Zimmermann-Graeff & Müller GmbH (ZGM) winery invests in a modern high-bay warehouse, a new tank cellar and a bottling facility at its Zell-Barl location. In addition, streamlining the company organisation and making changes to the legal form of the company is imminent.

Zell/Mosel, April 2016.

In the long term ZGM is planning to concentrate the bottling operations at the Zell location and implement further expansion. The five-year investment plan which has already been spearheaded envisages an investment volume of around EUR 25 million to be spread over several singular investment measures such as increasing capacities ultimately leading to more efficient and modern bottling facilities. With these investments ZGM wants to guarantee the fast and reliable servicing of customer needs for the future.
 
Apart from the still existing winery in Bad Bergzabern and the bulk wine cellar, formerly Weinbund wine association, Kinheim, the bottling location at Kinheim and Zell will be merged. Last year a consolidated land area was acquired in Zell/Mosel leading to an extension potential of approx. 20,000 sqm. “This is the first step towards the construction of a modern fully-automated high-bay warehouse with 15,500 pallet bays including an integrated despatch and commissioning hall. The second step will be the expansion of the tank and bottling capacities in Zell”, remarked Hans-Josef Esch, the longstanding managing director at ZGM.

Furthermore, ZGM has been transformed by changing into a new legal form. The former GmbH & Co. KG has now been changed to the simpler corporate entity of a GmbH. At the same time the company organisation has also been streamlined. Not only the two children of the owner, Dominik Hübinger (36) and Dr. Tina Schiemann, née Hübinger (38), receive 33 per cent of the new company structure but their father Johannes Hübinger (63) retains equally 33 per cent and remains chairman of the advisory board of the company.

ZGM will maintain a tank capacity of approx. 25 million litres alone at the Zell location following the completion of the investment measures. Four multi-functional bottling facilities and two Bag-in-Box filling lines will then be in operation in Zell. The new 25-metre high and 5-metre deep warehouse will provide the company with the capacity to transfer its bottling operations from Kinheim to Zell, so that Zell will ultimately become one of the largest and most efficient wineries in Germany. ZGM can then increase its filling volume from the current 140 million bottles to over 270 million bottles.

Organisational changes are also taking place at ZGM. Dominik Hübinger heads the Sales & Marketing department as Executive Partnerr and now also leads the Wine Purchasing department. He now assumes sales management responsibilities formerly represented by the Key Account Managers and Sales Managers. With this strategic move, ZGM will provide its customers and staff with closer, faster and more efficient decision-making processes.

Within the framework of the company streamlining changes Kristian Schiemann (44); authorized signatory for the company up to now, has been appointed as Managing Director.  He is responsible to the Material Purchasing, Human Resources, IT and Quality Management departments. His wife, Dr. Tina Schiemann, is responsible for the Technical and Logistics departments in her function as Executive Partner.

The longstanding Managing Director Hans-Josef Esch (56) remains responsible for the Finance, Controlling, Legal and Internal Organisation departments and heads the commercial division. On the executive management level Klemens Erz (58) is responsible for the Oenology and Bottling Technology departments and Gerald Wüst (50) for the Marketing department and both are authorized signatories of the company.

Supply Sources:
The products are sold both in the food and beverage industries and in the hotel and catering industry.

Company Information Zimmermann-Graeff & Müller GmbH & Co. KG:
Zimmermann-Graeff & Müller, short ZGM, based in Zell in the Moselle Valley is one of the leading wineries in Germany. The family business was founded in 1886 by Jacob Zimmermann. Today the company is in the hands of the great-great-grandchildren,
Dr. Tina Schiemann und Dominik Hübinger, the fifth generation of the family, and they are supported by the managing directors Hans-Josef Esch und Kristian Schiemann. Johannes Hübinger, who directed the company for over 35 years, has now taken on a new position as Chairman of the Advisory Board. The success of ZGM is based on excellent wine quality and this is the central focus of the company’s activities.

The experience in the production and marketing of wine has been accumulated over decades and this has allowed the company to develop and stimulate attractive wine brand names like Michel Schneider and Lorch. Concerning the first named brand name ZGM has been able to achieve significant growth in sales as a result of media advertising. Over recent years ZGM has also expanded its range of children’s drinks supported by license brands (Hello Kitty, Star Wars, Smurfs) and thus demonstrating its performance skills in production and marketing. In the Bag-In-Box sector ZGM counts as one of the market leaders in Germany and is valued as a high-performer in this sector.

The wide ZGM range of German, European and New World wines is available at nearly all German food retailers and can be found on the shelves in numerous other countries. The company is a product leader in terms of quality philosophy. As one of the strongest export companies in the German wine industry their wines are sold in more than 35 countries. More than 1,000 carefully chosen vintners from Rhineland-Palatinate supply the winery with their grapes.  By taking over the Lorch winery in 2009, ZGM now owns its own pressing station and bulk wine cellar in Bad Bergzabern.

ZGM currently employs 285 staff including 26 trainees and in 2015 the company achieved a total sales volume of approx. 100 million litres and a turnover amounting to 168 million Euros.

At ZGM almost 45 per cent of the total sales volume is from German wine-growing regions, particularly from the Mosel, Pfalz and Rheinhessen regions. The portfolio is complemented with an assortment of wines from other European countries and overseas. All oenological practices are carried out by in-house staff ranging from wine purchasing to wine finishing. Ongoing control measures based on strict quality regulations are continuously implemented in the entire company particularly in the refining and bottling of the wines. In order to guarantee quality the company offers its contracting vintners support and advice in cultivation processes. Production takes place at three locations: Zell-Barl, Kinheim and Bad Bergzabern, the latter having its own pressing station in cooperation with the oldest wine producers association of the Rhineland-Palatinate, St. Paul.