Awakened from slumber
When entrepreneur Benno Hübel heard on his car radio in 2013 that the insolvent Berlin-based chocolate manufacturer Sawade was up for sale, he immediately called his wife Melanie, a design and marketing expert. A few weeks later, the couple prevailed against 30 competitors in the bidding war and took over the company and its workforce. Then they brought Stan Hema on board to get the long-established brand back on track.
Sawade is Berlin’s oldest chocolate manufacturer. The first shop was opened in 1880 on the boulevard Unter den Linden and offered homemade confectionery, truffles and speciality chocolates. After reunification, Sawade ran into difficulties and the company, with around 40 employees, stood on the brink of closure in 2013.
When Stan Hema met with Melanie and Benno Hübel, they had just drawn up a business plan and had many questions. Can we repair the damaged brand? Do we use the old recipes or do we reinvent the chocolate? Does anyone still buy schnapps chocolates?