The Quality Group GmbH
| GmbH (private) | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | |
| Founded 📆 | December 2020 (merger) registered January 2021 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , Germany |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | |
| Brands |
|
| Revenue🤑 | c. €800 million (2024) |
| Owner | CVC Capital Partners (majority) |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
The Quality Group GmbH (TQG) is a German food and dietary supplement company headquartered in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, with central administration in Hamburg. It operates as a holding company for several consumer brands, principally More Nutrition, ESN, RAW Nutrition and BUM Energy.[1][2]
The group develops, manufactures and distributes protein products, low-calorie food alternatives and dietary supplements, and sells mainly through a direct-to-consumer model based on social commerce and influencer marketing.[3][4] German business media have linked its growth to the consumer protein boom: reported revenue rose from about €198 million in 2021 to around €800 million in 2024, and was expected to exceed €1 billion in 2025.[3][5] Since 2022 the company has been majority-owned by the private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners.[1]
History
The group's two core brands predate the holding company. ESN (Elite Sports Nutrition) was established in 2007 and developed sports nutrition products for the German-speaking market, while More Nutrition was founded in 2017 as a lifestyle-oriented brand focused on low-calorie food alternatives.[2][3]
The present structure originated in December 2020, when the entities behind ESN and More Nutrition merged to combine ESN's production with More Nutrition's marketing operations. The Quality Group GmbH was entered in the German commercial register in January 2021. The group later expanded through smaller acquisitions, among them the snack brand GOT7 Nutrition and the gourmet-food brand Foodist.[1][2]
In May 2022 CVC Capital Partners acquired a majority stake, investing alongside the existing owners, who reinvested as minority shareholders. Several founders, including Christian Wolf and Benjamin Burkhardt, kept holdings and operational roles. After the investment, the group formalized its holding structure and expanded further abroad.[1][2] In December 2023, customs authorities inspected the group's production sites in Elmshorn and Kaltenkirchen in connection with suspected undeclared work; the company described the inspection as a routine check.[6]
Heikki Takala became chief executive in May 2024, succeeding Stefan Smalla.[7] In April 2025 the company entered the United States market through a partnership with the Florida-based brands RAW Nutrition and BUM Energy, taking a majority shareholding; RAW's founders, Dom Iacovone and bodybuilder Chris Bumstead, became minority shareholders in the combined company.[1] In October 2025, More Nutrition acquired the Bremen-based start-up Bettergy and relaunched its prebiotic soft-drink line as "More Fizi".[8][9] During 2025, trade publications reported that CVC was preparing the group for a possible initial public offering, including a new Aktiengesellschaft (AG) as an umbrella entity.[10]
Corporate structure
The group is run as a GmbH and has been majority-owned since 2022 by CVC Capital Partners, which holds its stake through intermediate and umbrella entities.[2] It is led by Heikki Takala (CEO), Douglas Gilbert (CFO) and Selim Tansuğ (COO). From 2024, separate general-manager roles were created for the core brands, with Philipp Markmann leading ESN and Patrycja Nowakowska leading More Nutrition.[11][7]
The central administration is in the Altona district of Hamburg, and the main production facilities are in Elmshorn. According to the company, about 80 percent of its range is made in-house, with logistics sites in Kaltenkirchen and Elsdorf and offices in London and Amsterdam.[3][11]
Operations
The company's main product categories are protein powders and bars, flavored syrups and powders, and vitamin, mineral and supplement products. Its brands target different audiences: More Nutrition for low-calorie nutrition and weight management, ESN for sports nutrition, and RAW Nutrition and BUM Energy for the United States performance-nutrition and functional-beverage markets.[3][1]
The Quality Group uses a direct-to-consumer model, selling mainly through its own online shops while increasingly stocking grocery retailers such as Edeka and Rewe and drugstores.[4][1] Its marketing centers on social commerce, with a network of several hundred influencers acting as brand ambassadors.[3][5] Consumer-protection organizations have challenged the company's health-related advertising, and German courts have found some product claims misleading, after which the company changed its advertising.[12][13][14] The brands' close association with individual figures, particularly co-founder Christian Wolf, has also drawn public and media attention.[15]
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "The Quality Group buys majority of sports-nutrition peer Raw Nutrition". Just Food. GlobalData. April 3, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Eickhoff, Marie (September 22, 2023). "Warum MORE und ESN so erfolgreich sind". MedWatch (in Deutsch). Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "The Quality Group: Milliarden-Hype um Protein-Pulver und Zero-Sirup". Handelsblatt (in Deutsch). February 17, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Proteinprodukte: The Quality Group baut Vertrieb weiter aus". Lebensmittel Zeitung (in Deutsch). March 20, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "ESN und More Nutrition: The Quality Group ist der große Gewinner des Proteinbooms". WirtschaftsWoche (in Deutsch). October 7, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Großrazzia bei Hype-Marke More Nutrition wegen Schwarzarbeit". T-Online (in Deutsch). December 15, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "More Nutrition: Mutter-Firma bekommt überraschend neuen CEO". Business Insider (in Deutsch). May 6, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Bettergy-Gründer verkauft Startup an Christian Wolfs More Nutrition". Business Insider (in Deutsch). October 15, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Neues Produktsegment: Auch The Quality Group launcht präbiotische Limonade". Lebensmittel Zeitung (in Deutsch). October 21, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Proteinprodukte: CVC macht Quality Group fit für die Börse". Lebensmittel Zeitung (in Deutsch). June 5, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "About us". The Quality Group. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Verbraucherzentrale NRW: Erfolg vor Gericht gegen „More Nutrition"" (in Deutsch). Verbraucherzentrale NRW. February 27, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "LG zu „More Nutrition": Irreführende Brownie-Werbung". Legal Tribune Online (in Deutsch). February 29, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Gericht stoppt Heilsversprechen: Der Fall More Nutrition" (in Deutsch). foodwatch. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ "ZDF: Böhmermann prangert beliebtes Diät-Produkt an – für das auch Rezo wirbt". Watson (in Deutsch). November 11, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
This article "The Quality Group" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:The Quality Group. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
