenburg was opened during the lock-down of the covid-19 pandemic: As its name suggests Bio am Romanplatz is the perfect place to shop for provisions at the tram hub at Romanplatz.

There's only one Sunday-open organic supermarket in Munich, the Biokultur in the basement of the main train station. It's sister branch in the newly developed neighbourhood of Riem on the plot of the former Munich airport can be found inside the Riem Arcaden shopping mall, sporting the only organic cafe in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately neither the cafe nor the supermarket are open on Sundays or public holidays.

If you happen to take the S7 urban train in southern direction to the municipality of Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn take the time to visit Roberts Bio-Genussmarkt on the premises of a former farmyard. The spacious, pleasantly refurbished and nicely decorated barn with its dark wooden shelfs makes it easy to spend some time on a coffee and cake in the included cafe area. When the weather is nice sun-shaded outdoor seating is provided. The former village of Höhenkirchen is part of the Mangfall bicycle route from Munich to Rosenheim, and this is a pleasant place for a break.

Waste-free supermarkets

By 2016 the first wrapping free supermarket made it into town: Check the zero-waste post for reviews.

Co-operatives with membership schemes

In the 1970ies and 1980ies many organic neighbourhood shops in Western Germany were co-operatively organised and sold to members only. In the 1990ies most of the surviving shops like the "Abakus" in Bremen opened to the general public, with discount schemes for members. To my knowledge, there's no such surviving shop in Munich, but recently established co-operatives such as "Deine Alternative" in Zorneding continue this inclusive approach.

As community supported agriculture (CSA) has an increasing appeal to city dwellers (the biggest one in Munich is the Kartoffelkombinat), the concept of an organic supermarket for members only came back to town in 2016, with the Ökoesel ("eco donkey"), by now a small, yet full-fledged organic supermarket in Nymphenburg near Leonrodplatz, focussing on package-free food.

When the founders of Munich's oldest organic supermarket, Lebascha in Haidhausen, were to pass over the shop to a younger generation in summer 2022, the Ökoesel folks stepped in. Although both branches focus on a membership scheme, they are neighbourhood groceries open to everyone. As a non-member you'll simply pay non-subsidised (i.e. higher) prices.

In summer 2021, another approach followed with the establishment of the Foodhub co-operative in Giesing, next to the lovely cafe "Shotgun Sister" and an organic bakery shop.

If you live in the vicinity you may consider joining this special organic food co-op which runs on the principle of solidarity: every member works three hours per month for or in the project and what's sold in the supermarket (predominantly regional produce) is decided democratically by its members. The shop concentrates on pre-packaged food, household and toiletry items, with the exception of loose weight fruits and veges, a small number of dry food gravity bins offering grains and nuts, and the self-service bread and rolls section. The household cleaning and bodycare shelves are filled with products in environmentally friendly packaging and focus on re-use (like the bamboo paper kitchen paper which can be washed and thus used several times) or little packaging through bigger volumes. There are plans for a zero-waste station to refill cleaning agents.

When I visited the shop at their open day in autumn 2021 I was surprised to not find a serviced fresh food counter given the fact that Karl Schweisfurt of Herrmannsdorfer Landwerkstätten is one of the three legal heads of the co-operative, most likely due to the fact that such a counter needs to be staffed.

No membership fee is required for becoming a member of the on-line market platform Marktschwärmer. There's a Marktschwärmerei pick-up hub in the neighbourhood of Milbertshofen. If you decide to join, you can order food, beverages, sweets and more from predominantly organic producers in and around Munich.

• Vollcorner, usually Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(8)–20
• Vollcorner Bogenhausen, Warthestr. 1, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Vollcorner Haidhausen, Innere Wiener Str. 52, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(8)–20
• Vollcorner Westend, Kazmairstr. 26, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(8)–20
• Basic, Westenrieder Str. 35, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Basic Schleißheimer Str., Schleißheimer Str. 158–162, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Naturkind, St.-Magnus-Str. 34, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Landmanns Biomarkt, Barerstr. 54-56, Mon–Sat 9–20
• Herrmannsdorfer
• Alnatura
• Denns
• Denns Biomarkt, Zweibrückenstr. 8, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Eataly, Schrannenhalle, Viktualienmarkt 15, Mon–Sat 9:30–20
• Mohrhof Perlach, Ottobrunner Str. 133, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Schmatz, Holzstr. 49, Mon–Sat 9–20
• Biomarkt Stemmerhof, Plinganserstr. 6, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(16)
• Biomarkt Grünwald, Südliche Münchner Str. 2a Grünwald, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8:30–19(14)
• Erdgarten, Planeggerstr. 9a reopened as Vollcorner, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Bioparadies, Lerchenfeldstr. 10, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–19:30(16:30)
• Biowelt, Autharipl. 8, Mon–Sat 8–20, during covid-19 regulations also Sun 12–18
• Herrmannsdorfer Bogenhausen, Bülowstr. 3, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–18:30(13:30), eatery open Mon–Fri 11–15
• Biovolet München, Herkomerpl. 2, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7:30–20(19)
• Biovolet Eching, Schlesierstr. 2 , Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(19)
• Echt Bio Markt, Tengstr. 31, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–19(14:30)
• Bio am Romanplatz, Notburgastr. 19, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7(8)–20(14)
• Roberts Bio-Genussmarkt, Rosenheimer Str. 4c, Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(8)–19(14)
• Biokultur Riem-Arcaden, Willy-Brandt-Pl. 5, Mon–Sat 9–20
• Ökoesel, Helene-Weber-Allee 17, Mon,Wed,Fri(Sat) 10–19(15)
• Foodhub München, Deisenhofener Str. 40, Tue–Sat 8–20 (members only)
• Marktschwärmerei Milbertshofen, c/o Gärtnerei am Hart, Rothpletzstr. 57, Thu 16–18 (pre-order required)

Formerly organic supermarkets

As part of the "teGut" chain the following, former "Basic" supermarkets still offer a reduced assortment of organic products:

• teGut Bogenhausen, Richard-Strauss-Str. 48, Mon–Sat 8–20 (as of summer 2024 still with organic butchers' and bakers' counter)
• teGut Neuhausen, Nymphenburger Str. 82, Mon–Sat 8–20
• teGut Laim, Agnes-Bernauer-Str. 73, Mon–Sat 8–20
• teGut Altstadt, Müllerstr. 45, Mon–Sat 7–20
• teGut Neuperlach, Thomas-Dehler-Str. 45, Mon–Sat 7–20
• teGut Ludwigsvorstadt, Luitpoldstr. 3, Mon–Sat 7–20
• teGut Schwabing, Belgradstr. 59, Mon–Sat 7–20
• teGut Victoriaviertel, Rheinstr. 1, Mon–Sat 8–20

Closed down

The following organic supermarkets do no longer exist although you will still find references to them on the web:

• Alnatura Innenstadt, Sonnenstr. 23
• Alnatura Aschheim, Theodor-Fontane-Str. 10, Aschheim
• Biochicco, Ohlmüllerstr. 19 corner Zeppelinstr.
• Biomarkt CM, Schlüsselbergstr. 13 (Berg am Laim)
• Denns w/in Hofstatt mall, Sendlinger Str. 12a, basement (city centre)
• Die Bio-Bäuerin, Peter-Wolfram-Str. 31 (Gronsdorf)
• Entenbach Naturkost, Schlotthauerstr. 16
• Johannisgarten Naturkost, Johannisplatz 21 (Haidhausen)
• Gut zum Leben, Motorama Ladenstadt, Rosenheimer Str. 30-32 (Haidhausen)
• Tagwerk-Bioladen Hofgut Riem, Isarlandstr. 1 (Riem)
• Marktschwärmerei Werksviertel, c/o Cafe Guatemuc, Atelierstr. 1
• Nicos Naturkost, Kazmairstr. 38
• Veganz, Baldestr. 21 corner Auenstr., including self-service cafe Goodies
• Radix, Thalkirchner Str. 88 (Isarvorstadt)
• Vollcorner Ludwigsvorstadt, Lindwurmstr. 80