Erich and Barbara Stockhausen. Photo: ©LZ, Thomas Fedra Erich Stockhausenwas honoured with the Golden Sugar Loaf for his tireless commitment to the cooperative model and as a prime example of this. He originally had completely different plans than self-employment: in the early 1980s, he enrolled in an agricultural degree programme to later take over his parents' business. He ultimately came to the food retail sector through his uncle and an apprenticeship at Spar. In 1987, he opened his first REWE store in Erkrath-Unterfeldhaus - with his mother as the good soul in the store. He later opened a second store in the centre of Erkrath.he has been a member of the Management Board of REWE West eG since 1996. in 2006, he became a member of the REWE Group Supervisory Board. in 2015, he became the first self-employed businessman to take over the chairmanship - a strong signal in favour of cooperative entrepreneurship.in this role, he played a decisive role in shaping the development of REWE Group for ten years, until he was succeeded this year by Stefan Lenk, another REWE businessman. Erich Stockhausen has also been involved at association level for many years: among other things, he has been a member of the executive committee of the NRW Retail Association since 2013 and is also a long-standing member of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce. As a business founder and passionate businessman who does not come from a family of traders, he has spent his entire professional life working to promote young talent.one of his favourite projects at REWE, for example, is the dual study programme for self-employment, which he initiated and has supported as patron ever since.three dual study programme students are currently employed in his stores, including his daughter, who plans to take over the business in the future.

Friedhelm Dornseifer and Stefan Lenk (right). I Archive photo: Achim Bachhausen Friedhelm Dornseiferreceived the Golden Sugar Loaf for his continuous association work and his pioneering spirit in the food trade. He is a representative of the industry through and through: As President of the Federal Association for the Food Trade (BVLH) from 2010 to 2023, the REWE merchant worked across all groups to reduce bureaucracy, introduce industry-friendly legislation and regulations and improve the image of the retail sector. He brought a wide variety of stakeholders to the political table in order to always promote binding solutions and consensus-based agreements in the interests of all.

Friedhelm Dornseifer, who managed Mittelständische Lebensmittel-Filialbetriebe (MLF) for 31 years, feels completely at home in the retail sector. he started out in 1965 as a 19-year-old with two small shops in his home town of Wenden in the Sauerland region. in 1966, he opened a larger store in Siegen. Many more store openings followed - today the company has 18 stores with between 400 and 4,200 square metres of sales space. Over the years, Dornseifer has also developed the family business into a model for the in-house production of convenience products in independent retail

Pia Linnenkamp. Photo: ©private Pia Linnenkampwas one of ten winners of the Golden Sugar Loaf Foundation's sponsorship award. She was fascinated by retail from an early age - especially working with people. The 29-year-old has remained true to this credo to this day. As HR Business Partner, she is responsible for HR matters at 25 branch and regional stores with around 1,200 employees at REWE Dortmund.

Her early start to her career played a decisive role in shaping her career. Close management at eye level - as she experienced during her time as an assistant to the management board - produces more motivated and happier employees. It also helps to take on different perspectives, such as obtaining a forklift licence and working in order picking.

In between, she still finds time for her favourite project, the women's network at REWE Dortmund: FREDO. Here, she works specifically to ensure that women in management positions become a matter of course. She also plans to invest part of the prize money in a project to network women in the Ruhr region. The majority, however, will go towards a seminar in personal leadership skills - a targeted professional and personal development of her previous degrees in Business Administration and Business Psychology.

And what is also part of personal leadership? Time to switch off! Pia Linnenkamp finds it with her family, at the gym, watching trash TV and - how could it be otherwise in Dortmund - at BVB home matches.