Dr Gerhard Drexel, Chairman of the SPAR Austria Supervisory Board, has been awarded the Golden Badge of Honour by the Federal State of Upper Austria. SPAR Austria Board member Rudolf Staudinger received the Silver Badge of Honour. Both awards were recently presented by State Governor Thomas Stelzer at a dedicated award ceremony to highlight the two award winners’ impressive career successes.

Golden Badge of Honour for Gerhard Drexel

Dr Gerhard Drexel has been with SPAR Austria for more than 30 years. During his time as CEO, SPAR Austria achieved market leadership in 2020, for the first time in the history of the brand in Austria. He has been Chairman of the SPAR Supervisory Board since stepping down from the Board of Directors in 2021.

Silver Badge of Honour for Rudolf Staudinger

Supervisory Board member Rudolf Staudinger began his career at SPAR in 1984 as a trainee in the Upper Austrian SPAR regional headquarters in Marchtrenk.

In 2000, he became the President of ASPIAG, the holding company overseeing the group’s expansion into Northern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and Croatia. In 2003, he became Director of the Board for the International Business. In 2021 he moved from the Executive Board to the Supervisory Board.

SPAR deeply rooted in Upper Austria

In Upper Austria, SPAR employs about 10,400 team members, of which 435 are trainees. About 300 SPAR stores are operated in Upper Austria. In addition to the regional headquarters in Marchtrenk and a central warehouse in Wels, Upper Austria is also home to the TANN meat factory, as well as SPAR’s own REGIO coffee roasting and tea packaging facility and an INTERSPAR bakery.

SPAR Upper Austria offers 6,820 products from 300 regional Upper Austrian producers. EUROSPAR stores nationwide have a dedicated shelf featuring products from Upper Austria.

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade during 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade.