In February 1895, Ludwig Weinrich and Paul Drüge founded the Herford Biscuit and Cakes Factory and set up the buildings at the site of the modern Herford Station.
Only three years later, it became clear that the German railroad authorities desperately needed a goods station on the Weinrich premises. So they bought the area from the company, and Mr Weinrich set up a new factory on Zimmerstrasse where it is located to this day.
In 1902 already, the successful run of business made it necessary to add an annex. After Paul Drüge had left in 1912, the Weinrich family was the sole proprietor of the company.
Shortly after the First World War, production of chocolate had started, and by 1923 the company´s name had been changed to “Ludwig Weinrich Schokolade- und Keksfabrik AG” (Ludwig Weinrich Chocolate and Biscuit Factory PLC).
Ludwig Sr. became chairman of the board, and his two sons Ludwig and Herbert became directors. Since the two Ludwigs, for reasons of health, were not a hundred percent fit, Herbert, at the age of twenty-three, took over the main part of the management work besides his degree course in economics. Yet, he managed to obtain his PhD, and after the untimely decease of his father and his brother, he successfully ran the company until his own death in 1959. Apart from biscuits, waffles, and gingerbread, the share of chocolate and confectionery kept on growing; over the years, the company specialised more and more in premium qualities which were mainly marketed as brand-name chocolates.
During the Christmas season of 1954 there were still 450 employees. Yet, manpower shortage prompted the management to rationalise and give up wage-intensive products. Thus, in the beginning of the sixties production of fancy cakes and confectionery was given up, and only solid and filled chocolate bars as well as coatings were marketed. At the same time, every effort was made to always work with state-of-the-art machinery. This made it possible to win through in the tough competition which had been set off in the mid-sixties when the brand price-fixing for chocolate bars was lifted.
In 1991, the capital shares passed from the Weinrich family into the possession of longstanding manager Cord Gerhard Budde Sr. by management buy out. In the meantime, Mr. Cord Budde Jr. has become majority partner and managing director.