Hidden Champions League

In its state-wide study, the NRW state government identified 34 hidden champions in Düsseldorf alone. These three examples alone show just how different they are: The tea bag manufacturer TEEPACK Spezialmaschinen, the plant manufacturer GEA with a multi-billion euro turnover and the start-up Volunteer World, an online portal for worldwide volunteering.

TEEPACK:
The market leader in the background

Teepack‘s latest special machine produces 450 bags per minute.

Tea packaging companies like Teekanne from Düsseldorf are known worldwide - the company that manufactures the machines for producing the practical double-chamber tea bags, on the other hand, is less so: “In this respect, we are a “hidden champion”. But to be honest, we are mainly pleased that we can contribute to the enjoyment of tea with our machines,” says Frank Wiedenmaier, Managing Director of TEEPACK Spezialmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG. The predecessor of this company developed the so-called Pompadour machine (the bag was reminiscent of Madame Pompadour’s handbag) as early as 1928, which could produce 35 bags per minute fully automatically. Teepack’s latest special machines can produce 450 bags per minute - also thanks to the new possibilities offered by Industry 4.0.

“Upholding tradition while at the same time leading the way in technology is something we are very proud of,” says Frank Wiedenmaier. More than 90 percent of Teepack’s special machines are exported. Due to the efforts of the tea-producing countries to carry out the refinement already in their own countries, this quota will probably increase even further. With an average employee tenure of nearly 18 years and an annual fluctuation rate of about 2 percent, the company also seems to be an attractive employer. Nevertheless: “A higher profile would certainly give us additional support in recruiting a powerful team for the future,” reckons Wiedenmaier. What needs to be done so that such hidden champions in NRW can continue to maintain their important role for the economy? “In addition to promoting “classics” like taxes, location attractiveness, training or infrastructure, successful, down-to-earth SMEs in mechanical engineering also need more social attention and appreciation. Especially for our young apprentices of all sexes and genders, we would like to see them smiled at appreciatively on their way home in their boiler suits,” says the managing director. •

www.teepack.com

“Upholding tradition while at the same time leading the way in technology is something we are very proud of.”

Frank Wiedenmaier,
Managing Director of TEEPACK Spezialmaschinen

GEA: The unknown giant

GEA manufactures giant fermentation tanks, among other things.

Although GEA still appears in the current Hidden Champions study of the NRW state government, with an annual turnover of 4.7 billion euros at last count, the Düsseldorf-based company is likely to have soon cracked the 5 billion euro upper limit - a criterion of the Hidden Champions definition. “Even if we no longer fit into this category, we are certainly still an “unknown giant”. This is definitely due to the B2B environment in which we operate.

Because consumers don’t see our plants, where many products for daily use are created,” says Anne Putz, Head of Media Relations. These plants are mainly used in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries - around 80 per cent of sales are in these sectors. Founded back in 1881, the technology group is one of the largest system suppliers anywhere, with more than 18,000 employees in five divisions and 62 countries. “Worldwide, our systems, processes and components improve the efficiency and sustainability of production processes: they contribute significantly to reducing CO2 emissions, the use of plastics and food waste,” explains Anne Putz. The world market leader moved its headquarters from Bochum to Airport City Düsseldorf in 2011 for various strategic reasons. Düsseldorf is known worldwide as a business location, the headquarters are well connected here for international business and the city’s attractiveness is also helpful in finding employees. •

www.gea.com

“consumers don’t see our plants, where many products for daily use are created.”

Anne Putz,
Head of Media Relations at GEA

Volunteer World:
The start-up on its way to becoming a champion

Volunteer World combines travelling with charity work.

It is possible to be a start-up and a hidden champion at the same time: Volunteer World is the only global, digital placement portal for volunteer work; comparable competitors are only active regionally. This year alone, people from more than 100 nations have found social projects all over the world through Volunteer World where they can volunteer to do “something good”. Typically it’s twens, but there are also, for example, special offers for families with young children and solo travellers over 40 who want to make a meaningful contribution. “When we launched in 2015, we were the very first market participant to succeed in assigning every single project to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Accordingly, we can also report internally on how much impact is achieved through each project goal. In this way, we can prove that more than 50 per cent are committed to environmental and animal protection, followed by a good 20 per cent in the field of medicine, with the remaining share then being divided across the other sustainability goals,” says Pascal Christiaens, founder and managing director.

His “baby” currently has around 400,000 visitors a month, who can search for their desired project in seven possible languages. Soon, versions in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian will follow. Things are looking up again at Volunteer World, because the Covid pandemic also took its toll on the start-up – even Pascal was on furlough for two years. “We are currently hiring people again and want to scale the platform further with additional resources,” he says. This year alone, he estimates that more than 10,000 volunteers will be processed through Volunteer World. And what does it mean to appear as a hidden champion in the state government’s study? “For us, it’s a sign that we are on the right track. But we don’t really attach great importance to being ‘hidden’ forever. We just see this as an intermediate step to becoming a known champion.” •

www.volunteerworld.com