Company Portrait

Kefla-Glas GmbH & Co. KG is an owner-operated family business and one of the most important manufacturers and distributors of special containers made out of glass worldwide. We supply our products to grocery, spirit, wine, cosmetic, medicinal, chemical, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors among others.

Operating worldwide with the main focus on Europe, we are represented in all important markets, by a number of different partners, in addition to our subsidiary Verrerie du Future in France.

The glass industry is subject to continuous change. By consistently taking opportunities offered by the market, Kefla® is developing continuously in accordance with its target group and its technological possibilities. We consider developing, planning and designing high quality products for minor and major product batches to be the primary strengths of our company. As a result we have a portfolio of products numbering more than 2,800 articles, where almost all are available ex stock or able to be produced on short notice.

History

In 1685 winery Seul in Bingen am Rhein is founded.

In 1948 Hans Seul starts working for his uncle’s winery and is entrusted with the independent procurement of materials shortly after. This includes the procurement of bottles and corks, as well as everything else concerning wine, for example – filling lines, wine presses and their supplies, barrels, tanks, etc. Other wineries were starting to notice this reliable procurement and asked Hans Seul to procure various items for them as well.

In 1986 the outsourcing of the winery follows and Kefla® (Kellereibedarf + Flaschenvertriebs GmbH & Co. KG) is founded in Bingen-Büdesheim.

Shortly after, business operations are expanded on wine-growing areas such as Rheinessen, Nahe and Rheingau. Even large wine cellars like Recke, Kendermann, St. Ursula or for example Binderer appreciate the service and reliability Kefla® provides and start purchasing needed commodities there.

In 1972 Kefla® relocates to the industrial area of Bingen-Kempten (today: Bingen Ost I) due to limited storage space.

Kefla®’s sphere of activity expands gradually to adjacent wine regions such as Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Mittlerhein, Ahr and Pfalz, as well as Hessische Bergstraße and in conclusion specializes in the wine bottle sector. Other large wineries like Mertes, Drahten, Zimmermann-Gräf, Henkel, Kupferberg, the Faber-Reh Group or Winzergenossenschaft Moselland, a wine growers’ cooperative, expand the customer base.

In 1974 the storage space expands once again, in order to be able to provide a variety of different products and their amounts on demand. Due to new business segments in the food and spirit sector and a therefore higher demand of workspace, a new office complex is built simultaneously, which still exists today.

In 1979 Hans Seul hires Karl-Heinz Walter, his son-in-law, so he could offer a better service to the English-speaking clientele in order to be able to compete in the rising market of wine bottle trade. His approach is the procurement of relatively affordable glass from the European area.

In the early 80’s the family-owned business Kefla® operates throughout Germany, especially in the areas of Baden and Franken and in other individual European countries, in particular in the Elsass. By then the product range included regional and national standard bottles only.

In 1982 Walter-Glas-GmbH is founded by Karl-Heinz Walter to specifically keep track of his vision of individual customer care and the alignment on market and customer needs. The trading activity alone now becomes the goal, where independently creating and marketing new bottle type is the priority.

In 1985 the so-called “Glycol Scandal” in the wine sector shatters the entire industry. Many wineries and winegrowers, including their suppliers, suffer from major sale losses putting their company existences at risk.

In 1986 Kefla® merges with the innovative Walter-Glas GmbH and changes the strategic focus of the company. The strategy is to change the conventional way of distribution and trade to the innovative development of special bottles and other glass items focusing on the creation, production and distribution of design bottles.

In the late 80’s the business field is expanded to all segments in which glass bottles are used and the area the company impacts is enlarged to Europe. Initiated by Karl-Heinz Walter a flood of new bottles in different shapes and colors is designed, developed and produced with the aim of giving the customer the ability to distinguish explicitly from the competition and create an individual image on the market. In other European countries Kefla® is present through targeted publicity in the trade press, trade fairs and the expansion of the sales force.

In 1991 the subsidiary Verrerie du Futur S.a.r.l. is founded in France with its headquarters in Saint-Hyppolyte. This was done so that the French market would be more accessible.

In 1996 the internally developed finishing machine which would later go through a series of expansions and refinements is built and represents the “State of the Art” in the sector of small quantity production.

In 1999 Verrerie du Future S.a.r.l. in France moves from Saint-Hippolyte to Bergheim due to the positive development on the French market.

In 2004 the storage space in Germany is more than doubled to meet the market’s increasing requirements of a fast supply capability with a steadily growing product range.

In 2011 the storage space in France is expanded through an additional hall.

In 2013 the office space in Bergheim is expanded and in 2016 office spaces in Germany are reconstructed, expanded and modernized.