Buttons in the cash register and missing goods: thieves haunt farm shops

Created: 01/04/2023, 11:00 am

By: Helena Grillenberger

The thefts are threatening the existence of the Ingelsberg micro-farmer Lukas Höger.

He reacted.

© Stefan Rossmann

As if all burglars had been let loose at once, a series of various criminal offenses kept the district busy.

The farm shop owners have known the problem for a long time: their tills are a coveted target.

District – When the Hundseders entered their self-service shop in Eglharting on New Year's Day, they couldn't believe their eyes.

The table on which her till was mounted is missing.

He finds himself behind the shack, the till broken open and empty.

The Hundseders have become the youngest victim of thefts in farm and self-service shops in the district.

Lukas Höger (25) from Ingelsberg is one who is particularly hard hit by the theft.

Two and a half years ago he was certain: he wanted to be a farmer.

This is how his micro-farm was created on one hectare of family land that had previously been used for farming.

After initial boom: 31 percent of eggs were stolen

The young man struggles to make a living by working on his farm.

This also includes a yard sale, initially only one in Ingelsberg, almost right on his doorstep.

In the summer of this year, business collapsed somewhat, "probably no one wanted to drive to Ingelsberg given the high fuel prices," Höger suspects.

Because he doesn't stamp his eggs, he's only allowed to sell them at the production site - so the young farmer quickly moves one of his two mobile chicken coops to Pöring and sets up a refrigerator next to the coop there too.

“In addition, there is a checkout and everything is based on trust,” explains Höger.

At first the concept works, he sells more eggs again.

But then the sobering realization: 31 percent of the eggs were stolen.

"I expected something to be stolen," says the 25-year-old.

"But not that it's that bad!"

Theft "always an issue"

Some farmers in the district know that goods cannot simply be displayed in the farm shop on the basis of trust: Anton Stürzer from the Stürzer Biohof in Weißenfeld explains that he closed a public sales box for precisely this reason.

"A lot was stolen," he says.

In the meantime, he has therefore switched to fixed opening hours and service in the farm shop, "No one else comes into the shop - and nothing can happen like that".

Josef Kendlinger from Huberhof in Wiesham also knows the problem.

"It's always an issue," he says.

"Due to the self-service, this is unfortunately unavoidable due to the system." Something is always stolen - that's why the Kendlingers installed a camera.

"That's also useful," the farmer is convinced.

"You can understand the thefts - especially the bigger ones." But the camera can't completely deter thieves either: "In the till you can often find buttons or foreign coins," says Kendlinger.

"The problem is also that you can't exactly understand who throws how much into the till."

The youngest victims: Elisabeth and Max Hundseder in front of their farm shop in Eglharting.

There, strangers had broken into the cash register over the New Year and stolen the proceeds.

© PETER KEES

It doesn't work on a trust basis

He estimates that around five percent of his goods are stolen on average.

However, he has not yet found any serious incidents, such as a broken cash register.

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Unlike Helmut Deuschl, from Obermoahof in Taglaching.

He has had a vending machine for six months.

Before that, "something had gone away since Christmas 2021," he says.

The thefts have increased rapidly, according to Deuschl, once the house was broken into on a Sunday morning.

The cash register was broken into and looted and goods were also taken away.

He had already set up cameras before, but he has now abolished self-service based on pure trust: All more expensive goods only come from vending machines.

"But that fits now too," he concludes.

Despite self-service: no theft

But there are also farmers who have had completely different experiences: "We have never noticed anything," says Anna Schechner from the Sigersdorfer Steindlhof.

However, they don't offer self-service either - and the sales room is quite small and manageable.

In addition, the Sigersdorfer relied on cameras from the start.

"That's very unfriendly for thieves," jokes Schechner.

Anna Fritzsche from the Maierei in Oberpframmern also explains that theft is not a major problem in her farm shop.

Despite self-service.

Lock with numeric code to protect against theft

In any case, Höger has drawn consequences for his sale: the fridge in Pöring now has a lock with a numerical code, which he only gives out to customers he trusts.

Next year he wants to turn the egg stand into a small shop, with cameras - and a lock on the door.

The Ingelsberger hit the theft particularly hard in the middle of starting his own business.

His philosophy: not only regional, but also small - just from a micro farm.

The thefts make things "brutally difficult".

Incidentally, the burglars in the case of Eglharting are also threatened with hardship.

The Hundseders had placed a camera.

The police report: "The face of a perpetrator can be clearly seen on the recordings."

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