Introducing the VFI GmbH
VFI GmbH has its roots in a family company in the sixth generation. At our company headquarters in Wels, we employ 150 employees in production, quality assurance, development, administration, and management.
Our value chain starts with the acquisition of the oil seeds, sometimes from our own farms, through pressing, refining, product composition and bottling, right up to storing the products in our fully automatic high bay warehouse, from which we deliver to our customers just in time.
We continually invest in sustainable production, and environmental protection is close to our hearts. We are proud of our locations in Austria, our employees and our regional products.
The history of VFI
Vereinigte Fettwarenindustrie in Wels is a company that belongs to the Rauch family. The roots of the family go back to the 18th century, when Anton Rauch ran a grain mill in Tyrol. In 1945, the family started to produce cooking oil in Innsbruck. The brand Kronenöl was introduced, and quickly established itself as a nationwide known brand.
The path to success
As a result, the development into market leading producers of cooking oils and cooking fats was consistently carried on under the management of Christian Rauch. After mergers, Vereinigte Fettwarenindustrie (VFI) at its current location in Wels, is the most powerful operation of its kind in Austria and still family-owned. With its high-quality products, VFI became a high performance partner for the food trade, commerce and industry.
Austria’s entry into the European Union in 1995 offered new chances for VFI, above all in export. Under the management of Alfred Lehner and Florian Rauch, the Wels location was quickly modernised and built up. VFI developed into an important supplier of vegetable fats and oils in Central Europe.
In 2004, a fully automatic high bay warehouse was built, with 11,000 pallet spaces, to continually have the regularly ordered products available under optimum storage conditions.
Today, VFI is the clear market leader in Austria, with a wide product range of cooking oils and cooking fats, and increasingly uses the ideal starting position to sell the excellent products even across the borders.
Milestones of VFI
1809: Roots of the company go back to 1809 in Linz und Innsbruck
1912: Relocation to Wels
1972: Founding VFI with factories in Wels, Vienna and Innsbruck
1996: Austria’s entry into the EU – building up the Wels site, shutting down the sites in Innsbruck and Vienna
1998: Investment in new, high-performance bottling lines with bottle blowing machines
2002: Olea takes a share in the oil factory “Bimal” in Bosnia/Herzegovina
2003: Erection of the automatic high bay warehouse for 11,000 pallets of finished products
2004 and 2006: Takeover of the strong brands “Bona” and “Ceres” from Unilever Austria
2009–2014: Modernisation of the refinery for the production of the highest oil quality
2009: modern energy generation with combined heat and power station and power-heat coupling
2012: New build of the factory building with tank farm, warehouse, production, laboratory, canteen and office
2014: Start of a new high-performance bottle blowing machine with integrated oil filling
2017: Start-up of the high yield expeller press VFI Ölmühle Ennsdorf
VFI commits to a modern entrepreneurship with responsibility for its employees, the environment and the safe supply of its customers. We are convinced that only continual improvement of our own skills in all areas will lead to sustainable success. Our highly motivated employees are the basis of our success. We continually invest in their further training, and in health-friendly work places with modern equipment, and offer our employees family-friendly working time models.
We can only gain high-quality raw materials for our healthy foods from an intact environment.
Therefore, VFI continually invests in the improvement of the ecological footprint. We have lowered the energy consumption by approx. 30% and the particulate matter emissions by approx. 90%, and are continually developing new packaging, which requires increasingly less material, and is also 100% recyclable.
As the largest oil producer in the country, we are committed to sustainable, regional production. Together with farmers, we have started a programme for guaranteed Austrian rape seed oil and sunflower oil. The origin is certified by AMA, and the rape seed oil is pressed directly by the farmers. In our operation in Wels, the oils are refined and packaged gently. This means that 100% of the added value stays in Austria! Consumers and restaurant operators can find these oils made from sustainable, 100% Austrian production in food stores, as “Kronenöl” rapeseed oil and “Osolio” sunflower oil. The AMA certified Austrian origin oil is now also available for industrial application in IBC tanks.
The partner-like collaboration with our customers and suppliers is central to our worldview. Only together can we achieve economic success, and continually offer our employees good and safe workplaces, and the consumers healthy foods.
We have established our current position with a strict quality policy. At VFI, quality not only means outstanding products, but also an excellent relationship with our customers and suppliers on all levels. It is our aim to achieve optimum customer satisfaction in the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way possible.
In cooperative collaboration with our pre-suppliers and state-of-the-art production methods, we guarantee maximum product security on the one hand, and consideration for the factory’s environment on the outskirts of Wels on the other hand.
In order to achieve the high standards that we set ourselves, we have established a strict quality management system. Through the IFS (International Food Standard) certification with regular audits, we ensure that our quality standard is not only fulfilled, but also regularly checked and adjusted.
The foundation of our success is our outstanding employees. They completely identify with our goals, take on responsibility and bring the necessary flexibility for a dynamic company in a fast-changing market environment. They combine responsibility for the success of their own company, with friendliness and understanding for the needs of our partners.
The management is aware of its responsibility towards the employees and their families. With its business policy oriented towards continual profitability and sustainable success, it offers the many VFI employees high-quality and safe workplaces in a familial work environment, with fair wages and good further training opportunities.
Our home is in Central Europe. Here we want to prove that we have the best offer for all users, with quality products, delivery reliability, advice and fair partnership, and so gain further satisfied customers.