Family-run manufacturer Winterhalter going strong after 70 years
Warewashing manufacturer Winterhalter, based in Meckenbeuren, Germany, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
Founded in 1947 by Karl Winterhalter, prior to this, the development of the company's first dishwashers took place in the family home, with a garden shed as a workshop.
Winterhalter's first big seller was a portable electric oven, the Backhexe (baking wizard).
Winterhalter opened its first overseas branch in 1967 in Holland and gradually further subsidiaries were established in Europe and Asia.
Today the company employs 1,500 employees worldwide across approximately 40 subsidiaries with over 75% of Winterhalter's manufacturing output going to export markets.
Karl's son, Jürgen, current joint CEO of the Winterhalter Group, remembers the original testing process performed by his family: "My mother used to rub plates with spinach and leave them to dry in the sun. Then we'd wash them in the machine, and they actually ended up clean. It fascinated me."
The warewashing gene was also inherited by grandson Ralph (pictured), joint CEO of Winterhalter. As a child he lived in the factory in Meckenbeuren and praises the achievements of his grandfather and father.
"My grandfather had the courage to establish a company during hard times after the war and, with great vision; my father developed it into a top international brand."
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