Founding and early expansion (2011–2015)
Veganz was founded in 2010 by Jan Bredack, a former senior manager at Mercedes-Benz, and his then-wife Juliane Kindler. Wanting to simplify vegan food shopping by bundling vegan products in one sales point, they started to build a chain of vegan supermarkets. The company opened its first store in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood on 12 February 2011, with 250 square metres of space. Bredack told the Berliner Zeitung that he had anticipated 100 customers a day, but instead averaged 400.[5]
More supermarkets were opened across Germany, reaching up to ten stores including franchise outlets in Vienna and Prague.[6] In parallel, Veganz entered wholesale distribution, supplying chains including Edeka, Rewe, Metro, dm, and Rossmann.[7]
In the spring of 2015, the company launched its own brand of vegan products. By the end of the year, a range of around 50 plant-based products was available.
Retail insolvency (2016–2017)
However, the sales volume in the stores declined as conventional supermarkets expanded their vegan offerings a trend that Veganz's own wholesale operations had accelerated. In December 2016, the retail subsidiary Veganz Retail GmbH filed for self-administered insolvency (Planinsolvenz) at the Charlottenburg District Court.[5] Bredack stated the stores were losing up to €500,000 per month and declared the model of the pure vegan supermarket obsolete.[6][8] Bredack dismissed media coverage of the insolvency as "bullshit" and "fake news," although the subsidiary was in fact insolvent.[6]
At least four of nine stores were closed immediately. The remaining Berlin locations closed by 2022–2023.[9][10]
Transition to manufacturing and IPO (2017–2021)
Following the insolvency, Veganz pivoted to branded plant-based manufacturing and wholesale. In 2019, the company was restructured as Veganz Group AG and issued bonds in 2020 with a 7.5% interest rate.[11] The group turnover increased by 28% to €26.6 million in 2019.[12] By 2021, Veganz offered over 120 own-brand products in approximately 22,000 retail locations across 26 countries.[13]
On 10 November 2021, Veganz Group AG went public in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at an issue price of €87 per share near the bottom of the marketed range of €85–105 raising approximately €33.8 million in gross proceeds. Legal advisors were Goodwin Procter and Noerr.[14][15]
The stock traded below the issue price from its first day. On 24 May 2022, shares fell approximately 50% in a single session following poor quarterly results.[17] By March 2026, the stock had reached an all-time low of €3.83 a loss exceeding 95% from the IPO price with market capitalisation of approximately €5 million.[2]
Restructuring and rebranding (2025)
In August 2025, shareholders approved the spin-off of operating divisions Mililk Food Tech (2D-printed plant milk), Happy Cheeze, Peas on Earth, and Veganz into standalone subsidiaries. The company was renamed Planethic Group AG on 8 September 2025.[18][19]
The Mililk subsidiary was established with an internal pre-money valuation of €80 million approximately 16 times the parent company's total market capitalisation at the time and management announced a potential Nasdaq listing for H2 2026.[20]
Additional acquisitions in September 2025 included Suplabs GmbH (dietary supplements) and IP Innovation Partners Technology GmbH (2D printing machine technology) the latter from a company controlled by the Deputy Supervisory Board Chairman (see below).[21]
