Press Release 7th December 2023

Cook and enjoy together: BILLA hosted a pre-Christmas cooking event

The pre-Christmas season is in full swing and Austrians are already in the midst of their first preparations: Menus for upcoming festive meals have to be considered and prepared, Christmas cookies baked and presents bought for family and friends. This week, BILLA treated 30 invited guests to a short, enjoyable break from all of this at a cooking event in the Stilarena in Vienna-Favoriten. The focus was on BILLA's own brands Ja! Natürlich, BILLA Bio, BILLA immer gut, BILLA Genusswelt and Vegavita, from which a pre-Christmas four-course menu was prepared.

A group of six people wearing aprons stand around a kitchen counter preparing a meal. They are surrounded by cooking ingredients and tools, including pots, pans, and vegetables. The atmosphere is cheerful and cooperative.

(from left to right): Harald Neumaerker (founder of AUMAERK-Fleischmanufaktur), Michael Paterno (BILLA board member), Klaudia Atzmüller (Ja! Natürlich managing director), Marcus Franz (district head of Favoriten), Robert Nagele (BILLA board member responsible for real estate) and Jelena Maier (blogger and chef) were already looking forward to the evening of cooking together, which focused on BILLA's own brands. / Copyright: © BILLA AG / Robert Harson, Abdruck zu redaktionellen Zwecken honorarfrei.

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At a glance

Invited guests prepared a four-course menu with gourmet experts Simone and Adi Raihmann, Thom Grosmann, Eva-Maria Kaiser, Jelena Maier and Harald Neumaerker
The culinary focus was on the products of BILLA's own brands Ja! Natürlich, BILLA Bio, BILLA immer gut, BILLA Genusswelt and Vegavita
BILLA board members Michael Paterno and Robert Nagele, BILLA marketing manager Daniela Schwarz-Knehtl, Ja! Natürlich Managing Director Klaudia Atzmüller, District Head of the 10th District Marcus Franz and many other guests also lent a hand with the preparation of the dishes

They cooked together with guests and gourmet experts Simone and Adi Raihmann, founders of Karma Food and part of the BILLA Good Food Board team of experts, amateur chef Thom Grosmann, who was named "Austria's best amateur chef" in 2020/21, master confectioner Eva-Maria Kaiser, Managing Director of BILLA Marktkonditorei, blogger and chef Jelena Maier and Harald Neumaerker, Managing Director of AUMAERK Fleischmanufaktur in Vienna. Daniela Schwarz-Knehtl (Head of BILLA Marketing), Michael Paterno (BILLA Board Member), Robert Nagele (BILLA Board Member), Klaudia Atzmüller (Ja! Natürlich Managing Director) and Marcus Franz (Head of the Vienna-Favoriten district) also helped with the preparation.

Highlight of the evening: the four-course menu

As part of the cooking event, Ja! Natürlich organic lake trout ceviche with sumac cucumber and onions and lime and coriander vinaigrette was served as a starter. The intermediate course consisted of BILLA Organic Tom Kha Gung, Thai coconut soup with prawns and fresh herbs. For the main course, BILLA Genusswelt pork roast Noble Roast and Pork Royal were prepared in cooperation with AUMAERK with polenta and oven vegetables. A plant-based option was also offered with Vegavita peanut curry with rice, oven cauliflower, topped with roasted Vegavita chicken fillets. The guests prepared a purely plant-based mango cream and a nougat tartlet with products from BILLA immer gut for dessert. Appetizers with items from the BILLA world of indulgence were served at the reception.

Daniela Schwarz-Knehtl was delighted with the successful preparation of the four-course menu: "The pre-Christmas period is associated with stress and hectic for many people. That's why we wanted to slow things down once again as part of our cooking event - with success. Thanks to the great support of our gourmets, we managed to create a relaxed and, above all, culinary evening. We were not only able to showcase the products of our BILLA own brands, but also demonstrate that they can be used to conjure up a variety of affordable dishes for the festive season and beyond."

BILLA own brands offer enjoyment at family-friendly prices

BILLA's own brands offer a wide range of high-quality, reasonably priced products for every taste and occasion. Yes! Natürlich was founded in 1994 as the first Austrian organic brand and since then has been an Austrian organic pioneer with the highest organic standards, most of which go far beyond the EU Organic Regulation. The range comprises around 1,100 products, more than 80 percent of which come from Austrian organic farmers. BILLA Bio complements Ja! Natürlich in the organic range and, with around 300 items, stands for reliably certified organic quality at a reasonable price. All products are EU-certified organic, 100 percent palm oil-free, without genetic engineering and unnecessary additives. Vegavita is BILLA's own plant-based brand, which has stood for a purely plant-based variety of indulgence since 2002. The vegan range comprises around 80 products and, following a successful relaunch this year, promises even more lightness, enjoyment and joie de vivre for the plant-based lifestyle. BILLA always has a good range for the whole family. With over 400 products, the own brand offers a large selection at a family-friendly price. It also picks up on exciting food trends such as high-protein nutrition, as well as great collaborations with Disney or Bali Brunch by Hank Ge & BILLA. BILLA has created its own brand Genusswelt especially for the festive season and beyond. The range consists of more than 100 items, which offer special products for holidays such as Easter or Christmas in addition to year-round listings. Here, too, BILLA is focusing on exciting collaborations such as with chef Lisl Wagner-Bacher or, this year in particular, with the Viennese meat manufacturer AUMAERK, in order to offer customers exciting new products and variety.