Last decade sees positive development
Juniper has long played a starring role in the product range at Kräuter Mix, a manufacturer of air-dried plant-based raw materials. From more than 650 raw materials, this blue-black berry with its uniquely fruity flavor profile has been one of the company’s key products for the past ten years now. Back in 2013, the owners of Weisgerber, a company from Schwebheim in Franconia, Germany, which specialized in juniper berries, were planning to retire and were looking for someone to take over the business. For Kräuter Mix from Abtswind, just 30 kilometers away, this offer proved to be a stroke of luck that was to pay off. Ten years after the takeover, Kräuter Mix is now celebrating a special juniper milestone.
Before the takeover, Weisgerber had been the market leader in its field, and Managing Partner Bernhard Mix was sure to grow the company’s existing relationships with customers and suppliers from fall 2013. Kräuter Mix took on Weisgerber’s employees and relocated production to Abtswind, gradually optimizing the processes over the following years and adding extra equipment to expand its market leadership with state-of-the-art production.
Since then, Kräuter Mix has grown into a leading supplier of juniper berries thanks to its Juniper Center, Europe’s most advanced production and drying facility. Today, it offers customers a comprehensive range of juniper products, including with lowered microbial counts and certified organic options. At present, the company achieves annual sales volumes of more than 1,000 metric tons of juniper, including whole berries, juniper giants, crushed and ground berries. A great achievement, considering no more than 40 tons were sold in 2012, the year before the takeover. Today, Kräuter Mix supplies the spice, extract and spirits industries worldwide with juniper, one of its best-selling products, sourcing its raw materials from Italy and south-eastern Europe.
“Gin producers and other spirits manufacturers in particular benefit from our extensive range of herbs, fruits, roots and flowers, as we supply them with all the plant-based ingredients they could need for distillation,” explains Bernhard Mix. Juniper berries are what give gin its unmistakable bouquet, which can be rounded off with other botanicals such as angelica root or coriander seeds to create a truly individual recipe.