The fashion conscious man wears a tie. Creativity and quality are of decisive importance in this fiercely competitive market. They are also the foundations of the success of a traditional Krefeld company called alpi Krawattenmode GmbH.

In Germany, if you hear from the media that the power grid needs expanding, then Alstom Grid is bound to be involved somehow. That's because transformers have been made at the production site of the French conglomerate in Mönchengladbach for more than 100 years.

Driven to the Top of the Textiles Industry: The Mönchengladbach company AUNDE is a prime example of a successful structural change in the textiles industry.

Rural, but sassy. That is how the Bolten brewerey sees itself today. It's still the oldest brewery in the world but it has been fully revamped.

BOS FOOD in Meerbusch-Büderich has been a success story now for more than 20 years. The leading delicatessen specialist supplies some 1,000 top chefs and 5,000 consumers, mainly in Germany and Austria.

"One of the best I have seen in years." The compliment comes from Peter Gabriel no less, who is now the proud owner of almost a dozen Brauner microphones.

Clay plaster is now in demand around the world. The historic Al Jahili fort in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, for example, is one of the projects that Peter Breidenbach and Claytec can lay claim to.

Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, based in Dormagen, is a highly innovative company for tricky coating operations. The mechanical engineers develop new technical solutions for all sorts of problems and are the global leaders in many segments with their machines.

Everyone knows the cubes with the little squares made of pressed dextrose from Dextro Energy.

GEMO G. Moritz GmbH & Co. KG is a family business which has been successfully passed down three generations. The name GEMO stands for GEbrüder MOritz, for GEMO was founded in 1922 in Berlin by Bruno Moritz and his brothers.

In the over 75-year history of the company Henkelhausen GmbH & Co. KG, Lutz Goebel is the fourth owner and is leading the experienced provider of all conceivable services in the area of engine and drive technology into the future.

Hoppen Innenausbau in Mönchengladbach is not your typical carpentry. Everything is very different at Hoppen – and very successful at the same time.

The "Jever Skihalle" is a wonderful example of an innovative idea coupled with enthusiasm and experience as well as entrepreneurial initiative.

In the Lower Rhine region they have been busy harvesting licorice for almost six decades now. In 1950 a company was founded here which would go on to become one of the best-known trademarks in Germany.

Your own swimming pool as a personal spa and holiday oasis. The Kaarst-based pool specialist Krülland makes dreams like these come true.

Mars came to Viersen 30 years ago. The American company opened its first confectionery factory on German soil in 1979 in the Mackenstein industrial park in south Viersen-Dülken, specifically targeting the Lower Rhine region so as to be near its Dutch sister factory.

The biggest seller of Vespa parts today is Niemann and Frey in Krefeld. In a newly built warehouse in Uerdingen, where Siemens manufactures ICE trains next door, there are large quantities of fittings and replacement parts on the shelves.

Probat has been building the most successful coffee roasting machines in the world for more than 140 years. Seven out of ten cups of coffee consumed worldwide are brewed from beans roasted by machines from the Probat Group.

The Lower Rhine has produced global market leaders: 30 years ago the family business Scheidt & Bachmann installed its first ticket machine in Stuttgart. Now this ‘hidden champion’ is preparing to revolutionize ticket sales in local public transport.

The spices get by fine without preservatives, flavours and monosodium glutamate. In addition, the Willich spice manufacturer Spirit of Spice goes even further than ensuring high quality standards and the purity of its products.

In 2010 the organ builders celebrated the 125th anniversary of the workshop, which was founded in Cologne in 1885 by Ernst Seifert, originally from Thuringia, and which, five generations later, is today run by Roman Seifert in Kevelaer.

When the trained book printer and typographer pursued another business idea in the middle of the 90‘s in Nettetal in the Lower Rhine region, in addition to his printing press, no-one could have imagined that it would go on to become the biggest selling German maker of soundcards.

The company, based in the Lower Rhine region, is a leader in the development, production and sale of components and systems for ventilation and air-conditioning technology.

The shirts from van Laack are treasured by top-ranking politicians and the top managers of DAX-listed companies just as much as by royal households. But van Laack doesn't advertise with names.