Wilfried Geissler-Sahm, 82, has been a member of BierConvent International since 1979. For a long time he was a member of the Senate and Senate President. Not until 2020, after
exactly 50 years of taking over the business of the glass refiner SAHM in Höhr-Grenzhausen in the Westerwald, he went into well-deserved retirement.

SAHM GmbH & Co. KG is one of the world’s leading suppliers of glasses for the beverage industry. Cologne-born Wilfried Geissler-Sahm, who gained a lot of experience at department store giant Karstadt, set the company on a successful innovation course.

Above all, however, the innovator recognized very early on after the fall of the Wall what opportunities were available in the East. As early as the beginning of the 1990s, he greatly expanded the Central and Eastern European business. Wilfried Geissler-Sahm also actively promoted close cooperation with the porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal, which at the time was looking for a strong partner for the production of beverage glasses. This business relationship, which began in the 1970s, lasted for over 25 years.

The experienced expert Wilfried Geissler-Sahm had already retired from active management about 15 years ago and since then had been assisting the managing directors Paul Goller and Michael Sahm as an advisor. “My father deserves the thanks of the entire company. He was instrumental in Sahm’s success story to date,” emphasizes his son Michael, the heir to the Westerwald family business.

Glasses of the future: Haptic and climate-neutral

Under the leadership of Michael Sahm, the company is taking big steps into the future. For example, state-of-the-art processes are used for glass finishing, such as the new relief printing. The glasses produced by means of relief printing offer haptic experiences in a class of their own and stand out clearly from conventional glasses, says the

SAHM company of its innovative products. Digital relief printing delivers fast and extremely precise results, and the glasses are also gastro-compatible and dishwasher-safe. No matter what the occasion, for example company anniversaries, special events or gastronomy – every relief is artistically produced digitally using the so-called “ink jet”. Another important step is the cooperation with the Munich-based company Climate Partner. By offering climate-neutral glasses, SAHM also wants to sensitize its customers to climate protection. SAHM has been pursuing a consistent strategy with regard to sustainability and resource conservation for more than ten years as part of its ISO 14001 certification.