# Cefak ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1948 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Kempten (Allgäu) | | Status | Active | | Manufacturing | Kempten (Allgäu), Germany | | Distribution | Pharmacy | | Website | https://www.cefak.com/ | Cefak is a German pharmaceutical and food-supplement manufacturer based in Kempten in the Allgäu region. Trading as Cefak KG, the family-owned company traces its first natural medicines to 1948 [2]. Its range today spans dietary supplements, mineral preparations, natural medicines and a small line of cosmetic skin ointments, and the company says it still makes most of these products at its own headquarters. Cefak is best known for selenium. In 1984 it launched Cefasel, which it describes as the first selenium medicine on the German market [1], and the Cefasel name now covers a wide family of selenium tablets, capsules, sprays and sachets. Within beauty and personal care, the brand's presence rests on two pharmacy ointments for irritated and sensitive skin, Cefabene and Cefafloria, alongside supplements it groups under skin, hair and nails. ## History & milestones The company dates its beginnings to 1948, when the first Cefak natural medicines were produced in Kempten, and it has kept both its headquarters and the bulk of its manufacturing in the town ever since. It marks the anniversary in its public messaging, presenting itself as having served customers for more than 75 years. The defining step in the company's history came in 1984 with Cefasel. By Cefak's account, Cefasel brought selenium, a trace element the body needs in small amounts, into drug therapy in Germany for the first time. Selenium has remained central to the business. On its selenium information pages, Cefak states that as a pharmaceutical company it has the greatest experience with selenium products and has stood for "selenium in pharmacy quality" since 1984 [8]. Today the Cefasel name also covers a range of food supplements sold as Cefasel nutri, in several strengths and formats. A more recent milestone concerns production. Since 2014, according to the company, most of its products have been made in a new production building at the Kempten headquarters [3]. The people who founded the business are not named in the company's public materials. ## Ownership Cefak operates as a KG (Kommanditgesellschaft), a German form of limited partnership. The company's legal notice names Dr. Hans Brand as the general partner authorised to represent the business, and lists its entry in the commercial register of the Kempten local court under number HRA 3247 [5]. An independent German business directory likewise records Dr. Brand as owner and Dr. Hans Brand as managing director [12]. No parent group or outside investor is documented. Cefak refers to itself as a family business, and a regional employer profile describes it as a mid-sized family company [11]. No acquisitions or sister brands are on record. The same sources give a sense of scale. The employer profile places the workforce in the band of 50 to 200 employees [11], while the business directory lists 60 employees and gives an annual revenue of 24 million euros, which it explicitly marks as an estimate [12]. The directory classifies Cefak within the pharmaceutical industry. ## Philosophy & positioning Cefak positions itself first as a pharmaceutical manufacturer rather than a beauty brand. It describes its work as developing, producing and marketing food supplements, mineral preparations, cosmetics and natural medicines, and says it places the highest value on quality. Its stated quality promise is "Apothekenqualität aus Deutschland" ("pharmacy quality from Germany"), which the company applies to product development, choice of raw materials, manufacturing, testing and customer advice. The website's tagline carries a regional emphasis: "Qualität aus dem Allgäu direkt vom Hersteller" ("quality from the Allgäu, direct from the manufacturer"). Much of this positioning rests on manufacturing practice. The company says all of its production processes, including those for food supplements, are designed to drug and food standards, naming GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and HACCP, a food-safety hazard-control system [3]. Testing, according to Cefak, runs in its own laboratory and at certified independent external laboratories, and as a medicines manufacturer it is subject to regular inspections by supervisory authorities. Substances used in its medicines, it notes, meet the quality rules of the European Pharmacopoeia. It also lists checks on raw materials for contaminants such as heavy metals and, for plant ingredients, pesticide residues. Product development is handled by what the company calls an interdisciplinary expert team of pharmacists and specialists in pharmacy, nutritional science, food chemistry and biology [7]. The same team, Cefak says, also writes and reviews the health information published on its website. Several other commitments appear in Cefak's own descriptions. The company says it avoids unnecessary additives, keeps allergens out where possible, and does not use raw materials from genetically modified organisms. It stops short of a brand-wide vegan claim, saying only that its products are vegetarian where possible and, at best, vegan. Among the values it lists for itself are manufacturing in Germany, local jobs, flat hierarchies and family-friendly working conditions. ## Products & innovation Most of Cefak's catalogue sits outside cosmetics. Its core lines are supplements and medicines built around single nutrients or plant ingredients. Besides the Cefasel selenium range, the company highlights Cefavit D3 K2 Mg, which combines vitamin D3 with vitamin K2 and magnesium, and Cefanight, a melatonin range sold in several strengths and formats. Its health-topic menus cover areas such as sleep, the immune system, the thyroid, bones and muscles, and energy. The company's skin, hair and nails category is dominated by Cefasel nutri selenium supplements, which make up seven of the nine products listed there [4]. The remaining two are the brand's only topical products, both sold as cosmetics rather than medicines. **Cefabene** is a small ointment that Cefak describes as intensive care for irritated skin, eczema and itching. Its key ingredient is a skin-conditioning stem extract of bittersweet nightshade (*Solanum dulcamara*) [9]. The company states that the formula is free of parabens and may also be used on children's skin, while noting that it contains alcohol and can occasionally cause redness on already damaged skin. **Cefafloria** is a larger ointment that the brand presents as special care for sensitive skin. Its key ingredient is ethyl linoleate, a form of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid, in a base of petrolatum, water, plant-derived triglycerides and lanolin alcohol [10]. Cefak describes it as suited to stressed skin in conditions such as atopic eczema, psoriasis and ageing skin, and as an option when tapering off cortisone-based treatments. The company also lists cracked skin, work-related skin damage and skin exposed to UV light or radiation among its uses. The product is made without added fragrance, dyes or parabens. Cefak sells its whole range through pharmacies, and its supplements and ointments are also available in the company's own online shop [3]. ## Current status Cefak is active. The company runs a live online shop with current products and promotions, and its website carries a 2026 copyright notice from Cefak KG. Its headquarters and main production site remain at Ostbahnhofstraße in Kempten, where it continues to describe itself as a family business making pharmacy products. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1948 | First Cefak natural medicines (Naturarzneimittel) produced in Kempten (Allgäu). | https://www.cefak.com/unternehmen/cefak-seit-1948 | | 1984 | Launch of Cefasel, which the company says was the first selenium medicine on the German market. | https://www.cefak.com/ | | 2014 | Production moved into a new production building at the Kempten headquarters. | https://www.cefak.com/unternehmen/qualitaet | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Cefasel (selenium; Arzneimittel and Cefasel nutri food-supplement range)** — Mit Cefasel® führte Cefak bereits 1984 Selen in die Arzneimitteltherapie ein. Es war damals das erste Selen-Arzneimittel auf dem deutschen Markt. — https://www.cefak.com/ - **Cefavit D3 K2 Mg** — Cefavit® D3 K2 Mg enthält neben Vitamin D3 auch Vitamin K2 und Magnesium. — https://www.cefak.com/ - **Cefanight (melatonin)** — Unsere Cefanight-Produkte mit Melatonin gibt es in verschiedenen Stärken und Darreichungsformen. — https://www.cefak.com/ - **Cefabene Salbe (cosmetic ointment for irritated skin; Solanum Dulcamara stem extract)** — Hautpflegender Bittersüßstängel-Extrakt aus der Dulcamara-Pflanze — https://www.cefak.com/222/cefabene - **Cefafloria Salbe (cosmetic ointment for sensitive skin; ethyl linoleate)** — Spezialpflege für empfindliche Haut — https://www.cefak.com/243/cefafloria-salbe ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} selenium · vitamin D3 · vitamin K2 · magnesium · melatonin Source: https://www.cefak.com/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.cefak.com/ 2. (T1) https://www.cefak.com/unternehmen/cefak-seit-1948 3. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/unternehmen/qualitaet 4. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/produkte/anwendungsbereiche/haut-haare-naegel/ 5. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/informationen/rechtliches/impressum/ 7. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/unternehmen/expertenteam 8. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/gesundheitsthemen/vitalstoffe/selen/ 9. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/222/cefabene 10. (T2) https://www.cefak.com/243/cefafloria-salbe 11. (T4) https://www.jobs-im-allgaeu.de/organization/cefak-kg 12. (T4) https://die-deutsche-wirtschaft.de/unternehmen/cefak-kg-kempten-allgaeu/ --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-05 Please cite with a link to the article URL.