Celebrating 80 years of WILD and Dr. Hans-Peter Wild’s 70th birthday - A global player, perfectly equipped for the future (15.06.2011)

On the eve of its 80th anniversary, WILD is in great shape. Founded in 1931 as a family business, WILD is now a global player and ready for the capital market. Today, the company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of natural ingredients for the food and beverage industries. A major force behind the developments of the past 37 years has been Dr. Hans-Peter Wild, who celebrates his 70th birthday on 16 June 2011.

“My goal has always been, and still is, to safeguard the long-term continuance of my parents’ family business, which I have expanded into an internationally successful corporation,” explains Dr. Hans-Peter Wild. Thanks to his commitment, WILD is today a world leader in the production of natural ingredients for the food and beverage industry, counting almost all the major food companies as its customers.

The company’s history began in 1931 in Heidelberg’s Marstallstraße. At the time, company founder Rudolf Wild was working on the revolutionary idea of producing soft drinks without the addition of synthetic ingredients. Twenty years on, in 1951, he achieved a breakthrough with “Libella”, the first ever soft drink made entirely of natural ingredients.

A unique story of growth
In 1974 Rudolf Wild’s son Dr. Hans-Peter Wild joined the company and soon began the firm’s globalization process. During the 1980s the product portfolio, initially focused on the base ingredients of drinks, was extended to include fruit preparations and fruit flavors, and later also natural colors. The takeover of base ingredient manufacturer Scholvien in Berlin finally strengthened WILD’s competence in herbal, tea and plant extracts.

Alongside the ingredients business, Dr. Hans-Peter Wild also set up the international Capri-Sonne brand. Today the unmistakable stand-up pouches represent the world’s no.1 kids’ drink, available in over 100 countries. The company’s third foothold, mechanical and plant engineering company INDAG Process Technology, is also enjoying healthy expansion. INDAG is now one of the leading suppliers of dosing and mixing units to the food and beverage industry, offering the world’s fastest packaging units for stand-up pouches.

Global structures
At the turn of the millennium the WILD group had reached such a size and complexity as a result of takeovers and the expansion of multiple companies within Europe, the USA and Asia, that basic changes of structure had become necessary. A few years ago Dr. Wild therefore decided to take the ingredients business unit to the capital market as an independent company.

To this end, in early 2010 Wild entered into a strategic partnership with international investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), who holds a 35% share of global flavors business. A mere six months later, on 29 July 2010, Dr. Hans-Peter Wild established a global structure for all the companies within the WILD group. The flavor divisions were grouped under a new Swiss holding WILD Flavors GmbH Zug (Switzerland), which included Rudolf Wild GmbH & Co. KG, Eppelheim (Germany), WILD Affiliated Holdings Inc., Erlanger (Kentucky/USA) and other Swiss assets owned by Dr. Hans-Peter Wild.

“This company will be floated on the stock exchange within the next two or three years. We expect to benefit from the extensive expertise of KKR, one of the world’s largest broker-dealers, who have assisted over 60 firms into the capital market,” Wild explains.

Benefits for staff and customers
“The reorganization will make the company independent of myself and provide the basis for the continuing successful development of WILD,” Dr. Wild continues. “As Chairman of the WILD Flavors GmbH Advisory Board, I will naturally continue to determine the course taken. From an organizational, financial and operative point of view, we are now well-positioned for a successful stock exchange career these next years.”

Dr. Wild is convinced that staff and customers in the food and beverage industries will benefit from the new organization. “Our partners will benefit from our global activities, our expertise in flavors and our high quality awareness as regards food technology. Thanks to our internationally applied consumer trend research, we recognize how customer needs are changing at an early stage and can use the gained insights to develop promising new concepts for our customers. As a globally operating producer and supplier of ingredients we also have direct access to all the significant raw materials sources. That allows us to offer our customers the best products for the respective markets worldwide.”

Innovations wanted!
Current business developments prove that WILD’s innovation strategy is paying off. “ These past two years have seen a great deal of convincing being done by our Sales division,” Managing Director Heinrich Sievers reports. “Pressure from the food trade led to our customers wanting to limit the product ranges, and cost reductions and streamlining were often at the focus of activities. Fortunately, attitudes are now changing and our innovations are back in demand. Following an already excellent year 2010 we have just recorded the best half-year in company history – perfectly in time for Dr. Wild’s 70th birthday and the company’s anniversary in 2011.”& amp; amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>

Sievers finds it all the more pleasing that the positive trend is not limited to Germany but is also extending into several other European countries. Independent of political situations and the weather – recognized factors that influence beverage consumption – excellent results have been achieved in Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Turkey, and also the Iberian Peninsula. Even the Middle East boasted tremendous performance as a result of the innovative product developments.

Cutting the edge to the future
On the eve of the company’s 80th anniversary, Dr. Hans-Peter Wild views the future with confidence. “The company is in an excellent position for further growth. We operate within a healthy industry, the firm has a solid basis and excellent staff, and really does create added value for the customer.”

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