Rohlik comes to Germany as "Knuspr"

Ordering food from the comfort of your sofa: The online retailer Knuspr, which plans to come to Germany next year, aims to make this possible. The Czech company wants to conquer the European market step by step.

During the first lockdown, food delivery services such as REWE and Edeka were fully booked for weeks. Now the existing service is facing competition from a start-up from the Czech Republic. The online retailer Rohhlik wants to conquer the German market under the name Knuspr.

The first location will be in Munich in the second quarter of 2021. Stuttgart, Cologne, Hamburg and Frankfurt are to follow. Knuspr promises home delivery within three hours from a range of 8,000 items. This is also made possible by the planned 7,000 square meter logistics center near Munich.

Unlike other online retailers, Knuspr intends to source 30 percent of its goods from local suppliers and relies directly on manufacturers for 95 percent of its products instead of wholesalers and middlemen. "This puts us in a position to deliver our products to our customers' homes in the shortest possible time and with unparalleled freshness," says CEO Erich Comor. Deliveries are made by the company's own fleet of vehicles. Knuspr expects to employ a total of 250 people at its Munich site in the first year.

CEO Erich Comor has a clear idea of who Knuspr is aimed at: The service "makes it just as interesting for working singles as for families in the big city who don't want to spend their limited free time in the supermarket," he says.

The Czech company Rohlik is considered the most successful online grocery retailer in Europe. Founded in 2014 by Tomáš Čupr, it expanded to Hungary in 2019. Currently - in December 2020 - it is launching in Austria under the name Gurkerl. Rohlik expects annual sales of 300 million euros for 2020.