Sparkling. Effervescent. Successful

Bad Überkingen. What does that connote to you? Mineral water. Spa. Swabian Mountains. Baden-Württemberg. All correct. And there’s one more term (or rather name) worth remembering: IQ 4 YOU smart beverages.

In the 1980s, 400 million bottles of mineral water were being filled each year in Bad Überkingen. After the firm’s business went into terminal decline, in February 2013 IQ 4 YOU took over the insolvent beverage producer and thus acquired the Überkinger brandname as well. Up till then, IQ 4 YOU had operated as a developer of energy drinks and trendy beverages – but without a bottling line of its own. After the take-over, IQ 4 YOU, (an abbreviation by the way, of “International Quality – for you”, first of all invested in a new canning line for its own trendy brands. A complete line from Krones rated at 50,000 cans per hour cans per hour. At the same time, the two managing partners Christian Becker and Stefan Tönnesmann relaunched the Überkinger water brand – with a fresh, harmoniously structured visual image: IQ 4 YOU expanded the range of packages to include 1.5-litre and 0.5-litre PET bottles, upmarket 0.75-litre and 0.25-litre bottles for the catering trade, with a wide-neck mouth and a hot-foil pressure-sensitive label.

In 2014, IQ 4 YOU invested in a new, exceptionally versatile glass line, with an annual capacity of 80 million bottles. One of the new line’s major advantages is this: bottles can be packed both in crates and in cartons. Another special feature is that five different closures are possible. The line also incorporates a pasteuriser, which means it can handle not only mineral water, but also juices, squashes, energy drinks, alcopops, wine-based beverages, and even beer and beer-based mixed drinks. Around 70 per cent of the products are exported, by the way. There are trading relationships in place primarily with Eastern Europe and the Near East. A widely diversified portfolio with prize-winning product brands. This has been confirmed by two international awards in the Middle East: for the XXL vodka mix range (2011 and 2012) and the alcohol-free ENERGY XXL product range (2012), chosen as “Product of the Year” in the beverages category.

IQ 4 YOU attaches major importance to its packaging and its visual image. Besides the customary paper labels, the new glass line can also handle pressure-sensitive and wash-off labels. Even highly elastic films are possible.

Everything is handled at the facility in Bad Überkingen. And for this purpose there are 70,000 square metres available here, 38,000 of them for administration, logistics and production. More than 100 people are meanwhile employed at IQ 4 YOU. Most of them highly qualified professionals. Even in the field of distilling. And with good reason: under the brandname of Gansloser, the company sells exclusive, sophisticated spirits produced and bottled in-house.

Besides producing its own beverages, IQ 4 YOU also offers contract filling in cans, PET containers and glass bottles. On request, the entire spectrum involved can be provided: from product development, including the layouting, labelling in line with the relevant statutory regulations, filling and display modalities, all the way through to warehousing and logistics. Thanks to long years of experience in this sector, the company is responsively familiar with the requirements and needs of the beverage industry.

IQ 4 YOU – more than just a beverage producer: different, ambitious and receptive to ongoing trends and consumers’ needs in a world that’s changing almost day by day.