Eika candles

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Eika Kerzen GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1824
resolution 2015
Reason for dissolution Company purchase
Seat Fulda
management Markus Toschek (until March 2014)
Number of employees 120 (as of 2011)
sales € 20 million (as of 2011)
Branch Candle production
Website www.eika.de

The former main building (built in 1903)

The Eika Kerzen GmbH (formerly Eika Wachswerke also briefly Eika , also known as external image Eika Kerzenmanufaktur ) was a German candle manufacturer based in Fulda . The company was one of the largest in Europe in this branch and supplied all major retail chains. After the liquidation of the company after two insolvency proceedings and the closure of the main factory in 2015 by the Bolsius Group , only the brand name Eika is now used .

history

Eika was founded in 1824 by the merchant and "master of light" Franz Berta (1805–1871), who came from an Italian immigrant family, under the company name Berta in Fulda. As one of the first manufacturers, it used the newly discovered raw materials stearin and paraffin for the industrial production of candles. Franz Emil Berta (1838–1897) took on his son-in-law Max Eickenscheidt from Kray as a partner in 1889 . In 1921, the Franz Emil Berta company was separated. The companies "Bertas Wachswarenfabrik Robert Berta" and the "Fuldaer Wachswerke Eickenscheidt" (1935 Eicka) were created. With the economic crisis in World War II, the company was sold to the Neuss oil and fat dealer Leo Brand . This kept the brand name, but in 1963 simplified the spelling to "Eika". Eika has been run as a family-run company for three generations.

In 2001, the company was one of the three leading companies in the German candle industry with a turnover of around 70 million D-Marks and produced around 20,000 tons of wax goods annually with around 170 employees. In 2007, after years of research, Eika planned to replace the paraffin for candle production, which was becoming more expensive due to the rising price of crude oil, with renewable raw materials such as coconut oil and palm oil . A new plant should also be built for this product innovation. But the prices for the vegetable raw materials also rose significantly. At the beginning of 2008, Eika had to file for bankruptcy. With the Swiss investor Cukierman Rasenberger Toschek AG , a buyer was found who continued production. The Eika takeover was to be financed through a fund. Mark Toschek became the new managing director. In the interim phase, the one-sided and seasonal dependency on the Christmas business was resolved. In 2008, Juwel candles Ltd. was established to sell Eika products to certain customers . & Co. KG , a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Fulda. In the meantime, Eika had around 160 employees again and opened an online shop as an additional sales channel in October 2010 .

In November 2012, the company had to file for bankruptcy again, despite the black figures, because a court surprisingly granted a previous investor's demand for immediate repayment of his funds. The Gütersloh entrepreneur Robin Lohmann and his ACI Real Estate fund invested 12.7 million euros in the takeover fund in 2008, but asked for his money back after the Lehman bankruptcy . The litigation continues after the company's demise in 2015.

The company was taken over on April 1, 2013 by Bolsius Deutschland GmbH from Essen . For this purpose, Eika Kerzen GmbH was founded as a wholly-owned subsidiary. In November 2014 it was announced that the Eika plant in Fulda will be closed on April 1, 2015. A reconciliation of interests and a social plan were negotiated with the works council, only the brand name will be continued.

Former Eika employees opened the A&K candle sales in Fulda in October 2015, where they offer the full range of their old employer, which they obtain from the Bolsius Group, which continues to produce Eika candles in the Netherlands and Poland.

production

The product range contained around 1,000 different products made of wax , paraffin and stearin and ranges from decorative and scented candles to grave and tea lights . Eika candles carried the RAL “quality mark for candles” .

literature

  • Michael Mott : Allow me: my name is Baltzer Berta from "Bünden bei Mayland" / The Italian immigrant family Berta, which can be traced back to Fulda from 1708 ... founded a wax factory that sold its products beyond Germany - also as a "court supplier". In: Yearbook of the District of Fulda 2015/2016, 43rd year, pp. 55–72.
  • Eika - the candle , in: Florian Langenscheidt (Hrsg.): German standards: Brands of the century. The premier class of German products and services in words and pictures - from Aspirin to Zeiss. With texts by Bea Becher; German standards editions, Cologne, Gabler, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 978-3-8349-0436-2 , p. 154 limited preview in the Google book search.

Web links

Commons : Eika  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Managing Director Mark Toschek leaves the Eika , Fuldaer Zeitung from March 15, 2014
  2. ↑ a b c candle manufacturer Eika again bankrupt FAZ , November 8, 2012
  3. ↑ Eika-Wachswerke: Creditors agree to sell FAZ , April 28, 2008, accessed on January 12, 2013
  4. ^ A b Peter Dietz: Fulda candle manufacturer Eika: No longer burned down Frankfurter Rundschau, December 23, 2008, accessed on May 5, 2011
  5. ↑ Eika - Die Kerze ( Memento of the original from June 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Handelsblatt .com of January 12, 2012  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.handelsblatt.com
  6. ↑ An old tradition that lives on  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Fuldaer Zeitung of August 27, 2001@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.fuldaerzeitung.de  
  7. ↑ Jörn Perske: Secret recipe for organic candles . In: Berliner Morgenpost, December 17, 2007, published online June 10, 2008, accessed on May 5, 2011
  8. ↑ a b Thomas Ruhmöller: Eika-Land has burned down ( memento of the original from December 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Frankfurter Neue Presse , December 21, 2012 (with photos by Peter Rasenberger, Markus Toschek and Robin Lohmann) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fnp.de
  9. ↑ Swiss investment company leads EIKA-Werke into the future  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Eika press release on Investitions-Nachrichten.de, May 5, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.anleger-nachrichten.de  
  10. ^ A b Claudia Obmann, Tanja Kewes: Temporary manager . In: Der Tagesspiegel, September 26, 2010, accessed on May 5, 2011
  11. ↑ Eika annual financial statements as of December 31, 2008 in the Electronic Federal Gazette
  12. ↑ Leoni Rehnert: Region crosses our fingers for Eika  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Fuldaer Zeitung , January 5, 2013@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.fuldaerzeitung.de  
  13. ^ Eika versus ACI: The most important events in the neverending legal dispute , Fuldaer Zeitung, April 9, 2015
  14. ↑ Bolsius Group takes over Eika ( memento of the original from March 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Fuldaer Zeitung, March 5, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fuldaerzeitung.de
  15. ↑ Insolvent Eika candles saved - Bolsius Group from Essen takes over , osthessen-news.de from March 6, 2013
  16. ↑ Shock in candle factory: traditional company Eika Kerzen GmbH ceases operations , osthessen-news.de, November 14, 2014
  17. ^ Eika: Conversations about the end , Fuldaer Zeitung , November 18, 2014
  18. ↑ Stefan Schoder: Eika employees start their own business: A&K candle sales in Fulda opens on Monday , Fuldaer Zeitung from October 18, 2015
  19. ↑ Gütegemeinschaft Kerzen eV: Members ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 5, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kerzenguete.com