Anna and Balthasar Reiter buy a small country dairy in the Bavarian-Swabian town of Mertingen. This lays the foundation for the success of the Mertingen entrepreneurial family and today's dairy. The couple married in 1923 and their son Georg Reiter was born.

Balthasar Reiter dies young. After two years of mourning, Anna Reiter marries Georg Zott in 1938. He becomes the namesake of the company, which at that time is still called “Dairy Mertingen Georg Zott”.

In the 1940s, Zott's product portfolio included fresh milk, butter, Edam, Limburger, Romadur, yogurt, chocolate drink and ice cream. The daily milk volume at that time was 12,000 liters.

The son from the first marriage, Georg Reiter, marries Frieda Ruppert in 1953. The second generation of the family enters the dairy. Frieda Reiter tirelessly supports her husband in expanding the company and together they successfully extend the product range.

Georg Reiter is regarded as a visionary entrepreneur. His passion for expansion is written all over him and is reflected in the dairy's steadily increasing milk processing volume. As early as 1970, the daily milk volume amounts to approx. 80,000 liters. The principal factory soon reaches the limits of its capacity and so, in May 1970, a new dairy with its own fruit stove is built directly adjacent to the original building. In the spring of 1972, the company moved in stages. Between the start of planning and the move in alone, the volume of milk had tripled.

Zott continues its growth course and takes over the Hans Schweyer dairy in Günzburg, Bavaria. Around 70 employees produce there mainly UHT milk.

Zott becomes the technology leader in the aseptic filling of its “coffee creamers”. With this new product, Zott realizes technological pioneering work and is able to establish portionable coffee creamers on the German market.

Nobody knew coffee yogurt back then - “Zott Mocca” was a sensation.

Under the slogan  “The great Allgäu” (“Die großen Allgäuer”), Zott was present in the chiller cabinets and sales counters with 60 different products. The prominent German folk actor Maxl Graf appears as a likeable advertising ambassador for our range of varied fruit yogurts for the whole family.

The cream kefir with fruit continues the success story. Available in four different fruit varieties, this kefir specialty with its spirited combination of flavours is a delicacy for gourmets.

The course for the future is also being set in Günzburg. The Schweyer dairy is building a new plant in the Günzburg industrial estate. Production of Emmental and processed cheese begins at the new site.

With Christine and Georg Reiter, the third generation joins the dairy and continues the family history.

1980 also marks the birth of our current indulgence classic “Zott Sahne Joghurt” and our weekend jingle “Weekend feeling”. For the first time in the company's history, we achieve national distribution with one of our products and win the “Golden Sugar Loaf” - the Oscar of the food industry - in 1986. This decade also sees the launch of our dessert specialty Tiramisu and our mozzarella specialty Zottarella.

Zott, Schweyer and the St. Mang cheese dairy from the Allgäu region found Zoma in Günzburg. Construction of the drying plant next to the dairy, which had only recently moved to the industrial area, begins in 1983. Powder production for the processing industry begins with the new drying plant.

With the commissioning of the company's own cup plant at the headquarters in Mertingen, packaging expertise undergoes significant development. The direct printing process remains in use well into the 2000s. After 2006, the cups are also produced using a modern, high-quality in-mold labeling process, which offers even more possibilities for packaging decoration.

Mertingen continues to grow. Following the gradual commissioning of individual production areas at the end of the 1980s, the new “Plant 2” production facility, including its own fruit kitchen in Mertingen, is inaugurated in the spring. Over several years and project phases, the former main plant is relocated to the greenfield site on Bäumenheimer Straße.
 

The classic “Monte” is born. The delicious combination of milk cream, chocolate and hazelnuts becomes the most successful new launch in its category in Germany. 

In Poland, we achieve a major breakthrough with the launch of the fruit yogurt “Jogobella”. The Jogobella brand concept is developed especially for Polish consumers and tailored to the country's typical taste requirements. Later, the concept of extra-large fruit pieces is taken to many Central European countries.

Due to the success of the fruit yogurt segment, we decide to produce fruit yogurt for the Polish market locally. We sign the contract for the acquisition of our first foreign production facility in Opole, Poland. Conversion and expansion work begins immediately. The first yogurt pots roll off the production line in spring 2000.

The company logo changes its face. The slogan of the first hour “Indulgence from A to Zott” is now followed by “Zott - The Gourmet Dairy”. From now on, indugence and quality are even more in the foreground and resonate comfortably in the company name.

Development and quality always play a central role. For even more expertise and innovation, the new development and quality center, with a variety of state-of-the-art facilities, was opened at our headquarters in Mertingen in May.

Our employees are our potential. In Mertingen (2011) and Günzburg (2013), we open the Zott activity centers to promote health.

Our Monte brand conquers Facebook and quickly cracks the 400,000 fan mark.

Our new international cheese brand “Bayerntaler” scores with Bavarian coziness and lots of indulgence.

Another milestone is reached. We are the 100th company to receive the license to use the “Without genetic engineering” seal of the German Association for Food without Genetic Engineering. At the time, our “Zottarella” brand is the first German and only international mozzarella brand to comply with the strict EU requirements for “Without genetic engineering” labelling. A short time later, we also switched the production of our Bayerntaler to milk from VLOG verified and imported feed-free sources.

In light of the international orientation of our gourmet dairy, we change our name to “Zott SE & Co. KG”. Our Zott family grows with the acquisition of the Polish branded goods manufacturer Bacha Polska.

For the first time, our dairy presents the “Golden Milk Can” award as a prize for the best farmers as part of our “Zott Quality Milk with Passion” program. From now on, the competition will take place every two years.

We have been the gourmet dairy since 1926 and are celebrating our 90th anniversary in 2016. A wonderful occasion to dedicate a special golden edition to one of our classics, the Zott cream pudding.

In this year, Zott Vietnam Company Limited is founded, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zott Holding with over 800 local employees.

For the second time in the company's history, Zott is awarded the “Golden Sugar Loaf”, the Oscar of the food industry.

In March, the new “Zott Genusswelt & Outlet” opened in Asbach-Bäumenheim. In a construction period of just over a year, the new address for yogurt and cheese lovers, for break-takers, for bargain hunters, for seekers of the exquisite and for connoisseurs was created in the industrial estate on the B2.

Just under a year later, it was named Store of the Year 2020 in the Food category by the German Retail Association HDE.

Company owner Christine Weber announces that she will focus on her role as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors from 2022. Frank Uszko will be appointed CEO of the Zott Group as of 01.01.2022.

This will be the first time that a manager who is not a member of the owner family will head the group of managing directors at Zott. Christine Weber will contribute her full entrepreneurial commitment to the Board of Directors of Zott SE & Co. KG.

“Delicious is also possible in vegan!” - with this brand promise, we are launching a new product range this summer that is made from purely plant-based raw material. A significant and innovative step in the history of our gourmet dairy.