Dallmayr, located in Munich Germany, is one of the most prestigious delicatessen and fine food stores in the world. Its reputation for serving only the very best of fine foods attracts millions of people each year to its store.

The luxury company dates all the way back to the 17th century when it was first established in the Dienerstrasse under the patronage of Christian Reitter. After he passed away the fine foods store was inherited by his two daughters. However it was not until 1870 that the luxury store took the name of Alois Dallmayr, a merchant of Bavarian origin. In 1895, Alois Dallmayr was still heir less and chose to sell the fine foods shop. It was purchased by Anton Randlkofer who unfortunately passed away only two years after making the purchase. This left his window, Madame Therese Randlkofer in charge of running the fine foods store. A top female executive was a rarity for this era and yet, against all odds Madame Therese Randlkofer managed to significantly improve the reputation of the luxury store as well as the quality of the fine foods she sold. Among some of the clients she managed to gain were none the less than 15 royal and noble households in Europe, including the last German Emperor Willhelm II of Germany. During her leadership the fine foods store earned the title of Official Purveyor to the Royal Bavarian Court.

Among some of the fine foods she introduced to the German people were bananas, mangos and plums. By making use of the otherwise unsellable corners of larger bacon pieces she also created the worlds first cold buffet; which became an instant success with the German people. However, her resourcefulness would once again be demanded during the economic downturn caused by the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Demand for fine foods decreased significantly and as a result Dallmayr expanded its product portfolio to include a whole new product line centered around luxury coffee. By 1931 they were the first fine foods company in Germany to own an electric coffee roasting mechanism, this was largely due to the inventiveness of 19 year old Konrad Werner Wille, a coffee expert that was already employed by the fine foods company. In fact, Dallmayr Prodomo a fine foods coffee brand created in 1960 is now the fifth largest coffee brand in Germany and it is still considered to be a delicacy.

The fine foods store was not left unscathed by the horrors of World War II, in fact the entire store was burnt to the ground in 1940. It was not until 1950 that the fine foods store was rebuilt and began to accept customers once again. The owners were careful to follow the plans of the original building and the Dallmayr still to this day has the exact same historical facade that it had almost 300 years ago. The store has now more than 6000 different products on sale ranging from confectionery to wines and spirits, caviar and even tobacco. It is unquestionably one of the very best purveyors of fine foods in the world.

Editorial | Image Courtesy Of Dallmayr