The rise and rise of Zwiesel Glas

Zwiesel Glas has enjoyed a stellar 2022 – from mergers with Fortessa, new brand launches in the HoReCa sector with United Tables to marking its 150-year anniversary and record revenue – the company has seen its star rise in decidedly chopping waters. But what next? Tableware International speaks with head of marketing, communications and product, Michael Eichinger

It is fair to say the past year has been huge for Zwiesel Glas –how is everyone at the company feeling after the merger with Fortessa?

2022 was definitely huge for us! We had numerous campaigns around our 150th anniversary, successfully carried out our rollout of the Zwiesel Glas brand, pushed ahead with the European expansion of our D2C activities and, last but not least, launched United Tables. A highlight of the past year was certainly the merger with Fortessa. This went smoothly, also because we, as owner families, share the same set of values in the management of our companies and pursue a common vision. Especially in such challenging times as we are currently facing, we are glad to have a strong partner

Together with Fortessa, Zwiesel Glas generates more than EUR 200 million in turnover on a global basis, making them one of the largest tableware suppliers globally.

such as Fortessa on board. Together, we have much greater clout and broader resources at our disposal.

How long was the merger in the planning?

Zwiesel Glas and Fortessa have that? Is global domination the ultimate goal?! Together we are much more efficient – we are a globally active company with offerings that complement each other perfectly, but do not overlap. This opens up been working together successfully for almost 20 years. Even back then, we had the same goal in mind: to set the table together. Over the years, the idea of merging the two companies has matured and in October 2022 we took the step.

Zwiesel Glas and Fortessa already had a strong working relationship – how does the merger further strengthen a completely new world for our customers. We offer precisely fitting and reliable service from a single source, a perfect "all-round carefree package", so to speak. This makes us an even more attractive contact partner. The merger also allows us to be even more diversified - this applies both to the markets and to our product portfolio. At the same time, we can also increase our efficiency as a company. Through the merger, around 900 people are working to become the world market leader for tableware.

Zwiesel Glas has gone on record to say the company’s revenue exceeded €100 million for the past financial year – does this put additional pressure on you to maintain growth?

This success has been achieved for the first time in the company's 150year history and we are very proud of that. Of course, we are working towards achieving this record turnover once again. However, we must always keep an eye on the overall economic situation and adapt our planning to the general economic conditions. Especially in economically untransparent times like these, we therefore always remain realistic and work consistently towards our ambitious goals with the necessary degree of flexibility. Together with Fortessa, we generate more than €200 million in turnover on a global basis, making us one of the largest suppliers of tableware in the world.

Talk to us about the tableware/ glassware industry at the moment, is it under duress?

Zwiesel Glas, like other glass manufacturers, is dependent on stable natural gas supplies as a high energy consumer. Around 80 per cent of the total energy consumption is accounted for by company divisions in which an ordered reduction would not be possible without problems. The only option would be a complete shutdown, but even that could only be implemented with a lead time of 14 days so as not to endanger our "hardware". An example of this is the melting tank, which would be damaged if it were deactivated immediately, which would be tantamount to a total loss.

In addition to the necessary stability in supply, however, the increased prices are also putting us under pressure. This concerns not only energy costs, but also raw materials, freight and other goods. To cover the additional costs, we had to adjust our prices on 1 July 2022. We are in the fortunate situation of having a customer structure that has gone along with this price increase. In order to be able to continue to be a reliable partner with the usual level of service in the future, we had to take current developments into account with a further price adjustment on 1 January.

How is the North American market performing compared to Europe?

Both markets are performing very well – especially the branded consumer business overperformed within the last one to two years in the US market. In European markets, there is positive development as well especially due to our new brand strategy as drayhorse. Professional business is still recovering and reached a pre-Covid level in both markets. The outlook is positive for US and European market although very untransparent due to economical and political developments.

Fleur (l), Iconics (r}

family-owned company that has been managed for many years, is crisis-proof and has proven many times in the past that it is able to combine forces and act flexibly. Not least because of the merger with Fortessa, we are in a very stable position. We are convinced that strong brands with strong partners with distribution in both expand our consumer business. Multiple awards with the German Brand Award (the most recognised award in Germany) for excellent brand management are confirmation for us that we have done everything right with our brand realignment. This is the basis for us to further roll out our consumer and high-quality brand

What are the greatest challenges facing the industry, in your opinion?

The entire global economy is in an incredibly complex and volatile exceptional situation. The sum of uncertainties (from delivery times to political decisions and framework conditions) has reached unprecedented levels. The development of the consumer climate in the coming months is therefore almost impossible to realistically assess – however, the current figures from our professional business continue to be very positive, as is the development of the high-quality brand business in our consumer markets: Proof that we made the right decisions in 2020 and invested in a comprehensive brand relaunch. This has already been successfully leading the positive developments of our consumer business for two years and supports the further development of our professional business under United Tables. This gives us confidence for the coming months.

In addition, Zwiesel Glas, as a areas - consumer and professional - will have a decisive advantage in the future, even under adverse and non-transparent conditions, and will thus continue to prevail.

Where do you see Zwiesel Glas’s position in the market? The company is strong in HoReCa but I’m thinking of your recent collaboration with jeweller Saskia Diez on the Fleur vases. We have recently been named "World Market Leader for the Upscale Hotel and Catering Industry" (2023) for the sixth time in a row. When our company owner, Prof Dr Andreas Buske, proclaimed this goal a good 20 years ago, it was unimaginable for many. Through the merger with Fortessa, the new target is "world market leader for the table setting"! To achieve this, we launched United Tables in 2022, an innovative tabletop concept provider and one of many steps towards our goal.

In addition, since our brand relaunch in 2020, we have been working consistently and successfully to further develop and business not only nationally but also internationally. Excellent sales development in Germany as well as in the USA give us a tailwind. Further projects, such as the next steps of our already started European expansion of our digital D2C activities, are planned for the coming months and years.

Through the cooperation with Saskia Diez, but also through other new products from our company, among which are more and more decorative objects, we also want to become more present in the interior sector and thus be able to successfully address the needs of our end customers not only in the drinking glass sector, but also in the interior segment.

Finally, what are you most hoping to gain from 2023? Security with regard to the energy issue, a stabilising situation on the markets and a continued successful development of our brand and distribution strategies.