Wed, 22 Nov 2006

New milestone for Weleda in medicine manufacturing

SCHWÄBICH GMÜND (NNA) – Weleda AG in Germany has described the inauguration of the new building of its subsidiary Weleda Naturals GmbH as a “milestone in the 85-year history of the company”.

Weleda Naturals GmbH brings together under one roof the cultivation of medicinal plants, the production of the tinctures as well as international purchasing and sales. The subsidiary employs 60 members of staff and will start supplying the companies in the international Weleda group with plant and oil extracts from 2007.

Weleda has invested ten million euros in the new project, partly financed by the Weleda Fonds II of the GLS bank.

The Weleda Naturals building also includes a visitor centre in which visitors can observe the work undertaken by the company.

“With the integration of medicinal plant cultivation and tincture manufacturing, we are combining the art of biodynamic gardening with modern processing technology.” explains Bas Schneiders, Weleda Naturals GmbH managing director. The new building had also become necessary as a result of the high quality standards demanded by law for natural medicines.

The cultivation of medicinal plants and tincture production, as key elements in the manufacture of Weleda products, lay at the heart of the activities of the Weleda group, Schneiders added. Weleda Naturals GmbH, which also brought together Weleda’s procurement activities under one roof, was a strong partner for all the production companies of the Weleda group.

Thomas Armbruster, head of tincture manufacturing, praised the new state of the art production facilities. ”We have made a hugh leap in quality,“ Armbruster said. Capacity had quadrupled with the new plant, leading to a considerable increase in productivity. One hundred tonnes of plant extracts and 100 tonnes of oil extracts would in future be produced in Schwäbisch Gmünd per year.

The new visitor centre can cater for more than 10,000 visitors per year, allowing them a glimpse behind the manufacturing scenes of the company through huge picture windows. The medicinal garden and plant processing has always attracted the greatest visitor numbers. The centre also offers a cafeteria with an outside terrace, a large sales area and seminar and conference facilities.

The new buildings combine functionality with æsthetics. Looked at from the air, the path through the various areas represents a figure of eight. ”In contrast to normal tours, this creates quite a different dynamic and a kind of undulation," architect Rupert Marcus described the effect of the building complex. With simple construction, the environmentally friendly use of building materials and the minimum interference in the micro-climate of the site, the architect had taken account of the ecological wishes of Weleda Naturals.

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Link: www.weleda.de

Item: 061122-02EN Date: 22 November 2006

Copyright 2006 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See http://www.nna-news.org/copyright/

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Biodynamic runners in Frankfurt marathon

FRANKFURT (NNA) – The Frankfurt marathon once again this year attracted relay teams from the biodynamic movement.

The best results were achieved by the quartet of Martin Miersch, Christian Burger, Jesus Bastante and Andreas Merz from the Freiburg tofu manufacturer Life Food Taifun, who came twentieth in a time of 2:59:04.

The team said it was proud to have managed the 42 kilometre course in under three hours.

Two other teams from the same company also ran the course. A women only team of Katja Günther, Elisabeth Huber, Eve Bolanz and Ute Lehmann ran the marathon in 4:14:33, giving them an overall ranking of 724, but second place in the unofficial women’s rankings. The third “oldies” team of Alfons Graf, Bruno Schweizer, Raphæl Najderek and Wolfgang Heck reached the finish in 3:38:30, giving them place 216.

A team from the Demeter association, the „Biodynamics“ consisting of Achim Wagner, Markus Topel, Heiko Schock and Julia Galuschka, achieved place 115 in 3:26:39.

“The Frankfurt marathon is a great experience,” the teams agreed. By allowing relay teams, it also offered those enthusiasts the opportunity to participate who were not quite sure whether or not they could manage a full course. “Training has already started for 2007,” the Demeter press office announced.

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Photos of the teams are available from the Demeter press office, tel. +49 (0)6445/922938

Item: 061122-01EN Date: 22 November 2006

Copyright 2006 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See http://www.nna-news.org/copyright/

More NNA reports at: http://www.nna-news.org/