Stiftung Warentest anniversary

"Eight million housewives have put down the wooden spoon and made the switch to electric." With these words, Germany's renowned consumer review institution Stiftung Warentest began in 1966 its first report about hand-held blenders. It scrutinized 10 appliances, including the familiar "Super Robot" and the "Küchenmaxl." Unfortunately, all of Stiftung Warentest's reviewers found shortcomings.

In modern Germany, millions of men are trying their hand at cooking as well. Try as one might, the "Super Robot" and "Küchenmaxl" are nowhere to be found in stores. But the Stiftung Warentest is still active in reviewing one consumer device after another, and its blessing can make or break a product.

Since it was founded on December 4, 1964, Stiftung Warentest has reviewed around 100,000 products. Its critics have turned electric toothbrushes on and off thousands of times, blasted hiking boots with steam and rolled heavy barrels over mattresses.

A bewildering array of goods

The results of these product tests were a compass for consumers for 50 years, says the head of Stiftung Warentest, Hubertus Primus. Given the number of new products hitting shelves every day, the institution has become indispensible.

"We have also greatly contributed to the improvement of these products," Hubertus told DW. "If you look around and see which German products have the best reputation around the world today - for instance, energy-saving washing machines - that was us! We kept testing cutting-edge products and many companies oriented themselves along those lines."

Stiftung Warentest's magazine, Test, summed up the 10 different blenders as a "confusing" offer back in 1966. The so-called "economic miracle" had brought prosperity to the Germans.

After the barren post-war years, the shelves were once again full of goods. Store windows were once again seducing customers to peek inside. And everywhere you looked shone bright neon signs.

Against the background of such elated consumerism, former German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer declared in parliament that "the government considers it imperative to strengthen consumers' price sensitivity."

Competition must be shored up, Adenauer said, and to this end he decreed the formation of a "body for neutral consumer reviews."

The US as a role model

Two years later, German Economy Minister Kurt Schmücker created Stiftung Warentest as an independent organization subsidized by the government. "From the beginning, it was intended that Stiftung Warentest would have an entrepreneurial presence," Primus recalls.

"It's important. We have to be relevant, we have to publish valid and solid tests," he says. Today, the 85 percent of the foundation's budget comes from generating its own revenues, mainly from selling its magazine. It also receives 5 million euros a year from the government.

The foundation is modeled on the Consumers Union (CU) in the US, which was founded in 1936, Primus says. Today, there are similar institutions in the Netherlands and Portugal, for example. In the UK, the Which? Group with its Which? magazine is run by the Consumers' Association, which is an independent organization.

However, hardly anywhere does a consumer review body have as much clout as in Germany. For decades, Germans relied on Stiftung Warentest's findings, if a product was awarded the top rating, it would often sell much better.

"If we rate a product from a small or medium-size company and find it to be inadequate, it can easily put the company as a whole at risk," Primus says. "We're always aware of that."

Chocolate scandal

Critics say the foundation does not always live up to that responsibility. "Stiftung Warentest can't deal with today's challenges," says Michael Braungart, founder of the Hamburg Environment Institute.

"It's dated and need to be reformed," he says, citing the foundation's lack of use of the Internet. "Customers should be able to make suggestions on the website for new product tests," he thinks.

He also says Stiftung Warentest should be required to publish its testing methods and procedures online. "At the moment, the way it chooses what products are being tested, is arbitrary, he says. And because the foundation relies on the income from the sale of its magazine, it sometimes creates scandals where there aren't any, according to Braungart.

Stiftung Warentest is therefore often taken to court. The latest example is its review for one of Ritter Sport's chocolate bars, which it found to be "inadequate." Chocolate firm Ritter Sport decided to sue Stiftung Warentest over the review.

The review claimed that one of the firm's nut chocolate bars contained artificial flavoring, which was declared as natural flavoring on the packaging. The court ruled in favor of Ritter Sport, as the origin of the flavoring used could not be determined.

Warentest head Primus says the case has taught them to "ensure that we make available all our criteria and explain in more detail what we test and why."

And what about online reviews from consumers themselves, are they a threat to Stiftung Warentest? Primus thinks not. "We see it as a challenge to do better," adding that people are still interested in impartial information and advice.

One of the hand-held blenders that was given Stiftung Warentest's top rating in 1966 is still being sold today, albeit in a more modern version. So, the tests can't be that bad, after all.