Post by Andreas Gast

I want to tell you all a short story. In my point of view, it is the perfect time for a story. Imagine the following.    1st of June 2006. 7:00 in the morning. A young guy, lets call him Andreas, entered the HOFER head office in Sattledt.  At 7:15 he got the keys for a car, and a number of a store, 51, where he will meet a sales manager for training. It was a very short meeting in the morning. A few words, a copy of his driving license was made, and the key and a mobile phone were handed over. Done.  Training on the job. Everything else was provided by the area manager he joined afterwards in the store.   No GPS system, no smartphone. He knew a few shops in Wels. The only hint he got by his leader was "you know the one. Wels north. Go and good luck. Drive safely."...   His first day was very long. Ended at midnight in another shop finalizing a physical inventory check. He nearly had at least one car accident this day as the area manager he was with, had a “leaded foot”, but extremely capable and efficient.   20 years later he is still in.....  20 amazing years 😊 I am truly grateful for my 20 years with HOFER/ALDI. I have met amazing people, learnt a lot and also achieved a lot. Starting in the stores, which were my home for three years, through the adventure in Greece, to which I was able to commit two years of my time and where I gained a great deal of experience, to the nine years as a buyer in Sattledt, particularly the six years during which I was responsible for ‘Zurück zum Ursprung’. And finally, Global Sourcing. A brilliant team, a very demanding role and fantastic leaders.   Thank you for 20 challenging and brilliant years.   And of course, there’s my private life. I’m grateful to have a wonderful partner and two absolutely lovely girls. Oh, and a cat. 😊   That´s me. Andreas.