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= Rhinosinusitis = Category:Chronic lower respiratory diseases Category:Bronchus disorders Category:Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate Category:Wikipedia emergency medicine articles ready to translate Rhinosinusitis is a simultaneous infection of the nasal mucosa (rhinitis) and an infection of the mucosa of the paranasal sinuses (sinusitis). A distinction is made between acute rhinosinusitis and chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background
Because sinusitis generally is preceded by an infection of the nasal mucosa, some authors suggest generally replacing the term “sinusitis” with “rhinosinusitis”. The functional unity of the two mucosa speaks in in favor of this replacement. A distinction is made between acute and chronic rhinosinusitis. Acute sinusitis last a maximum of 12 weeks. The clinical symptoms of an acute rhinosinusitis are purulent nasal secretion, nasal obstruction and/or tension headache or feeling of fullness in the facial area. Acute rhinosinusitis can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection – a distinction is not possible during the first days. If the clinical picture follows a two-stage development, it indicates a bacterial rhinosinusitis. Chronic rhinosinusitis lasts more than 12 weeks with no complete recovery. The symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis are less prominent/pronounced than of acute rhinosinusitis. Chronic rhinosinusitis is characterized/shaped by an impaired nasal inspiration, feelings of pressure and swelling in the facial area, as well as a higher susceptibility to infection.

Severe complications are rare, although orbital and intracranial inflammations can occur.

Therapy
Inhalation therapy mechanically removes deposits and relieves the symptoms of allergic or inflammatory diseases like acute or chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). In essence, inhalation therapy resolves the obstruction found to be bothersome, alleviates the irritation of the nasal mucosa and supports the self-cleaning mechanisms. Inhalation therapy is commonly mentioned in North American and international guidelines for treatment of CRS (Bachmann et. al, 2000). There are different therapeutic approaches for acute rhinosinusitis. Among other things, pain killers, decongestant nose drops or sprays to reduce the local swelling of the mucosa, topical steroids and phytotherapeutics can be used. In case of a bacterial rhinosinusitis antibiotics are a typical therapeutic treatment.

History
As with the slightly older Aviation Cocktail, to whose recipe there is no similarity, the name is reminiscent of aviation which developed rapidly at that time. In those years when international telephone connections were still a rarity, airmail was the fastest means of communication across national borders. Because of prohibition, Americans were only able to legally drink alcohol abroad until 1933. Cuba, among other countries, benefited from this as a pronounced bar and cocktail culture began developing on the island in the 1920s. Since 1925, flights were available from Key West to Havana, and in 1930, a regular airmail service was established to and from the island. Shortly after, the Airmail Cocktail appeared for the first time in an advertising brochure of the then still Cuba-based rum manufacturer Bacardí.

In 1941, the recipe was published in a mixology book. In his recipe collections, Just Cocktails (1939) and Here's How (1941), the author W.C. Whitfield had collected numerous drinks from the years of prohibition and provided them with comments partly in laconic style. As far as the Airmail Cocktail is concerned, Whitfield commented on it ‘It ought to make you fly high’. The cocktail gained further popularity when the recipe was mentioned in the Handbook for Hosts in Esquire magazine in 1949.

In the following decades, the cocktaill wasn't very popular. In the 2010s, however, the cocktail experienced another boom by being mentioned in the ‘PDT Cocktail Book’ (2011) and by the promotion of alcoholic drinks by the brand Bacardí.

Ingredients and similar cocktails
The basis for the Airmail Cocktail is a sour mixture of rum, lime juice and honey (or honey syrup), which are first shaken on ice in a cocktail shaker and then strained into a pre-cooled Cocktail glass. The mixture is then topped up with sparkling wine. The drink is similat to the Canchánchara, which consists of the same ingredients except for the sparkling wine. ‘Esquire’ magazine calls the Airmail Cocktail a "combination of the cocktails French 75 and Honey Bee". The French 75 is a Champaign-based drink and a classic mixture of Gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup, while the Honey Bee consists of white rum, honey and lemon juice and therefore is akin to a Daiquiri. A modern cocktail which shares the ingredients rum, lime juice and champagne with the Airmail Cocktail is the Old Cuban. Its creation dates back to 2002.

Most recipes feature a mixture ratio of 3 cl rum, 1.5 cl lime juice and 1.5 cl honey syrup, which are then topped up with 3 cl champagne and either garnished with a slice of lime on the rim of the glass or not garnished at all - as usual for cocktails based on sparkling wine. The magazine Imbibe recommends a dash of Angostura (bitters) and a mint leaf, while the rum manufacturer Bacardí recommends a postage stamp as garnish.

The Cocktail can be prepared with dark or white rum. Dark rum is best complimented with the addition of a comparatively aromatic honey, while white rum prefers the use of a mild honey like Acacia blossom honey. Cuban rum is often recommended. Substitution of the lime juice with lemon juice is possible. The honey syrup used for the cocktail is a mixture of 2 parts honey and 1 part water, which is easier to incorporate into mixtures and to add to taste than pure honey. In most cases, the cocktail is topped up with dry champagne, Crémant or sparkling wine (less so with Prosecco).

It is usually served straight up in a pre-cooled champagne flute or coupe. Some recipes call for much larger quantities of liquid and proportionally more sparkling wine which therefore suggests serving the cocktail in a Collins glass.



= Airmail (Cocktail) = The Airmail or Air Mail (also Airmail Cocktail) is a classic cocktail based on rum, lime or lemon juice, honey, and sparkling wine. It was probably created during or shortly after the period of prohibition in the United States of America or on Cuba, i.e. in the 1920s or 1930s.

History
As with the slightly older Aviation Cocktail, to whose recipe there is no similarity, the name is reminiscent of aviation which developed rapidly at that time. In those years when international telephone connections were still a rarity, airmail was the fastest means of communication across national borders. Because of - prohibition, Americans were only able to legally drink alcohol abroad until 1933. Cuba, among other countries, benefited from this as a pronounced bar and cocktail culture began developing on the island in the 1920s. Since 1925, flights were available from Key West to Havana, and in 1930, a regular airmail service was established to and from the island. Shortly after, the Airmail Cocktail appeared for the first time in an advertising brochure of the then still Cuba-based rum manufacturer Bacardí.

In 1941, the recipe was published in a mixology book. In his recipe collections, Just Cocktails (1939) and Here's How (1941), the author W.C. Whitfield had collected numerous drinks from the years of - prohibition and provided them with comments partly in laconic style. As far as the Airmail Cocktail is concerned, Whitfield commented on it ‘It ought to make you fly high’. The cocktail gained further popularity when the recipe was mentioned in the Handbook for Hosts in Esquire magazine in 1949.

In the following decades, the cocktail wasn't very popular. In the 2010s, however, the cocktail experienced another boom by being mentioned in the ‘PDT Cocktail Book’ (2011) and by the promotion of alcoholic drinks by the brand Bacardí.

Ingredients and similar cocktails
The basis for the Airmail Cocktail is a sour mixture of rum, lime juice and honey (or honey syrup), which are first shaken on ice in a cocktail shaker and then strained into a pre-cooled cocktail glass. The mixture is then topped up with sparkling wine. The drink is similar to the Canchánchara, which consists of the same ingredients except for the sparkling wine. ‘Esquire’ magazine calls the Airmail Cocktail a "combination of the cocktails French 75 and Honey Bee ". The French 75 is a Champagne-based drink and a classic mixture of Gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup, while the Honey Bee consists of white rum, honey and lemon juice and therefore is akin to a Daiquiri. A modern cocktail which shares the ingredients rum, lime juice and champagne with the Airmail Cocktail is the Old Cuban. Its creation dates back to 2002.

Most recipes feature a mixture ratio of 3 cl rum, 1.5 cl lime juice and 1.5 cl honey syrup, which are then topped up with 3 cl champagne and either garnished with a slice of lime on the rim of the glass or not garnished at all - as usual for cocktails based on sparkling wine. The magazine Imbibe recommends a dash of Angostura(bitters) and a mint leaf, while the rum manufacturer Bacardí recommends a postage stamp as garnish.

The Cocktail can be prepared with dark or white rum. Dark rum is best complimented with the addition of a comparatively aromatic honey, while white rum prefers the use of a mild honey like Acacia blossom honey. Cuban rum is often recommended. Substitution of the lime juice with lemon juice is possible. The honey syrup used for the cocktail is a mixture of 2 parts honey and 1 part water, which is easier to incorporate into mixtures and to add to taste than pure honey. In most cases, the cocktail is topped up with dry champagne, Crémant or sparkling wine (less so with Prosecco).

It is usually served straight up in a pre-cooled  champagne flute or coupe. Some recipes call for much larger quantities of liquid and proportionally more sparkling wine which therefore suggests serving the cocktail in a Collins glass.

= The Seepark Student Quarter =

The Seepark Student Quarter, which is also often called “StuSie”, is Freiburg's biggest student quarter. It is located in Freiburg-Betzenhausen at Seepark and accommodates about 1.800 students in 25 buildings.

History


In 1966, the architects Wolf Irion, Rainer Graf and Wolf Maier designed the student quarter as a park-like residential area with three- and eight-story buildings. In 1989 to 1990, the architect Wolfgang P. Woseipka added a nine-story component to the already existing eleven-story house 24. Every floor in the new construction received four two-bedroom apartments and one four-bedroom apartment, which had a eat-in kitchen and an oriel with a view of the lake. The single apartments in the old building were transformed into bigger apartments including a bathroom and a kitchen, too. In 2012, the architecture's office Amann Burdenski Munkel Architekten seemlessly continued the building development under another redensification project. Small details, like the change from white to normal concrete and the staggered window openings were also adopted for the new ready-made concrete facades. In 2014, the architectural office was given the award “best architects 14” in the category “Home construction/Multifamily residential” for the buildings StuSie 16+38.

From 2020, the student quarter will be expanded by approximately 1.200 living spaces. The first construction phase, consisting of three new buildings, was largely completed in January 2020. At the end of August, 130 new rooms were added with the completion of house 28. In order to relieve Freiburg's housing market, the regional council Freiburg is supporting the construction of three new residential towers, including 300 apartment-sharing communities and single apartments. By 2025, 1.416 new residential units are expected to be finalized, while 217 are going to be demolished. The area is featured in the Perspektivplan Freiburg 2030 ( as an area of development.

Description


Part of the settlement consists of five groups of houses, which consist of two three-story and one eight-story building. The new buildings are not in contrast, but in tradition with the existing buildings.

Even though the redensification fits into the existing structure, more modern methods have been used during the construction process itself, which, for example, with lower transmission heat losses, is well below the requirements of the savings ordinance. In the complex there are single apartments, shared apartments and shared floors, as well as apartments with two and three rooms for student families. There are a total of 22 two- to eleven-story houses in which facilities relevant to student life such as a bicycle workshop, wood workshop and music rooms are housed.The tallest buildings are community houses 12 and 24, each 40 m.

There are also three Max Kade houses within the settlement, some of which are available to the International Office of the University of Freiburg for foreign exchange students. Apartments are also provided for the Max Planck Institute and the International Office, in which visiting professors can live with their families.

The settlement is bounded in the northwest by the Flückigersee, and in the southwest it extends to Sundgauallee. Tram line 1 connects it to the city center and the university.

Student Community
There are a couple of free time activities and community gatherings for students in the student housing areas, which are organized by the association “StuSie e.V.”.

In some residence halls there are bars, tended and organized by other students, and some halls offer other free time activities like games, parties and other forms of student gatherings on an almost daily basis. Normally, the student associations of the Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg im Breisgau organize department parties in one of three different locations in the residence hall area “StuSie”. Those parties can also be attended by students of other departments.

In addition to that, there are some beer-pong tournaments offered some times, which are announced online or rarely by flyer at University.

Legal actions
Because the student parties cause a lot of noise, there were some complaints of noise annoyance by the surrounding neighborhood.

Following the complaints the student administration of Freiburg ‘Studierendenwerk Freiburg’ attempted to cancel the volume down by hanging banners, poster and spreading informative flyers in the residence area.

The informal anthem
There is no ‘official anthem’ of StuSie, but as many fraternities, which are quite common in this area of Germany, have an anthem or another form of intentificatonal song, StuSie developed an own anthem over the time.

It’s called ‘The heart of Freiburg’ (orig. Ger.: ‘Das Herz von Freiburg), is an adaptation of a German folk song called ‘The heart of Frankfurt’ (orig. Ger.: ‘Das Herz von Frankfurt’) by the folk band ‘Adam und die Micky’s‘.

Anthems of fraternities are somehow equivaltent in this case to university anthems, like ‘ten thousand Harvard men’ of Harvard University or the ‘Badnerlied’ (a kind of anthem of the Baden area in southern Germany).

The inofficial anthem of StuSie shows very well the love of the students for alcoholic excesses, and the love for the student community. It got created by students living in the residence hall and will probably remain very inofficial.

Weblinks

 * Website des Vereins StuSie e.V.

Geography
Zell-Weierbach is located in the foothills of the Black Forest, at a distance of 1 km from downtown Offenburg, in between the two wine villages Rammersweier and Fessenbach. The 7.79 km² big neighborhood are subdivided into 3.55 km² woodland, 1.21 km² fields and meadows, and 1.01 km² wine country. 1.83 km² are built on, while 0.37 km² are taken up by waters, sports fields, and leisure facilities.

History
Weyerbach was first mentioned in a document in 1235. Later names of the place were Wygerbach (1289) and Wigerbach (1447). In 1241, Celle was first mentioned in documents. Later spellings would be Zell (1367) and Zelle (1400). In 1551, Zell, Weierbach, and Riedle, together with Ortenau, became part of the Further Austria. The three localities became part of Baden in 1805. In 1811, the so-called Zeller Stab (consolidation of villages) was broken up. The communities Zell, Weierbach, Riedle, Fessenbach and Oberrammersweier were all part of the Zeller Stab. The disbanding of the consolidation was the consequence of a request of Oberrammersweier to separate from the Zeller Stab. Consequently, on July 15, 1820, the three communities, Zell, Weierbach, and Riedle upon request were combined to become known under the name of Zell-Weierbach. In 1850, some citizens of Zell emmigrated to Missouri in the U.S., to the Ste. Genevieve County of today, because of an economical crisis in Zell. Ste. Genevieve County is located around 60 miles south of St. Louis. On January 1, 1971, Zell-Weierbach was suburbanized in the city of Offenburg during the local government reorganization.

Viticulture
Zell-Weierbach's vintner's cooperative, which was founded in 1923 is famous for its wines, in particular the Zeller Abtsberg, a Spätburgunder (engl. pinot noir) red wine. Other types of vines are: Riesling (white grape variety with flowery aromas and high acidity), Müller-Thurgau (white grape variety; crossing of Riesling and Madeleine Royale), and Ruländer (engl. pinot gris; white wine grape, mutant of the pinot noir variety). The Badische Weinstraße (tourist itinerary of around 500 km in the south-west of Germany) runs through the locality.

Sights
The Schulmuseum Zell-Weierbach (engl. school museum) was founded in 1996. The exhibition is based on a collection by the school inspector Jupp Wunderle, which was started in the 1970s. Among the rooms that can be visited are a former teacher's flat in the school building, a sewing room with numerous handcrafts, as well as a library with about 13 000 school books from the past three centuries. In 2005 the museum was renamed the Museum for the former Grand Ducal Baden Schools.

The Zeller Barefoot Path is a hiking trail that aims to motivate people to walk barefoot in the forest. The so-called Wolfsgrube has an outdoor enclosure with a petting zoo.

The Brandeckturm is a lookout tower on the summit of the 686 meter high Brandeckkopf in the middle of the Brandeck landscape protection area. Today nothing remains of Bielenstein Castle, which was destroyed in the 16th century.



= Alnatura = The Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH is a chain of organic food supermarkets and producer of organic food headquartered in Darmstadt, Hesse in Germany. The company was founded in 1984 and distributes food and textiles, produced according to ecological aspects, under the trademark Alnatura. These products are sold both by various drugstore and retail chains as well as the captive organic supermarket chain Alnatura Super Natur Markt. Alnatura currently operates 107 supermarkets in Germany, each with 500 to 800 square meters of retail space, mainly in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Unlike other retail chains, Alnatura does not have a Betriebsrat (engl. employee representative committee/worker’s council) for the entire company and its employees were paid below the collective agreement up until 2010.

Founding
The economist Götz Rehn, who still is CEO today, founded the Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH as a consulting firm under the name Konzeption und Vertrieb natürlicher Lebensmittel Dr. Rehn in Fulda, Hesse in 1984. Initial plans to conceptualize the business as stores for children’s clothing made from cotton or a chain of vegetarian self-service restaurants, were discarded. A year later, Alnatura was registered as a word and design trademark. In 1986, the company began selling organic products as a retail format in the grocery stores of tegut and dm drug stores. These cooperations make half of the revenue. The company's first supermarket opened in Mannheim, Baden-Wuerttemberg on October 1, 1987. In 1989, the company moved from Fulda to Bickenbach. Since January 2019, the company is based in Darmstadt.

According to information provided by the company, by 2005 more than half of all leading positions were occupied by women. In the same year, the company received the first prize Nachhaltiger Mittelstand 2004 (engl. sustainable middle class) from the EthikBank, and Rehn was nominated for „Entrepreneur of the Year“ by the auditors Ernst & Young. In 2006, the 25th Alnatura supermarket was opened in Cologne.

In 2012, the first Alnatura organic supermarket was opened in Switzerland in collaboration with Migros in Zürich. For this purpose, the Alnatura AG was founded with its headquarters in Zürich. Since then, their trade partner Migros has been marketing Alnatura products in its stores all over Switzerland, and since July 2014 also via LeShop.ch. Alnatura and Migros' newest collaboration consists of setting up 30 new Alnatura branches throughout urban centers across Switzerland. Since 2014, it is also possible to collect Payback points in Germany, whereas in Switzerland Alnatura is part of the Cumulus program.

Disagreement between Alnatura and dm since 2014
In 2014, the drugstore chain dm, which until then had been Alnatura 's largest sales partner, decided that they would from now on sell organic products of their own brand and hence discontinue many Alnatura products. Alnatura was able to balance this out by opening more stores of their own and becoming partners with the Edeka-Group, dm 's rival Müller by Erwin Müller, and by collaborating internationally. The reasoning behind that was a disagreement between the two founders Götz Werner (dm) and Götz Rehn (Alnatura). Because of a cooperation agreement between the two businesses from the 1980's, dm had the right to a say in Alnatura 's selection process concerning new sales partners. But after dm discontinued many Alnatura products, Alnatura was no longer compelled to adhere to the contract anymore and Rehn started to look for new sales partners. As a result, dm sued for compliance with the contract at the Landgericht (engl. regional court) in Darmstadt. After a decision in favor of Alnatura, dm appealed. After years of legal disputes, the Oberlandesgericht (engl. Higher Regional Court) in Frankfurt decided in February 2019 that the dismissal of the cooperation agreement in 2014 was effective. Consequently, dm had demanded a total of six million euros from Alnatura. Two million euros had been retained by dm from their legal opinion in 2014, even though Alnatura had already delivered the goods. Alnatura, for their part, demanded payment of the unpaid invoice and in February 2019, the Oberlandesgericht (engl. Higher Regional Court) ruled in their favor.

During a second proceeding brought up by Werner, he demanded trademark rights from Rehn to Alnatura. The case was tried by the Landgericht (engl. regional court) in Frankfurt. The lawsuit, however, was rejected at first, so Werner filed a complaint at the Oberlandesgericht (engl. Higher Regional Court).

Development after 2015
Since 2015 the products were delivered through a proper online shop (see E-Commerce) in cooperation with the Delticom subsidiary Gourmondo Food GmbH to the following 19 European countries: Germany, Austria, Italia, Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Czechia, Slovakia, Ireland, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden. Also since 2015, certain baby products have been available at Windeln.de.

On March 17th 2016, the 100th Alnatura supermarket was opened on Friedrichstraße in Berlin. By November 2018, there were 132 Alnatura supermakets in 63 cities and about 12,300 stores of the 19 trading partners in 14 European countries.

In 2016, the construction of the new company headquarters on the terrain of the former company Kelley Barracks in the city of Darmstadt were started. According to the company, the building meets the ecological standards and to date is the biggest office building in Europe that has an exterior facade which is completely made from loam. The corporation established a so-called Alnatura Campus, on which amongst others the deli restaurant Tibits opened up a store. The building was opened in January 2019.

In September 2016, the first eggs of the Alnatura Bruderküken-Initiative were regionally delivered; the concept is planned to be applied to more and more stores.[23] The initiative aimed to exclusively offer eggs of hens whose male siblings are raised to be broiler chickens and are not killed when they are still chicks.[24][25] The same month, Alnatura enabled mobile payments via Payback Pay.[26]

In March 2018, a store of the French chain ‘Match’ started to sell Alnatura products. The plan was to launch Alnatura products in all Match stores in France by the end of 2019. [27]

In September 2018, it was announced that Alnatura would expand their cooperation with bringmeister.de [28] and would remove single-use plastic bags for fruits and vegetables [ dead link, Search in web archives: Bio-Händler schafft Plastik-Einwegtüten für Obst und Gemüse ab ]. Likewise, disposable cups for the selling of drinks are no longer available.[29]

In Oktober 2019, Alnatura and other organic supermarkets in Germany discontinued millet products by the 'Spreewälder Hirsemühle' because the owner is a member of the political party AfD (Alternative for Germany).[30]

In the beginning of 2020, Alnatura closed down its online shop.[31]

Key Figures
The company’s key figures according to the attested annual financial statements (fiscal year from October 1 till September 30 respectively; annual average of employees including trainees):[32]

International activity
In Germany, other trading partners such as the German retail chain Edeka and the drugstore chain Müller also started cooperating and selling Alnatura’s proprietary products.

In Luxembourg, products by Alnatura are distributed by the local supermarket chain Cactus [33], while in France, the products can be bought in the supermarket chain Match.

In 2012, Alnatura collaborated with the Swiss market chain Migros.[34] In late July 2019, Migros opened the twelfth Alnatura store in Switzerland in the city of Lucerne.[35]

In Austria, like in Germany, Alnatura was mostly marketed by the drugstore chain dm and various reform houses ("Reformhaus") at first. Following the afore mentioned disputes between Alnatura and dm, Alnatura expanded its distribution network in Austria in 2015 to include the supermarket chains Billa and Merkur, which are part of Rewe International, while at the same time dm reduced the range of Alnatura products and focused on corresponding Austrian products via their own brand dmBio, which was launched in 2015.[36][37]

Membership and Operations
Alnatura is part of the IFOAM-Organics International[38] and a member of the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelgesellschaft (BÖLW; engl. ecological food industry federation).

Since June 2012, Alnatura-markets have been participating in the Payback-Points-Programme. [39]

Alnatura is a sponsor of the “Wir haben es satt!” demonstrations (engl. We are fed up) and supports the demands of the campaign. [40]

Götz Rehn, the founder and director of Alnatura, was greatly influenced by the Anthroposophic movement, instilling its values to the brand. So since 2011, each monthly corporate publication Alnatura Magazine has a special supplement Anthroposophical Perspectives attached, which regularly addresses anthroposophical topics, as for example a series about anthroposophic medicine in 2010.

Awards
The company was featured among the top 3 most sustainable businesses of the National German Sustainability Award in 2009[43] and 2010[44]. The Award honors Germany’s most ecological businesses.[45] In 2011, Alnatura was named „Pioneer of Organic Retail Markets“ in first place, and was decorated with the title of Germany’s most sustainable business[46][47]. In 2016, Alnatura received the award for Germany’s most sustainable medium-sized company by the jury of the National German Sustainability Award.[48] In 2019, Alnatura was nominated for and featured under the top three of the German Sustainability Award Architecture.[49] At the end of November 2019, the founder and director Götz Rehn accepted German Sustainability Award Architecture. Alnatura convinced “with its extraordinarily holistic quality, which is pioneering and fathoms the opportunities of sustainable constructions”.[50]

Criticism
Alnatura, which is not bound to the Collective Agreement Act, announced in April 2010 that they would in the future cash out a minimum amount of payment in correspondence to the collective agreement [52][53], as a reaction to the critical news coverage in the media about their below standard range wages [51]. The time for the implementation of the new wages was not specified. This was preceded by a statement of Götz Rehn (founder and managing director), in which Christmas bonuses, holiday pay, capital-forming benefits, contribution to the pension scheme and value-added participation were listed as voluntary benefits, which is why, according to his opinion, the model of agreed wages and the Alnatura payment model are difficult to compare.[54] In July 2010, the company announced that from October 2010, all employees would be paid at least collectively agreed wages.[55] In 2019, Alnatura payed their employees in Berlin stores in correspondence to the agreed wages.[56]

Corporate Co-Determination
Out of more than 110 Alnatura stores, only one store, in Freiburg im Breisgau, has a Betriebsrat (engl. works council). If a second works council is established, all employees from Alnatura would be entitled to a Gesamtbetriebsrat (engl. general worker’s council). Hubert Thiermeyer, regional manager of Verdi, criticized in November 2015: “The high level in competence in the quality of goods in the organic trade does not automatically go hand in hand with a competence in social standards.”[57]

In 2015, a part of the workforce in a store in Bremen tried to elect a second works council of the company, which was met with resistance from the management.[58] Kai Wargalla, an employee, told Radio Bremen: “The election was prevented by tactical games.”[59]

Subsequently, five employees obtained a resolution of the labor court in February 2016, that would allow the appointment of an election committee. A complaint from Alnatura against this resolution was rejected by the Landesarbeitsgericht (engl. Higher labor court) in Bremen in November 2016. However, the company filed a Nichtzulassungsbeschwerde (engl. nonadmission-appeal) at the Bundesarbeitsgericht (engl. Federal Labor Court).[60] In the second half of 2016, the Alnatura store located on Faulenstraße in Bremen reduced its staff to 20 employees, thereby also reducing the necessary amount of employees in the works council to one.[61] According to Alnatura, this staff reduction was due to economic factors.[62] Three years later, in February 2019, the Federal Labor Court gave the case back to the Higher labor court in Bremen. Kai Wargalla pointed out that the company stalled for time and that the employees of 2016 engaged in participation were either no longer working at the store or tired of the dispute.[62]

Possible consumer fraud
In 2017, the NDR consumer magazine Markt tested fresh tortelloni from various producers. Alnatura advertises with “50% stuffing” on the tortelloni packaging. After weighing some of the Alnatura tortellonis, the inspectors detected that the average tortelloni consists of six grams of dough and one gram of stuffing – clearly less than 50%, although twice as much in comparison to the tested competitor. Alnatura wrote: “We assume that this is a sole mistake in the production, which, nevertheless, we take seriously.”[63]

Radio Reports

 * Marktcheck checkt Alnatura: Hochwertige Bio-Produkte zum fairen Preis? (engl. Marktcheck check Alnatura: High-quality organic products at a fair privce?), SWR – marktcheck from July 31, 2018 (YouTube)
 * DER BIO-SUPERMARKT ALNATURA, ProSieben – Galileo, Episode 127, Season 2017 from May 11, 2017 (YouTube from June 14, 2017)