A century in the making

He is celebrating the milestone anniversary at the same time as Jens Schubert, who remembers one thing above all: “the striking aromas – which it’s fair to say were quite a bit more intense here than you’re used to in your own kitchen.” The third employee celebrating an anniversary is Rainer Behringer, who incidentally has very fond memories of his colleague, Jens Schubert, who as shift supervisor was responsible for training Behringer back in the day thirty years ago.

A combined total of 100 years

The three company veterans have clocked up an impressive total of 100 years in production. During this time, they have lived through incredible change and corporate growth – from the construction of a new complex of production halls and a logistics center in Abtswind in the late ’90s, through the introduction of the company’s very first germ reduction system, to the expansion of the Wiesentheid site and the recent reconstruction of a production hall with state-of-the-art equipment.

A combined 100 years in production: Harald Stumpf, Rainer Behringer, and Jens Schubert (from left).

From career changes to promotion at Kräuter Mix

One other thing that the trio shares – apart from their joint career milestones, of course! – is that a career change ultimately led them to Kräuter Mix. Jens Schubert, who originally trained as a chef, joined the company after moving from former East Germany around the time of German reunification to explore new opportunities. Harald Stumpf, meanwhile, switched from working as an office clerk to driving trucks for Kräuter Mix between the many small warehouses that were still dotted around the area at the time. For his part, Rainer Behringer was a qualified butcher when he joined Kräuter Mix, starting as a machine assistant in production in the mixing team.

All three embarked on Kräuter Mix’s in-house training program to become machine operators, after which their paths diverged to follow their own career trajectories. In 2018, Harald Stumpf moved from machine operator in production to technical services, where he has been a cornerstone of the team ever since. Following his training, Jens Schubert went on to earn his industrial foreman certification in food technology through a three-year program he completed alongside his full-time job; he was then promoted from shift supervisor to production manager and now assists the plant manager directly. After first working as a machine operator for the cutting and cleaning systems, in 2018 Rainer Behringer took on the role of assistant and later deputy in a shift manager team. As of the start of this year, he has been one of eight shift managers in the company, working with their teams in a three-shift rotation.

Thanks to their long tenure with the company and the wealth of knowledge and experience they have gained in the production of air-dried herbs, spices, vegetables and tea ingredients, all three men and their teams have laid strong foundations for the company’s growth.