Double anniversary for Theegarten-Pactec

The company's beginnings date back to the 1920s. This was the decade in which Englishman William Rose first met the Theegarten family from Cologne. Mr Rose was seeking a German distribution partner for the packaging -machines made by his company, Rose Brothers. Not only did the families agree on matters of business, they also struck up a friendship. Justus Theegarten sent his son Franz to do a two-year apprenticeship with Rose Brothers in the British town of Gainsborough.

The father and son team founded their family-owned business Rose-Theegarten in 1934. They were licensed to manufacture Rose Brothers machines. The Rose-Theegarten corporation was a cosmopolitan and innovative firm. Alongside their British counterparts, the engineers in Cologne worked meticulously to refine the technology. The company was a success and the workforce grew to number almost 50 staff within a few short years.

The company remains a family enterprise to this day. It is now managed by Markus Rustler, the fourth generation of the family, together with Dr. Egbert R?hm. Supported by a workforce of 350, they are taking Theegarten-Pactec to the next level. They are aided in this endeavour by three sources of historical strength. The Theegarten-Pactec portfolio encompasses a particularly diverse range of machines for the primary packaging of confectionery. An excellent distribution network ensures the company's presence in all of the world's major markets. And the engineering side of the business has traditionally been accorded huge significance. "Demand is always shifting; we never quite know what aspects our customers are going to focus on next, neither the region nor the type of confectionery and its packaging," explains Markus Rustler. He goes on to say, "The variety of products we offer, our high level of innovation and our international market presence put us, as an independent family business, in a position to master this challenge."

Milestones and perspectives

The foundations for this good positioning were laid by the previous generations at Rose-Theegarten and at Pactec and Nagema. The names of Markus Rustler's parents, Christa Rustler-Theegarten and Erhard Rustler, are synonymous with a development that was to be a significant turning point for Rose-Theegarten. In the early 1970s they started up a global sales organisation, which they used to push internationalisation. Just how successful they were in their efforts is shown by a snapshot in time from the mid-1980s, when 5% of sales came from within Germany, 20% was generated in Europe and a whole 75% originated in countries outside the European Economic Area, including North Africa, the Republic of South Africa, Indonesia, the USA, Iraq, Pakistan and Iran.

It is to the dedication of Christa Rustler-Theegarten, Erhard Rustler and Gerd Schwarze, the managing director of Pactec, that the company owes its successful merger in 1994. A former division of the East German state-owned combine Nagema, Pactec brought in the forAdidas Fotballsko