BUSINESS PARTNERS & CUSTOMERS
More than ten years of BF&GH Travel Retail
Gebr. Heinemann joint venture in Ukraine runs shops at airports and borders
At the end of 2021, i.e. at the end of this report’s review period, BF&GH Travel Retail, the joint venture between Gebr. Heinemann and the Ukrainian BF Group, was able to look back on a successful year. Before going to print, the war in Ukraine had started in February 2022, deeply impacting current and future perspectives.
It is important for Gebr. Heinemann to document the success story of BF&GH Travel Retail, because it has been shaped by the teams in Ukraine and Germany together with great commitment.
BF&GH: a thriving partnership in Travel Retail
Ukraine has been an important market for Gebr. Heinemann for more than a decade. The Hamburg- based trading company has been operating here together with its Ukrainian partner, BF Group, since 2010. The joint venture BF&GH Travel Retail started out with a few shops at Boryspil Airport and developed into a thriving partnership. “ At the end of 2021, we were the leader in Travel Retail here, a position that we have worked hard for,” reports Igor Nudelmann, Area Sales Manager Eastern Europe & Central Asia at Gebr. Heinemann. “That applied to our airport business as well as to the 13 border shops that are operated as part of our joint venture. During the pandemic, travel always picked up quickly once restrictions were lifted. Turnover at the airports in 2021 was almost on par with 2019, with the border shops reporting turnover that was down 50 per cent on 2019.”
In December 2021, the joint venture won the tender at Lviv Airport and is now the operator of shops at the international airports of Kyiv Boryspil, Kyiv Zhuliany and Lviv.
Shopping experience with tailor-made product assortment
Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport tendered its Travel Retail spaces in 2021 for the next five years. 
BF&GH Travel Retail managed to secure the central space in the main departures area and took this over from the previous operator, Baltona, along with its team. Simon Forde, General Manager of BF&GH Travel Retail, emphasises the company’s focus on passenger profile and product assortment: “Customer feedback and data analysis are the basis for everything we do. We have tailored our Duty Free offer very successfully to travellers’ needs at Boryspil and Kyiv Zhuliany and are looking forward to expanding this retail expertise to our new location in Lviv as well.”
All shops operated by BF&GH Travel Retail were closed at the time of going to print.
