Contentful Paint
Starzinger Symbol

100 years of exciting company history

Bound by tradition

As a family-owned company, Starzinger can look back on over 100 years of exciting history. From the company's beginnings in the early 20th century to the present day, the Starzinger family has always remained true to its principles. We take responsibility for our employees, clients, and consumers, and cherish our homeland's traditions and cultural values.

1906

How it all began

Back in 1906, innkeeper Josef Starzinger began bottling soda water and lemonades. Thus, he laid the foundation for a beverage company marked by solid growth and future-oriented leadership.

1912

Difficult post-war years

August Starzinger I was born in 1912, and led the company through the difficult years that followed the turmoil of World War II. This period of reconstruction also brought the upheaval of automation that gave August Starzinger I all the opportunities he needed to expand the company. Trucks replaced the typical horse-drawn wagons and handcarts used to deliver Starzinger lemonade and soda water to local inns. In addition to bottling licensed brands like Afri-Cola, Frucade, and Almdudler, August Starzinger I began producing his own products. In doing so, he created a new role for himself as an independent entrepreneur.

1977

A new generation, a new location

In 1977, August Starzinger II, born in 1943, took over from his father. Together with his wife Ingeborg, he led the lemonade bottling company and its 13 employees. He had already been working at the company since 1959.

Located in Frankenmarkt's town center, the bottling plant couldn't be expanded where it stood. Moving the plant, however, would require a supply of first-class water. On the outskirts of the town lies a spring that still supplies us with Frankenmarkter mineral water today, 80m deep. This is where the new bottling plant was built. Starzinger bought neighboring properties and used that space to build more buildings, achieving the company's current size. This location is now Starzinger Beverage Group's headquarters.

1985

Entering the brewery business

After the owner of the Brauerei Bräu am Berg brewery in Frankenmarkt passed away, August Starzinger II purchased it in 1985. He intended to continue running it as a small, traditional business, without great plans for expansion. Today, this traditional Upper Austrian brewery is a private brewery whose motto is “small, but excellent".

1989

New horizons

In 1989, during a period in which the Austrian government sold many state companies to private buyers, August Starzinger II purchased the mineral water brands JUVINA (bottled in Deutschkreuz/Bgld.) and Long Life (bottled in Bad Radkersburg/Stml.) from Vienna's pharmaceutical plants. These mineral waters were a great addition to the line of original beverages it produced in Frankenmarkt (mineral water and lemonades).

In 1989, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Western businesses made strong inroads into the Eastern markets. This led to the creation of modern PET and aluminum can filling plants, in addition to traditional glass bottling plants.

1990

Expansion into Hungary

One year later, Starzinger purchased a mineral water company in Bad Bük, Hungary. Its headquarters are in Budapest, where Markus Starzinger (the son of August Starzinger II) runs Hungarian operations as well as exports into other Eastern European countries. Starzinger purchased the Aspach brewery in Upper Austria during this period of expansion, a move that allowed the company to significantly increase its beer exports.

1995

Starzinger purchases Austria's "refreshment bomb”.

In 1995, the company purchased the traditional Austrian lemonade brand Schartner Bombe and its production facilities in Bad Hall, and restored its popularity. As part of the company's efforts to continually improve product quality, Schartner Bombe's facilities were moved to Frankenmarkt in 2000, to take advantage of the mineral water produced there.

1998

In-house advertising agency

In 1998, Ludmilla Starzinger founded an in-house advertising agency in Frankenmarkt, to serve the company's steadily growing range different of brands. It handles product development, design, and marketing, which also allows Starzinger to offer its clients all-inclusive service: from developing flavors to designing labels.

2010

The next generation begins

In 2010, Ludmilla Starzinger took over the Starzinger group, which now consists of around 250 employees and bottles nearly 1,000 international products. Although she looks firmly towards the future, she hasn't forgotten the philosophy of the company's founder: taking responsibility for employees, clients and consumers, and cherishing our homeland's traditions and cultural values.

2012

Victor Starzinger, the fifth generation to come aboard

After professional studies in brewery and beverage technologies, master brewer Victor Starzinger took over the management of all of the company's production sites. Since 2015, he has owned the private brewery Bräu am Berg and thus also responsibility for beer production.

In addition, the Frankenmarkt production site and the private brewery in Aspach both received IFS certification.

2015

Bräu am Berg

The private brewery Bräu am Berg received IFS certification and a logistics center with over 12,000m² of storage space was constructed.

2016

Always on the move

New administration buildings will be built in Frankenmarkt and Deutschkreuz, and the operation in Deutschkreuz is preparing for IFS certification, with the appropriate investments being made.

2017

111th anniversary

For its 111th anniversary, the company opened the new administration center where the beverage group's international activities are managed. The world's most modern PET filling plant was also installed in the company's headquarters in Frankenmarkt.

made with passion by GO.WEST GO.WEST Communications GmbH