Tegut…

The company was founded in 1947 by Theo Gutberlet under the name Thegu, derived from the first letters of his first and surname, which was later renamed in 1955 to Tegut. From 1961, the bigger supermarkets were called HaWeGe (an acronym for HandelsWarenGesellschaft) and from 1973, the smaller stores Okay! In 1972, Tegut established a subsidiary called kff Kurhessische Fleischwaren GmbH (KFF). In 1973, Wolfgang Gutberlet, the son of the company's founder, took over management. In 1989 the company was transferred to a foundation whose supervisory board appoints the managing directors. It was in 1998 that the company changed its name again, to its presently-stylised "tegut...". Since August 30th, 2009, Thomas Gutberlet, the grandson of the company founder, became the company's third generation CEO. The company also processes their own sausage and meat and founded the herzberger Bäckerei (Herzberger Bakery) in 1996 as a subsidiary. In 1997, Tegut was the first grocer in Germany to accept credit card payments. In 1998 the company was renamed tegut.... The markets also operate under this name. With the concept "Lädchen für alles" (small shop for everything), Tegut took up the concept of the corner shop in 2010 and set up smaller shops in the countryside and in urban districts to provide local supplies even in smaller communities.

On 11 October 2012, the Swiss retail company Genossenschaft Migros Zürich (Migros Zurich cooperative), which is one of the ten shareholder of the Migros Cooperative Association, announced the acquisition of the retail division of Tegut, consisting of six individual companies. The transaction became effective in January 2013 after the approval of the antitrust authorities and the administration of the Migros Cooperative Federation. The Migros Zurich Cooperative (GMZ) then took over the trading division of the former "tegut... Gutberlet Stiftung & Co. KG". Other businesses of the company, such as the Herzberger bakery, KFF as well as the agricultural businesses, became part of the new "W–E–G Stiftung & Co. KG". After Migros took over, the Gutberlet Foundation's shares in KFF were threatened due to the loss of its main customer Tegut and were sold at the end of 2016 to pet food manufacturer Deuerer from Bretten. In May 2017, the Herzberger bakery was reintegrated into the Tegut Group. At the end of April 2021, the company suffered a cyberattack, which caused stores to have empty shelves because of failures in the merchandise management software. The hackers published a database containing personal data of customer card holders on the dark web.

In November 2020, the first tegut...teo was opened in Fulda with a different store concept. The store offered a total of 950 products for everyday use in a 50 square metre self-service area, open 24 hours a day. At the beginning of March 2024, there were 39 of teo supermarkets. Due to a reassessment of the legal situation, these stores are no longer allowed to open on Sundays and public holidays in Hesse despite the absence of sales staff. In October 2022, Migros launched the concept in Switzerland with the opening of the first Migros teo, which is also open on weekends. In 2024, the Smart Retail Solutions GmbH was established in Germany to operate Teo Stores as a franchise. In addition, there are three so-called QUARTIER markets with a size of approx. 400 square meters and a wide range of fresh snacks and ready-prepared meals.

In April 2023 it was announced that Tegut would take over 19 of the organic supermarket chain Basic AG retroactively from the beginning of the year.

Organic food

Since 1982, Tegut has been involved in the cultivation and marketing of organic food. As of 2008, almost 20% of Tegut's revenue was made from their own-produced organic food, mostly grown in eastern Hesse. According to Tegut, organic products made up 28.4% of the revenue in 2022. Some of the 4,600 different organic products are sourced from Tegut's own Herzberg bakery and the Rhöner Biosphärenrind e. V., which also works closely with farmers in the East Hesse region. The anthroposophically managed company Alnatura is also an important partner for organic products.

Tegut has been selling products under its own brands since 1999. In July 2019, Tegut started offering 144 foods without packaging in a store in Fulda.