Edeka Logo PNG
Looking at the Edeka logo, you can see how individual merchants form an impressive conglomerate in terms of volume. The emblem shows a wide assortment, a single-price policy, and large audience coverage. Stores throughout Germany purchase the brand’s products.
Edeka began in October 1907 in Leipzig, when small grocery owners founded the E.d.K. purchasing cooperative. Its full German name referred to colonial goods merchants in Berlin’s Hallesches Tor district. With only 800 marks in capital, Fritz Borrmann and Karl Biller led a group built around joint purchasing, enabling independent retailers to secure better prices from manufacturers.
In May 1908, 80 representatives from 23 regional groups approved the official statute. The cooperative was profitable from its first year. In 1910, it created an advertising department, and in 1911, E.d.K. became the easier name Edeka. Edeka bank followed in 1914, and in 1918, Edeka gained formal cooperative status for wholesale buying. A centralized settlement system was added in 1923.
During the Third Reich, Edeka faced political pressure and aligned with the new regime in 1933. After World War II, the Berlin headquarters lost influence, and in 1945, the main operations moved to Hamburg. In 1972, the structure changed again, with 12 regional companies under a single central organization, while Edekabank became a joint-stock company.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Edeka expanded while Aldi and Rewe gained ground in discount retail. In 2001, Edeka launched Gut & Günstig for price-focused shoppers. The major shift came in 2005, when it bought Spar Handels AG and gained Netto Marken-Discount. In 2006, AVA AG and Marktkauf were fully integrated. By early 2006, Edeka led German grocery retail with about 26 percent market share. In 2007, it agreed to buy 70 percent of Plus from Tengelmann, later converting stores into Netto Marken-Discount. By the end of 2017, the group had more than 13,600 stores in Germany.
Meaning and History
The name Edeka was first used in 1911. The fact is that the abbreviation E. d. The K., from which it is derived, seemed too short to the company’s owners, and the full version (Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler im Halleschen Torbezirk zu Berlin) was too long. However, November 25, 1907, is still considered the official date of the group’s creation. It was then that several trading cooperatives united to form an association, which later became Edeka Zentrale Stiftung & Co. KG.
The organization now owns several thousand stores throughout Germany. Many of them are run by independent traders who have volunteered to join Edeka. They use a common logo called Block-E: a large blue “E” in a yellow square. But this was not always the case because the brand’s visual identity changed several times. Its history can be divided into five periods.
What is Edeka?
Edeka Group is an association of German cooperatives. This organization operates numerous discounters and full-range supermarkets. It is the undisputed leader in Germany’s food retail ranking: it owns more than a quarter of the market.
1911 – 1921
The Edeka trademark was officially registered in 1911. Its name served as the basis for the emblem: it was depicted in an old serif typeface and placed inside a white rectangle. The letters were all capital and black, and the thin outlines made them appear three-dimensional. And on the left, in a black circle, was the abbreviation “EdK.” The designers had to deform it so that it reached the circle’s boundaries. The inscriptions were placed in a frame consisting of numerous scrolls.
1921 – 1947
In 1921, Edeka had a new CEO, Fritz Borrmann, and a similar new logo. The graphic sign was called “Schleife” (“Loop”) because of its characteristic shape: the lower line of the capital letter “E” formed an oval that enclosed the lowercase “d,” “e,” “k,” and “a”. Moreover, except for the first one, all characters were connected. A handwritten font with sharp serifs at the tops was used for the inscription. The word was black and was on a yellow background. And in the lower-left corner was a diamond, divided into two parts: an inverted black triangle with the brand name (below) and a rising sun with 13 rays (above).
1947 – 1965
In 1947, the cooperative EDEKA Importe GmbH was founded for the import business. In the meantime, the company’s emblem has changed slightly: the diamond has disappeared, and the yellow base has taken on a cold lemon hue.
1965 – 1968
When the new labeling rules came into effect, a group of German cooperatives abandoned handwriting. The result was the famous Block-E, which at first looked like a yellow “E” in a dark blue quad. In the upper-left corner of the letter was a small “E”: it was stylized as parallel lines on the Earth’s grid. A little higher was the word “EUCO.” The bottom contained a yellow horizontal rectangle with the blue inscription “EDEKA.” The brand name used a straight, bold sans-serif font.
1968 – today
Shortly before the band’s reorganization, its logo was changed again. This happened in 1968, the same period when the subsidiary MK-Werbe GmbH, responsible for advertising concept development, was acquired by Edeka. The Block-E format was preserved, but the developers removed many elements, leaving only the “E” and the word “Edeka” inside a single vertical rectangle. Moreover, the inscriptions have turned light blue, and the base is now bright yellow, with a thin blue border.
Font and Colors
The letter “E” stands for the abbreviation “E. d.” K., which underlies the brand name. That is, this is a tribute to the company’s historical heritage, simple yet not too obvious to modern consumers. Geometrically defined shapes create a balance that makes Block-E attractive.
If earlier the word “Edeka” was written in an elegant cursive type, now its complete opposite is used: a heavy, sans-serif type with bold letters. It is roughly similar to Bicyclette Black by Kostic Type Foundry or Favela Semi Bold by BORUTTA.
The combination of light blue (#006cb8) and bright yellow (#ffe700) became a staple in the late 1960s. It builds on the previous color scheme that appeared in 1965 with the first version of Block-E. Since then, Edeka stores have been recognizable by this eye-catching palette.