Edge Rewrite
location Source code View original
// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a449b2276f8bcf67

Jump to content

Draft:Quality Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: Much of what is described here falls under WP:CORPTRIV: routine business matters which don't contribute to notability, and in some cases seem like undue detail for an encyclopedia article.
    More worrying, though, is the pattern of being vague about criticisms of the company and putting more emphasis on the company's denials than on the criticisms. An event is described as "unannounced inspection" while the actual source cited makes it sound considerably more serious. The substance of criticisms of health claims, and what the consequences of these criticisms were, are not given. This leads the article to appear biased in the company's favor.
    Please note that each Wikipedia has its own independent rules: articles found acceptable on one may not be acceptable on another. The English Wikipedia tends to be particularly demanding for business articles on both notability and neutrality. M kuhner (talk) 13:32, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

The Quality Group GmbH
TypeGmbH (private)
Industry
FoundedDecember 2020; 5 years ago (2020-12)
Headquarters
Elmshorn
,
Germany
Key peopleHeikki Takala (CEO)
Brands
  • ESN
  • More Nutrition
  • RAW Nutrition
  • BUM Energy
Revenuec. €800 million (2024)
OwnerCVC Capital Partners (majority)
Websitewww.tqgg.com/en/

The Quality Group GmbH (TQG) is a German food and dietary supplement company headquartered in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, with its central administration in Hamburg. It was formed in December 2020 by the merger of the businesses behind the sports-nutrition brand ESN and the reduced-calorie food brand More Nutrition and acts as a holding company for those brands and for the United States brands RAW Nutrition and BUM Energy. The private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners has held a majority stake since May 2022.[1][2]

The group sells protein powders and bars, reduced-calorie food alternatives and dietary supplements, mainly direct to consumers through its own online shops and with advertising by influencers. German business media, among them Handelsblatt and WirtschaftsWoche, have described it as the main beneficiary of a consumer protein boom in German-speaking markets. Reported revenue rose from about €198 million in 2021 to around €800 million in 2024, and the company stated that it passed €1 billion in 2025.[3][4][5]

Advertising for the More Nutrition brand has repeatedly been found unlawful. In February 2024 the regional court in Hamburg banned three claims used for a baking mix as misleading, and in September 2024 the regional court in Itzehoe upheld a suit brought by the consumer organization foodwatch and banned social media advertising suggesting that the products help users lose weight or become pregnant.[6][7] In December 2023 German customs checked 344 workers at two of the group's sites in one of that year's largest operations against illegal employment in the region, and between 2023 and 2026 its production subsidiary contested the establishment of a works council in five sets of court proceedings.[8][9]

History

[edit]

ESN, short for Elite Sports Nutrition, was founded in 2007 and sold sports nutrition products for the German-speaking market. More Nutrition was founded in 2017 by the influencer Christian Wolf together with business partners and sold reduced-calorie food alternatives, flavoring powders and supplements, marketed through Wolf's social media following.[2][3]

The two businesses merged in December 2020, combining ESN's production capacity with More Nutrition's marketing, and The Quality Group GmbH was entered in the German commercial register in January 2021.[2][3]

In May 2022 CVC Capital Partners acquired a majority stake, with the previous owners reinvesting as minority shareholders.[1][2] Heikki Takala became chief executive in May 2024, succeeding Stefan Smalla.[10] In April 2025 the group entered the United States market by taking a majority shareholding in the Florida-based brands RAW Nutrition and BUM Energy, whose founders, Dom Iacovone and the bodybuilder Chris Bumstead, became minority shareholders in the combined business.[1]

Corporate structure

[edit]

The group is organized as a GmbH, with CVC Capital Partners holding its majority stake through intermediate entities.[2] Central administration is in the Altona district of Hamburg, production is carried out by the wholly owned subsidiary Nutracorp in Elmshorn, which had about 500 employees in 2026, and the group operates a further site in Kaltenkirchen.[3][11][8] The company behind the More Nutrition brand, and the defendant in the advertising cases brought against it, is the subsidiary Quality First GmbH.[12]

Products and marketing

[edit]

The main product categories are protein powders and bars, reduced-calorie syrups and flavoring powders, and vitamin, mineral and other supplements. ESN is directed at weight training and sports nutrition, More Nutrition at reduced-calorie eating and weight management, and RAW Nutrition and BUM Energy at the United States markets for performance nutrition and functional drinks.[3][1]

Sales are made mainly through the group's own online shops, and its products are also stocked by German grocery chains such as Edeka and Rewe and by drugstore chains.[13] Its marketing rests on social commerce and on several hundred influencers who present the products to their followers, an approach that Handelsblatt and WirtschaftsWoche identify as the main reason for the group's growth.[3][4] The medical reporting website MedWatch wrote that the structure of the influencer program was liable to create dependence among the people taking part, and reported that at least two influencers who had publicly criticized the group received intimidating telephone calls and threatening messages from people close to it. The company said it was shocked by the accounts, distanced itself from the threats and commissioned an external law firm to investigate.[2]

Advertising and health claims

[edit]

In November 2023 the satirical television program ZDF Magazin Royale devoted an episode to More Nutrition. It accused the brand of unsubstantiated advertising promises and reported that influencers were given lists of formulations to avoid so that their posts would not be classified as unlawful health claims.[14]

In February 2024 the regional court in Hamburg ruled on a suit brought by the consumer advice center of North Rhine-Westphalia that an Instagram video advertising a protein brownie baking mix was misleading. The court held that the statements "95 percent less sugar" and "70 percent less fat" were inadmissible because the advertisement did not indicate what the comparison referred to, and that calling the mix "perfect for any diet" attributed properties to it that it did not have.[6][12][15]

In March 2024 the consumer organization foodwatch sued over health claims in the brand's social media advertising. In September 2024 the regional court in Itzehoe found that statements to the effect that the products help with losing weight or support women in becoming pregnant breached the European Union's health claims regulation, under which only claims authorized following assessment by the European Food Safety Authority may be used, and banned their further use in short videos and testimonials.[7][16] The company appealed and then withdrew the appeal in May 2025, so that the judgment became final.[17]

Employment practices

[edit]

On December 12 and 13, 2023, about 170 officers of the customs administration's undeclared work unit, supported by the federal police and the immigration authority, checked two of the group's sites in Elmshorn and Kaltenkirchen. According to the Itzehoe main customs office, the operation followed an anonymous tip-off about some 30 people suspected of being employed illegally in the company's logistics operations and was one of its largest of the year. Of 344 workers from 13 companies who were checked, 84 were suspected of working without a residence title and a valid work permit, and the office said it had found extensive indications of employees not properly registered for social insurance and of breaches of the minimum wage. Criminal proceedings were opened against those responsible.[8] The company described the operation as a routine check.[18]

Employees of the production subsidiary Nutracorp elected a works council for the first time in June 2026. According to the food and hospitality workers' union NGG, the election followed a three-year dispute and five sets of proceedings before labor courts. The labor court in Elmshorn had appointed an electoral board in 2023, Nutracorp challenged that decision as far as the Federal Labour Court, which confirmed the appointment in autumn 2025, and applications to stop the election shortly before it took place were rejected. The Quality Group stated that it recognized the statutory right of employees to co-determination and intended to work constructively with the new body.[11] Later in July 2026, Handelsblatt reported that Nutracorp was contesting the election in court and had applied for judicial consent to dismiss two works council members without notice, and that the company would not comment on pending proceedings.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Quality Group buys majority of sports-nutrition peer Raw Nutrition". Just Food. GlobalData. April 3, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eickhoff, Marie (September 22, 2023). "Warum MORE und ESN so erfolgreich sind". MedWatch (in German). Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Quality Group: Milliarden-Hype um Protein-Pulver und Zero-Sirup". Handelsblatt (in German). February 17, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "ESN und More Nutrition: The Quality Group ist der große Gewinner des Proteinbooms". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). October 7, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Nahrungsergänzungsmittel: The Quality Group steigert Umsatz um mehr als 40 Prozent". Lebensmittel Praxis (in German). July 21, 2026. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "LG zu "More Nutrition": Irreführende Brownie-Werbung". Legal Tribune Online (in German). February 29, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Health Claims: More Nutrition unterliegt Foodwatch vor Gericht". Lebensmittel Zeitung (in German). September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 "Hauptzollamt Itzehoe geht erneut gegen illegale Beschäftigung vor: 84 Personen ohne gültige Arbeitserlaubnis festgestellt" (Press release) (in German). Hauptzollamt Itzehoe. December 13, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Keilen, Annika (July 31, 2026). "Nutracorp: Quality-Group-Tochter geht gegen Betriebsrat vor". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  10. ↑ "More Nutrition: Mutter-Firma bekommt überraschend neuen CEO". Business Insider (in German). May 6, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Nach langem Rechtsstreit: Nutracorp bekommt Betriebsrat". NDR (in German). July 16, 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Verbraucherzentrale NRW: Erfolg vor Gericht gegen "More Nutrition"" (Press release) (in German). Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen. February 27, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Proteinprodukte: The Quality Group baut Vertrieb weiter aus". Lebensmittel Zeitung (in German). March 20, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  14. ↑ ""Wie Scientology, nur nicht so harmonisch": Jan Böhmermann nimmt sich Hype-Firma More Nutrition vor". RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (in German). November 11, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Urteil: Gericht verbietet "More Nutrition" irreführende Werbung für Brownies". Lebensmittel Zeitung (in German). February 27, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  16. ↑ "More Nutrition verliert vor Gericht: Influencer-Werbung für Fitness-Produkte unzulässig" (Press release) (in German). foodwatch. September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Nach foodwatch-Klage: More Nutrition zieht Berufung zurück" (Press release) (in German). foodwatch. May 27, 2025. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Großrazzia bei Hype-Marke More Nutrition wegen Schwarzarbeit". T-Online (in German). December 15, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Quality_Group&oldid=1373699497"