Christoph Mix marks 50 years since joining the family firm
Thirty-five highly valued employees are celebrating their Kräuter Mix work anniversaries, looking back on between ten and 50 years at the company. The firm’s longest serving staff member is managing partner Christoph Mix. On August 1, 1970, aged just 18, he joined his parents’ company with its eight permanent employees and 20 seasonal workers, having successfully completed his training as an industrial clerk at a Cologne-based pharmaceutical company. Even as a child, he had helped out for pocket money with his six younger siblings, picking marigolds, for example, in and around Abtswind (Germany). “It’s growing just outside, go and earn it,” his father Bernhard used to say. Christoph Mix has been managing partner since 1973. Today the company has over 450 employees and an annual turnover of around 120 million euros.
The mid-sized family firm, which produces dried herbs, vegetables and spices for the industry, has seen strong growth in recent years. In 2010, with a turnover of just under 70 million euros, the workforce consisted of 270 people. “Everyone here has played a role in the successful development of our company,” said Silke Wurlitzer, managing director, as she celebrated the 35 employees marking their anniversaries at Kräuter Mix, pointing out that the average employee at the company has worked there for eleven years. “We are very proud of this.” Wurlitzer thanked the employees for their loyalty to the company and called for them to pass on their knowledge and experience to their younger colleagues.
The anniversary celebrations – held strictly in compliance with Covid-19 regulations – began with a hike through the Abtswind vineyards and ended with a bite to eat and wine tasting at the local Behringer winery. The cabaret artist and singer Silvia Kirchhof from Gerolzhofen provided the entertainment. In her program “Franconian wine is female”, she wore ever-changing costumes as she introduced the varieties of grapes in a musical and humorous way.
The following employees celebrated anniversaries. 50 years: Christoph Mix (managing partner); 40 years: Herbert Krenig (Logistics), Wolfgang Mix (Production Planning); 35 years: Elisabeth Fischer (Cleaning Services), Helmut Schönberger (Logistics), Thomas Stiele (Technical Management); 30 years: Karl-Heinz Funk (Logistics), Georg Hahn (Logistics), Monika Lechner (Sales); 25 years: Boris Schmidt (Logistics), Harald Schollmaier (Logistics); 20 years: Herbert Fink (Logistics), Andrea Firsching (Sales), Marc Hanselmann (Production), Olaf Kupfer (Production), Michaela Möslein (Quality Management), Ulf Pitschula (Production), Cindy Reitmeier (Sales), Marco Ring (Production), Margit Schierer-Zehnder (Production Planning), Christian Schulz (Production), Helmut Sterner (Logistics), Hubert Stühler (Logistics), Nicolas Taillefer (Production), Robert Uhl (Production), Richard Veth (Logistics); 10 years: Doris Hahn (Quality Management), Peggy Hahn (IT), Marcus Hammermeister (Logistics), Karsten Krauss (Controlling), Margarete Mahler (Production), Constantin-Razvan Paunescu (Technical Management), Thomas Schmidt (Quality Management), Tobias Werner (Sales), Ovidiu Zay (Production).
