Manner (confectionery)

Manner(German pronunciation:[ˈmanɐ]) is a line ofconfectioneryfrom theAustrianconglomerateJosef Manner & Comp AG. The corporation, founded in 1890, produces a wide assortment of confectionery products. These include wafers, long-life confectionery, chocolate-based confectionery, sweets, cocoa and a variety of seasonal products.
The company's best-known product are the "Neapolitan wafers", introduced in 1898. They are sold in blocks of ten 47 x 17 x 17 mm hazelnut-cream filled wafers. The hazelnuts were originally imported from theNaplesregion in Italy, hence the name. The basic recipe has remained unchanged to this day.
The company logo is a picture ofSt Stephen's CathedralinVienna. This dates to the 1890s, when Josef Manner (1865–1947) opened his first shop next to the cathedral.  TheArchdiocese of Viennaand the Manner Company agreed that the company may use the cathedral in its logo in return for funding the wages of one stonemason performing repair work on the structure.
The experienced businessman Josef Manner ran a small shop onStephansplatzin Vienna, where he offered chocolate and fig coffee. Manner acquired the concession and the premises of a small chocolate producer inMargaretenand founded the "Josef Manner Chocolate Factory" on 1 March 1890 together with his brothers. Just six months later they moved toHernals.By 1897, the company already had 100 employees.The Manner cut was invented in 1898.
In 1900, Johann Georg Riedl took over half of the shares in the company and laid the foundation for the collaboration between the families that continues to this day.By 1913, Josef Manner had risen to become the leading confectionery producer inAustria-Hungary, when the Wilhelminenstraße in Vienna-Hernals factory which is still in use today, was built. In October 1913, the company was converted into a public limited company and had 3,000 employees.From March 1922, theAnglo-Austrian Bankheld the majority of company shares.Due to restrictions of the economic crisis of 1935, the company had to reduce the share capital from 6 to 4.5 millionschillingsand the company founder Josef Manner withdrew from the operative business the same year.
During the National Socialist period, Manner benefited from orders from theWehrmacht, the "Aryanization" of Jewish property and the exploitation offorced labourers. Despite all the cuts, growth was recorded during theSecond World War, and the 1939 financial year was "generally satisfactory".In the 1941 financial year an income of 3.3 millionReichsmarkswas generated and a dividend of 6% was distributed.According to Carl Manner, the company was conscripted as an "army supplier" and produced chocolate and biscuits for the troops of the German Wehrmacht, and theScho-Ka-Kolaknown as "Fliegerschokolade" was produced for the Luftwaffe pilots. At that time, Manner was a wartime operation and was allocated cocoa beans until 1945. The company was also under the management of a National Socialist works manager, the son of the company founder was only active as a technical manager in the company. The bombardments caused relatively little damage to the factory building.
At the end of the war, the sugar and cocoa stocks still stored in the factory were requisitioned by theRussian occupying forces, and the company had to struggle with a shortage of raw materials for two years.In 1947 the company founder Josef Manner died at the age of 82. In September 1953 his grandsonCarl Mannerjoined the company and he was given power of attorney in 1959. In 1960, with the introduction of packaging in aluminum-coated foils with the typical red tear-off strip, the flavor-proof sealing of the now famous slices was introduced.As a result, sales rose again and in 1964 record sales were reported for the first time since 1914. In 1970 the competitors Napoli and Casali were taken over by way of a merger, whereby the product range was significantly expanded and the owner family of Napoli-Casali joined the Manner company.
A collaboration withNestléinHungaryafter thefall of the Iron Curtainfailed in the 1990s.
The corporate form is ajoint-stock companylisted on theVienna Stock Exchange, in which a large part of the shares are family-owned. Shares held by family members who no longer have an interest in the company are constantly being bought up by the majority owners, so that no outsider can become a significant co-owner.
In 2005, the announcement by the AustrianFederal Monuments Officecaused a stir that it intended to place the Manner building on Wilhelminenstraße 6 in Vienna-Hernalsundermonument protection. The company management replied that the relocation of the production facility would be the result for economic reasons, which would cause outrage among a large part of the Viennese population.
Manner has been running a flagship store on Stephansplatz in theEpiscopal Palacesince June 2004.There has been a flagship store at Vienna Airport since June 2006. With the aim of increasing sales in foreign markets, Manner opened its own sales subsidiaries in Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Germany. In 2010, Manner set up a shop with a café on Residenzplatz inSalzburg. On 10 May 2018, a Manner shop was opened in Graz on the main square, and on 19 July 2019 one opened in the Murpark shopping centre.
Manner's total turnover in 2009 was 155.4 million euros with an export quota of approximately 55%. This resulted in an annual surplus of 4.496 million euros and a balance sheet profit of 1.89 million euros.At the end of 2011, Manner announced the expansion of the Vienna site, where the production of waffles was to be concentrated beginning in 2015. At the same time, concepts for the subsequent use of the Perg site were being worked on.In 2013 a profit of around 180 million euros were achieved and around 40 million euros were invested in the Vienna plant. On 17 October 2014, part of the Manner factory in Hernals which was undergoing renovations, collapsed.In 2016, the production facilities were temporarily relocated from Perg in Upper Austria to Vienna.
Carl Mannerran the company as the third generation until his death in 2017. He was a member of the company's Management Board from 1970 and most recently President of the Supervisory Board.
The plant in Vienna was extensively renovated. At the same time and in cooperation with Wien Energie, the use of waste heat from the exhaust air was installed in 2017 theoretically supplying around 600 households withdistrict heating.In 2020, the conversion was completed where the factory in Perg was closed and the machines from there were installed in Vienna.
Manner has used Vienna'sSt. Stephen's Cathedralas a trademark since 1889, it was designed by Josef Diltsch. On 17 December 1999, Carl Manner received the gold Order ofSt. Stephenfor the services of his company.
The Original MannerNeapolitaner Schnittewas first documented in 1898 as "Neapolitaner Schnitte No. 239". Initially, the slices were sold loose.From 1924 the Manner wafers were offered in five rows of two, with a total of 75 g, initially in a folding box, from 1960 in a water vapor-tight packaging made of aluminium-paper composite foil with a tear-off strip and a tab, as a flat, almost square cuboid.
In 2022, following a lawsuit by the Association for Consumer Information (VKI) on behalf of theMinistry of Social Affairs, the Vienna Commercial Court convicted the manufacturer Manner of misleading packaging (not final). The allegation is a deception, since three similar, different-tasting types of slices are packed in bulk bags of the same size, with two types containing 400 grams, but the third type Manner Mozart Mignon only 300 grams.