Günthart
| Günthart & Co. KG | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Limited partnership |
| founding | 1956 |
| Seat | Hohentengen am Hochrhein , Germany |
| management | Peter Günthart, Stefan Günthart |
| Number of employees | 1,500 |
| Branch | confectionery |
| Website | www.guenthart.com |
Günthart & Co. KG is a company in the confectionery decoration industry with headquarters in Hohentengen on the Upper Rhine . The family-run company employs around 1,500 people in nine countries worldwide. Cake decorations and gift items are primarily produced in four plants in Thailand and Germany .
founding
In 1946, the Swiss-born Ernst Günthart opened his first business in a garage in Niederhasli (Switzerland). Ernst Günthart was present at numerous bakery and confectionery exhibitions at home and abroad in order to win new customers for his still small company. In 1953 he took part in the IBA in Düsseldorf , which gave him new inspiration for his product range.
New developments
In 1956 the owner moved the headquarters to Hohentengen for economic reasons. The customs duties from Switzerland to Germany were very high at that time, but very low from Germany to Switzerland. Hohentengen, close to the border, was only 16 kilometers from the original company headquarters. The move went smoothly and Ernst Günthart opened his first production facility for sugar decorations and wafers in Germany with a workforce of 20. The company quickly experienced a boost when Ernst Günthart developed a crucial innovation for the company with the chocolate transfer film. With the chocolate peel-off film (also known as chocolate transfer film) it was easy to apply different motifs to chocolate.
In 1963, construction began on a new production facility and an office building in the town center, which was expanded in 1971. The company experienced a strong increase in demand, especially in the field of sugar and marzipan items. At that time, the products were already being delivered to all EC countries and some overseas.
Generation change
In 1973 the founder's eldest son, then 23-year-old Peter Günthart, joined his father's company. He developed machines and manufactured them in his own workshop. With these machines it was possible to work more efficiently and effectively. In doing so, he laid the foundation for today's mostly computer-controlled processes. In addition to the technology, he also took on the tasks in the commercial area.
His younger brother Stefan Günthart joined the family business in 1978 and took over the graphic area. Thanks to his ideas, the company was finally able to offer gift items in addition to cake decorations. Stefan Günthart had the idea of attaching wooden dolls to a box of chocolates - an innovation at the time that was sold well. He is still the creative head of the company today.
Larger production facilities at home and abroad
In 1980 a branch was opened in Taipei , Taiwan, in which sugar and marzipan flowers were handcrafted. In 1981 the property of a disused sawmill was acquired in Hohentengen, which with its approx. 35,000 m² still houses the headquarters of the Günthart company. In 1986 a production facility was opened in Nong Khae in the province of Saraburi in Thailand , as the branch in Taipei quickly reached its spatial limits. Today around 1200 employees work there in the field of ceramics, sugar, marzipan and gift items production. Not far from the headquarters, another branch was opened in Tiengen on the Upper Rhine in 1988 . Around 100 employees work there on the production of gift items. Another branch was added in 1999. Today around 150 employees work in Khlong Hat , Thailand. They make simple prefabricated products for production in Nong Khae.
Branches
Branches have been established in the following countries since the 1990s: 1994 in France, 1995 in Austria, 1998 in Great Britain, 1999 in Italy, 2001 in Belgium and the Netherlands and most recently in 2004 in Russia.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ World Business Directory, Volume 1 , World Trade Centers Association, Gale Research Incorporated, 1995, p. 1569
Coordinates: 47 ° 34 ′ 20.3 " N , 8 ° 26 ′ 30.8" E