Our topic in the Sustainable Brand Stories this time is a true exception. Its name: VAUDE. Its status: top of the class. VAUDE stands for the initials of the owner family von Dewitz, who founded the company on Lake Constance in 1974. After a years-long transformation process, VAUDE is now considered Germany's most sustainable outdoor brand. With its own academy, it helps other companies get a head start on sustainability.
Manfred Meindl has been with the company since 2010 and, as marketing director, has accompanied the brand's restructuring. From him, we learn how VAUDE became the "sustainability queen," what he thinks of ArmedAngels, whether production in the Far East is compatible with the status of a sustainability frontrunner, and how VAUDE manages to secure sales even in the midst of fierce shitstorms.