discover Mittelstand
Hidden Germany
Everyone has heard of Germany’s global market leaders, brands such as SAP, Deutsche Telekom, Adidas, BMW and Volkswagen. In fact, the 50 most valuable brands in Germany have a combined value of €263 billion.
However very few people have heard of Germany’s “Mittelstand”, the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME’s) companies which form the heart of the Germany economy.
Numbering over one million companies, the Mittelstand employs over 20 million people, is responsible for almost 40% of Germany’s economic output, approximately €3 trillion and accounts for 30% of exports.
Around 1,000 of these SME companies are considered global market leaders in their own vertical segment and have been called “hidden champions”; companies such Sennheiser, Rimowa and Otto Bock, for example, are mid-sized firms that manufacture some very well-known products. Kirchhoff, C.D. Wälzholz and Schubert & Salzer may be slightly less well known, but without them there would be very few cars on the roads, skis on the slopes, or passengers travelling safely on aeroplanes.
Unlocking the market opportunity of working with the Mittelstand companies is enormous, however finding these hidden champions can be hard because instead of one business centre like London or Paris, Germany has 10 business centres each with their own mono-culture. But this still only represents 75% of the German market. The remaining 25% of Mittelstand companies are ‘hidden’ deeper in rural Germany.