An interview with Tanja Zimmermann-Burgerstein
In 1972, Dr Lothar Burgerstein founded Antistress AG – the manufacturer of Burgerstein Vitamins – together with his son Uli Burgerstein. Today, Antistress AG is run by his granddaughter Tanja Zimmermann-Burgerstein, representing the third generation of the family. One thing that has remained unchanged since the early days is the principle that health is the greatest asset. Burgerstein Vitamins aims to support customers with micronutrient products in all circumstances, enabling them to lead active and healthy lives.
To mark the 50th anniversary in 2022, Simone Walther Büel and Stephanie Jakob from the distribution partner ebi-pharm ag conducted an interview with Tanja Zimmermann-Burgerstein. The values and principles expressed therein have lost none of their relevance to this day and continue to shape the company’s actions.
Tanja Zimmermann, when your father and grandfather founded the company together, you were probably not even born yet or still very young. How did your grandfather and father later tell you the story of how the company was founded?
I always remember my grandfather on crutches. So the consequences of the accident were always present. At the start, the change in diet was particularly crucial. Lothar Burgerstein took a very pragmatic approach – today he wouldn’t stand a chance with that. I remember the most unlikely combinations of foods – whether it tasted good or looked appetising was irrelevant. The classic was his morning ‘Pep-up’. A mixture of lecithin, yeast, yoghurt, fresh fruit, a raw egg and vitamin C. If you were lucky, it came with a scoop of ice cream; if not, a spoonful of cod liver oil.
In my memory, my father always came home with suitcases full of products from the USA. At the time, he had a great deal to do in the USA in connection with his role as CEO of another company in the Burgerstein Group. This ultimately led to the decision to focus on in-house product development rather than becoming a distribution company for existing products. What was always impressive about both gentlemen was the sheer number of supplements they were prepared to take. For them, the more, the better. This approach no longer applies to me, nor to our company’s philosophy.
Question about the town
The company was named Antistress AG; how did your father and grandfather come up with this name?
In his book *Heilwirkung von Nährstoffen* – the first edition of what is now *Burgerstein Handbuch Nährstoffe* – Lothar Burgerstein described stress as follows: ‘…every illness and every accident represents a stressful situation, linked to a significant deficiency in nutrients’. This thesis was the original inspiration behind the name. No market research was carried out, nor was any thought given to what message this might convey. Our first products were also launched under the brand name Antistress. It soon became clear that this brand name had no future.
The Burgerstein Vitamine logo is a set of scales with a ball inside. Did you have this logo from the start, or was it developed later? And what exactly does the logo symbolise?
The logo was created very early on; it was intended to convey the theme of ‘being in balance’. Originally, however, the ball was floating in the scale. Back in the 1990s, as a young marketing manager, I anchored the ball. As a result, it remains in balance to this day, without losing its connection to the ground, to reality. I think this is also reflected in the way Burger Stein works.
Your company is based in Rapperswil-Jona. Why this location in particular?
It’s simply because our family has very strong roots in Rapperswil. We’ve grown steadily and have been able to make use of more and more space in existing industrial buildings that are family-owned.
How many employees did the company have at the start? Was it just your grandfather and your father, or were there others as well?
In the early years, my grandfather mainly kept my father busy with lots of ideas, along with a loyal secretary who handled all his international correspondence. My grandfather would always dictate onto those funny records; this was then typed up and the letters sent by post. It was all quite stress-free, as you had to wait a long time for a reply. In the early years, the main activities centred on gathering knowledge. So back then, it was a three-person operation. In 1988 – following the death of Dr Lothar Burgerstein – Hugo Schurgast took over the scientific management of Antistress. Since then, the company has grown steadily, from six people in 1988 to 55 employees today.
It is very important to you that only the best raw materials are used for Burgerstein products. What was it like in the early days? How did your father and grandfather ascertain the quality of the raw materials, and how did they find the first suitable producers who manufactured the products exactly to their specifications?
In the early days, Lothar Burgerstein corresponded with many experts worldwide and always addressed every possible question. Key figures included Dr Theodor Widmer from Austria, as well as Linus Pauling, Dr Carl Pfeiffer and Prof. Roger Williams from the USA. Bioavailability has always played a central role. Mr Schurgast was particularly instrumental in this regard and immersed himself deeply in the subject matter. At the outset, it was always difficult to convince contract manufacturers that they could not simply use the standard excipients employed in manufacturing technology for producing a tablet or capsule – but that their physiological properties and body-friendliness were just as important to us. As we were hardly willing to compromise on this, the contract manufacturers were constantly forced to try out new approaches for us. Naturally, we were also ridiculed for this.
Today, established partnerships with contract manufacturers form the basis for ensuring that formulations are produced exactly as we require. The expertise on where to source which raw materials lies within the product development department, but above all in our procurement department.
What was your very first product? When did it first go on sale, and is it still available today?
The ‘Multivitamin Strengthening Supplement’, together with a vitamin C powder, was among the first; shortly afterwards came vitamin E, the B complex and primary yeast. Apart from the primary yeast and the vitamin C powder, these products are still available in the range in a modern formulation.
You were still a small child in the early days of the company and subsequently witnessed how the company developed and grew. What was that like for you as a child? What did you pick up on? Did you, for example, also discuss company matters over lunch?
Entrepreneurship was always very much at the forefront in our home. My father worked a lot and travelled extensively. When I was a child, he was always on the road for the Leder company, which he had taken over following my grandfather’s car accident. I always associated the vitamin business very strongly with Lothar Burgerstein. But I’d already earned a tidy sum during the autumn holidays at secondary school by helping out with product bottling. So I had a strong connection to the company from an early age.
And as the daughter of a father and grandfather who ran a micronutrient company, did you always have to take healthy vitamins in winter as a child? :-)
What do you mean ‘in winter’ – I still maintain today that I was actually a guinea pig. I grew up on Burgerstein Multivitamin-Mineral CELA; the vitamin C was always there too, and no doubt plenty of other things as well. It felt like there were always at least five tablets.
Today you’re the third generation to run Antistress AG. Was it always clear to you that you’d one day work for the company and carry on the business? Or did you originally want to be something completely different as a child than what you are today?
I was always very curious as a child. Like any girl, I wanted to be a fashion designer or an interior designer at one point. But I also always thought engines were really cool. My father never pushed me to join his companies. I’m still grateful to him for that today. My interest in health and nutrition – which stems mainly from a love of good food – has always been there. With a background in marketing, joining the company just as it was really starting to grow was a great start. I took on the communications side of things without any real commitment. Over time, more and more responsibilities naturally came my way, so I was able to grow into my current role in tandem with the company’s growth. It’s a luxury for which I’m very grateful.
09.10.2022