Wander AG (officially: "WANDER AG") is a food producer that is owned by

Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...

and is based in

Neuenegg Neuenegg is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Neuenegg is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Nuneca''. In 1235 it was mentioned as ''Nuwenegge''. During the Middle Ages, ...

(Canton of Bern, Switzerland). The company employs about 300 people in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Its most well-known product is

Ovomaltine Ovaltine (also known by its original name Ovomaltine) is a brand of milk flavoring product made with malt extract (except in the blue packaging in the United States), sugar (except in Switzerland), and whey. Some flavors also have cocoa. Ovaltin ...

and

Isostar Isostar is a sports drink sold in Europe. It is similar to Gatorade and Powerade in that it hydrates and provides energy through glucose. Isostar was first created in Switzerland in 1977. Products Isostar is sold in many different varietie ...

History

In 1865

Georg Wander Georg Wander (11 August 1841 – 14 March 1897) was a German-Swiss chemist and industrialist. Biography Georg Wander studied chemistry in Gießen, Tübingen and Würzburg. In 1859 he became a member of the Corps Rhenania Gießen. In 1861 he joi ...

opened a "chemical-technical and analytical" laboratory in the old town of Bern. His son Albert Wander, took over the company in 1897. In 1904, the production of the malt beverage Ovomaltine was started. The first sales depots opened in Italy and England only two years later. In 1908 the sole proprietorship was converted into a stock corporation. In 1913, the first Ovomaltine production facility outside of Switzerland was built in

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...

(Great Britain). In 1927 the Swiss production site was moved from Bern to Neuenegg. In 1997, a new Ovomaltine production plant was opened in Neuenegg, which has been responsible for pan-European production since 2002. Wander AG was taken over by Sandoz in 1967 and sold to

in 2002.

Products

In addition to Ovomaltine products, Wander AG also manufactures the first isotonic drink on the market,

, as well as the chocolate beverage powder Caotina, the nutritional supplement Jemalt and protein bars for endurance sports.

Trivia

In 1958, the chemists Hunziker, Smutz, and Eichenberger at Wander AG in Bern synthesized a substance called clozapine as part of a screening for new antidepressants involving around 2,000 substances. In 1960 the substance was patented and from 1962 the first trials were carried out on people with the new "antidepressant"; however, these were not very successful. The substance was tested from 1966 on in people with chronic productive schizophrenia, the antipsychotic effect being noticed. In 1972 clozapine was launched under the trade name

Leponex Clozapine is a psychiatric medication and is the first atypical antipsychotic (also called second-generation antipsychotic). It is primarily used to treat people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders who have had an inadequate respo ...

. The tram station at the former Bern Wander headquarters continues to be called "Wander".

Literature

*Walter Thut: Vom Zwei-Mann-Labor zum Weltkonzern. Georg Wander (1841-1897), Albert Wander (1867-1950), Georg Wander (1898-1969). Association for Economic History Studies, Zurich 2005, (Swiss pioneers of business and technology. Vol. 79).

Website

Wander Wander AG websitew Walter Thut: Wander AG. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland.
In: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland

References

{{Authority control Food and drink companies established in 1865 Food and drink companies of Switzerland Multinational companies headquartered in Switzerland Drink brands Associated British Foods