This is a special year for the WEPA Group. In 2023, the family business turns 75. In the last several months, the company has celebrated its successful development from a trading company into an internationally active group with 13 production sites. A total of almost 10,000 employees and their families took part in festive events at all WEPA locations. The programme included, among other activities, factory tours, an exhibition on WEPA’s 75-year history and a wide range of initiatives for young and old.

Martin Krengel, CEO of the WEPA Group, says: ‘Since the company’s founding in 1948, we have achieved a great deal and have played a significant role in shaping the hygiene paper market. We will continue to do so in the future – in a responsible and forward-thinking manner. We’re very happy to have been able to fittingly mark this anniversary over the last few months with our employees and their families at all our locations. The celebrations were terrific! They clearly showed, once again, what a unique corporate culture and what a great team we have at WEPA – one with which we are extremely well-positioned for the coming decades.’

‘We’re looking back on 75 eventful years in which our family business has steadily continued to develop. We are proud of what we have achieved. At the same time, this motivates us to shape our future successfully as well – together with our 4,000 employees, our valued business and cooperation partners and our company’s many friends. Because of their dedication and loyalty, WEPA is among the three largest European hygiene paper manufacturers today,’ says Andreas Krengel, who represents the third generation of the entrepreneurial family on the WEPA Management Board.

Founded as the Westfälische Papiergroßvertrieb GmbH by Paul Krengel in 1948 near the company’s current headquarters in Arnsberg, Germany, WEPA started as a trading company. Its first products included packaging and gift-wrapping papers. It began processing hygiene papers in 1953, before expanding into toilet paper production with the construction of the first paper machine in 1958.

Today, 75 years after its founding, WEPA is one of the three leading European producers of hygiene papers, with a special focus on sustainability. It produces a broad portfolio of hygiene papers at its 13 European locations: from toilet paper and paper towels to kitchen rolls and napkins. Whether at home, in hotels or in public washrooms – the hygiene paper products from WEPA play an integral role in the daily lives of millions of people all across Europe.