Eptingen in the countryside near Basel was a popular spa town since the early 18th century thanks to its spring water, to which healing properties were attributed. In 1899, the Eptingen spa hotel and its spring were purchased by Edmund Buchenhorner and Ernst Singer. They founded the company which was first called “Brunnenverwaltung Eptingen” and began bottling their spring water, first by hand and from 1905 with an automatic bottling facility. After the First World War, the spa operations in Eptingen closed while the mineral water business grew increasingly important. In the 1920s, the company bought the spring in the neighbouring town of Sissach and used that water to produce their “Sissa” soft drinks. In 1949, they launched the “Pepita” grapefruit-flavoured drink, which achieved cult status in Switzerland thanks to the parrot logo created by Basel designer Herbert Leupin. Leupin, who was friends with the Buchenhorner family, designed the first advertising poster for Eptinger in 1941 and created more than 50 posters for the Eptinger and Pepita brands until 1972. Today, Mineralquelle Eptingen AG is managed by the Buchenhorner family in its fourth generation.
Eptingen in the countryside near Basel was a popular spa town since the early 18th century thanks to its spring water, to which healing properties were attributed. In 1899, t ...
he Eptingen spa hotel and its spring were purchased by Edmund Buchenhorner and Ernst Singer. They founded the company which was first called “Brunnenverwaltung Eptingen” and began bottling their spring water, first by hand and from 1905 with an automatic bottling facility. After the First World War, the spa operations in Eptingen closed while the mineral water business grew increasingly important. In the 1920s, the company bought the spring in the neighbouring town of Sissach and used that water to produce their “Sissa” soft drinks. In 1949, they launched the “Pepita” grapefruit-flavoured drink, which achieved cult status in Switzerland thanks to the parrot logo created by Basel designer Herbert Leupin. Leupin, who was friends with the Buchenhorner family, designed the first advertising poster for Eptinger in 1941 and created more than 50 posters for the Eptinger and Pepita brands until 1972. Today, Mineralquelle Eptingen AG is managed by the Buchenhorner family in its fourth generation.
