#14 2026 Was Obst und Gemüse mit Politik zu tun haben - mit Manfred Hohensinner

·53 min·4 clips

A farmer was spat on and had eggs thrown at him for trying to build a zero-CO2 greenhouse using geothermal energy.

1. 'Ganz offen gesagt' host Stefan Lasnik speaks with Manfred Hohensinner, founder of Frutura, about the political dimensions of fruit and vegetable production in Austria. 2. Hohensinner, a Steiermark farmer's son who drove trucks commercially for eleven years including four in Russia, founded Frutura in 2002; today it employs 900 people and delivers fresh produce to 1.3 million Austrian households daily. 3. The episode's core question is whether and how innovation in food production is structurally blocked by politics, and what consumers can do about rising food prices. 4. Hohensinner's geothermal greenhouse project — two holes drilled to 3,500 meters to extract heat for year-round vegetable growing — took from 2011 until 2022 to gain political legitimacy, was opposed by all major parties, and has still never received a cent in subsidies. 5. During the six years of legal proceedings over the project, Hohensinner says he was publicly pelted with eggs and spat on by critics who accused him of stealing groundwater and undermining local vegetable farmers. 6. He states that the geothermal energy law for agricultural primary production has not been changed since 2013, meaning new projects still lack a clear subsidy framework despite the Ukraine war demonstrating the value of energy-independent food production. 7. On food prices, Hohensinner argues the real problem is structural: since the 1970s overproduction era, Austria has developed an extreme discount culture in which many products never sell at nominal price. 8. He explains that a realistic 3-euro-per-kilo apple price leaves the farmer with approximately 80 to 85 cents, and once storage, sorting, packaging, logistics, and VAT are factored in, margins are narrow at every step. 9. He confirms that large discount promotions — sometimes minus 50% — are funded primarily by the retailer, not passed back to the producer, but producers are consulted and must prepare larger volumes. 10. Hohensinner traces the discount cycle to farmers who, facing overproduction in the late 1970s, chose to produce more rather than stabilise the system, triggering a permanent retailer-led promotion war. 11. On the EU supply chain law, Hohensinner calls it 'badly thought over and badly planned,' noting that wild-harvested goods like mushrooms and globally traded spices simply cannot be traced field-by-field under the proposed framework. 12. He identifies Austrian restaurant trade as a specific transparency failure: despite three attempts over the past decade, his company cannot supply the food-service sector at its stated price and quality level because catering buyers consistently choose cheaper options. 13. Hohensinner warns that with only 3% of Austria's population in primary agriculture — predicted by studies to fall to 1.5% within a decade — the country is 'standing on dangerously thin ice,' and names fossil fuel multinationals' agricultural investment as a coming dependency risk. 14. He says the era of 'rosin-picking' in the food industry is over: secure high-quality production now requires long-term partnerships rather than spot-market speculation, and this structural shift is already happening. 15. On consumer agency, Hohensinner states that consumers ultimately decide what gets produced by what they buy, but that most lack the background knowledge to evaluate whether a price is realistic — information he says producers need to provide openly. 16. He uses the biodiversity example to illustrate systemic risk: 70 to 80% of global food supply depends on pollinators, and their decline is accelerating in ways that are not immediately visible. 17. The interview is conducted in a structured, respectful format with Lasnik guiding Hohensinner through the supply chain from farm to consumer, using the show's standard transparency disclosure at the opening. 18. Hohensinner's speaking style is direct and self-deprecating — he refers to himself as naive and blue-eyed in his early business dealings — but confident on structural policy critique. 19. Listeners interested in Austrian food policy, sustainable agriculture, geothermal energy innovation, or entrepreneurship from an unconventional starting point will find this episode substantive. 20. Listeners who want analysis of international food markets, trade law beyond Austria, or a debate format rather than a long-form interview will likely find the scope too narrow.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Ganz offen gesagt