Andrea Lunzer
Lunzer’s Mass-Greisslerei is the culmination of Andrea Lunzers’ long-standing struggle to reduce packaging waste. Born in 1981 and raised on an organic farm in Burgenland — a sunny, flat region situated in the southeastern corner of Austria — Andrea started working in the organic trade whilst studying renewable resources and sustainability at the University of Applied Sciences of Wiener Neustadt. At Werner Lampert’s consulting agency in Vienna she was responsible for marketing, communication and packaging and managed Zurück zur Ursprung (Back to the roots), an organicc food brand at the Hofer supermaket chain (Aldi’s Austrian branch). Many discussions with the customers about the lack of sustainable packaging led her to rethink her priorities and set up a new business. She turned to green consultancy and founded Unfold – supporting sustainability in packaging. In the end, Andrea Lunzer decided to open an organic, packaging-free grocery store. She is convinced that unlike big companies, customers are eager to live more sustainably and effectively contribute to waste reduction. The success of her shop seems to confirm her intuition. Today, Lunzer’s Mass-Greisslerei offers approximately 600 organic and regional products ranging from raw, seasonal fruits and vegetables to homemade jams and pickles to dairy products and organic detergents.
Sustainable initiatives are sweeping grocery stores worldwide, with the aim to zap excess food and packaging into zero waste. Andrea Lunzer’s no-package grocery store is the first one of its kind in Vienna. The idea is for customers to bring their own bags or refillable containers. In case one comes empty handed you can purchase bottles or jars to fill up oil and juices or sneak a paper bag.