Succession in organic businesses is far more than a formal handover. It is the real-world test of how credibly values, leadership, and long-term economic viability fit together. Many organic companies emerged from a pioneering movement and now face a pivotal question: how can they preserve this ethos as ownership, leadership, and structures evolve? Succession thus becomes a strategic inflection point. Family succession, external management, or new participation models are different responses to the same challenge: developing organic business sustainably – without losing its purpose. Prof. Dr. Christina Hoon of Bielefeld University provides the framework for understanding these dynamics.
An Industry Under Pressure – Why Generational Change Is Decisive Now
As the baby boomer generation retires, a substantial succession gap is opening. By 2030, around 600,000 companies in Germany will need to be handed over – including many organic businesses and brands.
“Many of these entrepreneurs started as pioneers,” says Prof. Hoon. “They built organic with courage, poured heart and capital into it, and were often told early on that organic wouldn’t pay.” The challenge today is to find successors who are prepared to carry forward the risk-taking, values, and entrepreneurial drive.
Willingness and Capability – Why Succession in Organic Demands More
Succession in the organic sector goes beyond a business-administrative process. It touches the core of what a company stands for. Values, mindset, and societal aspiration are closely interwoven with the business model, making the handover demanding. Economic success remains the precondition for safeguarding these values over the long term.
Successors must serve multiple goal systems simultaneously, Prof. Hoon explains. To achieve a smooth transition, they need both the will to carry the purpose forward and the entrepreneurial capability to implement it under real market conditions – amid cost pressures, high volatility, and increasing regulation.
Founder Mindset, Not Caretaker – The Role of the Next Generation
Generational change requires a change of role. The task is not simply to continue the status quo, but to further develop organic companies. What matters less is the product and more the determination to take responsibility and shape what comes next.
Successors should not see themselves as caretakers but act like founders, Hoon emphasizes. What’s needed is an entrepreneurial mindset that questions what exists, experiments with new approaches, and consistently evolves structures. Ideally, succession unleashes a new wave of development. Purpose serves as a strategic compass: it defines the “why” and “where to,” while strategy defines the “how.”
Pathways to Succession for Organic Companies
Succession no longer follows a single script. Alongside family handovers, models have emerged that reflect growing complexity and the absence of familial options. The decisive factor is less the form of succession than the question of whether responsibility, values, and development can be aligned.
When the Next Generation Takes the Helm: Family Business dennree
Family succession remains a classic – but demanding – path. The generational change at dennree illustrates how to manage this professionally. In early 2024, founder Thomas Greim appointed Mareike and Joseph Nossol to the management board, bringing the next generation into leadership. Responsibility is being transferred step by step and coupled with strategic advancement.
“Family succession is rarely just organizational; it is always emotional and strategic,” says Hoon. Where roles and relationships are closely intertwined, clarity is essential: defined responsibilities, a phased handover, and a willingness to reorder responsibilities and accept external guidance. Only then can bottlenecks be avoided.
External Succession as a Strategic Alternative: The Bohlsener Mühle Example
When a family solution is not feasible, external models gain significance. Bohlsener Mühle exemplifies this path. Founder Volker Krause opted for a partnership with MDS Holding GmbH to secure both investment capacity and independence.
Such models make sense when no one in the family brings together the willingness and capability needed for succession, Hoon notes. External managing directors, employees, or partners can take responsibility, carry the purpose forward, and inject fresh momentum. It is crucial not to rush succession. Hasty decisions can harm the company. Every entrepreneurial family must find a solution that fits its situation and long-term strategy.
Hybrid ownership models are also emerging. Investment approaches like Wholey or community-based concepts like KoRo are not classic succession cases, but they illustrate new ways to organize responsibility, capital, and growth.
Openness to Models – and a Founder’s Spirit – Will Decide
Generational change in the organic sector can be shaped in various ways – within the family, externally, or through hybrid models. This diversity is necessary to meet the very different starting points of organic companies.
Ultimately, success is less about the chosen form than about the mindset of the successors. Transitions prove durable where the next generation acts not as administrators but as founders. The most future-proof solutions combine entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen, and purpose. Where this alignment is achieved, succession in the organic sector shifts from a duty to a strategic opportunity.
