About Us

Innovation leads to Success

Herbert Mederer

There is something of a child in all of us. I am fortunate that I can realize my enthusiasm for unconventional, funny, colorful, spooky and crazy ideas within the
bounds of my profession. For the past 30 years I have enjoyed every working day to the fullest, molding ideas into edible products together with my team. Our passion
for new and unique product flavors, shapes, textures, concepts and quality reflects our hard work and company philosophy.

For more than 3 decades, Candy Hall of Famer Mr. Herbert Mederer has brought innovation to the gummi segment worldwide as president of the German supplier Mederer GmbH. In the USA Mederer USA is a wholly German owned company – one of Mederer’s numerous subsidiaries.

Mederer GmbH is headquartered in Fürth, Germany and distributes to more than 80 countries globally from its seven manufacturing plants. Mederer is known for outstanding quality, new product concepts, and innovation while producing with high end quality ingredients and flavors.

Getting his start in the candy business at age 17, Mederer worked under his father, Mr. Willy Mederer. The company specialized in fruit gummi candy under the Wilmed brand. Mederer assumed ownership of the company in 1984, preceding the development and expansion renaming it Mederer GmbH.

Mr. Mederer was recognized with the Candy Kettle Award for his impactful innovation and creativity in 1993, and in 2003 was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame, which is administered by the NCSA.

Currently, the Mederer Group boasts sales of nearly $350 million annually with continued the expansion, the latest being in 2004 when Mederer took over sole ownership of the China operation and in 2007 expansion of high bay warehouse at the gummi bear factory in Hagenow, Germany. In 2011, China has put into operation another production
line to continue its substantial growth here in the USA. efrutti was first introduced as a brand in 2003 under the umbrella of Marketing and Sales Essentials, and were the first to introduce to the market the concept of the Lunch Bag, and IWP’s such as Mini Burgers, Hot Dogs, and many more. Effective as of January 1, 2012, the Mederer USA,
Inc family has moved all United States domestic operations to Bensenville, Illinois, where we still offer the same German produced quality.

We carefully develop and optimize our product range year-by-year. Our core product range is under continual critical review as we are always seeking to improve the design, taste and texture of our products.