Founded more than a century ago, GEKA has a singular story. Established in the Franconian countryside of Bavaria as a brush manufacturer, the company has reinvented itself as a recognized specialist in cosmetic packaging and a global leader in mascara. Now part of medmix’s beauty division, GEKA holds around 190 active patents, a portfolio of more than 4,000 brush and applicator designs, and works with nearly 180 brands, ranging from industry giants such as L’Oréal, LVMH, and Coty to fast-growing independent labels.
“Mascara packaging consists of five components — the bottle, the cap, the stem, the wiper, and, of course, the brush — that must work together in perfect harmony with the formula,” explains Stefanie Gunz, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at GEKA.
Whether the promise is volume, length, curl, or lash separation, performance ultimately depends on the interaction of these five elements — a highly engineered system where every detail matters.
An integrated center of excellence
The beating heart of GEKA’s global success is its historic Bechhofen site in Bavaria. Across a 22,000 m² campus, the company has brought together every critical capability required to develop and manufacture eye and lip makeup packaging — from plastic injection molding and injection blow molding to brush production, assembly, decoration, metallization, filling, laser printing, and its patented Shadow Printing technology.
The site also features an in-house laboratory, a testing center dedicated to injection molding processes, and the Competence Center for Application Solutions (CCAS), where new products are validated before entering industrial production.
Within the CCAS, teams conduct compatibility, stability, and performance testing to ensure every launch meets both technical and consumer expectations. Validation protocols also account for the demands of different climates and regional preferences through a testing network spanning the United States, Brazil, and China.
By integrating these capabilities under one roof, GEKA shortens development timelines, reduces industrial risk, and streamlines the path from concept to market.
A factory designed for flexibility
Another key strength of the Bechhofen site lies in its industrial organization. With approximately 80 injection molding machines, 30 injection blow molding machines, and production operating on three shifts, six days a week, the factory is designed to accommodate both large volumes and smaller production runs.
Every aspect of the operation is engineered to maximize equipment utilization while reducing setup time and production costs. One example is GEKA’s robotic storage system for standard components and semi-finished products, which enables rapid production starts for small batches without unnecessarily tying up machine capacity.
Automation extends to the latest assembly lines, where RFID-enabled conveyors automatically identify each product and select the appropriate manufacturing program, minimizing changeover times and improving production efficiency.
To uphold its reputation for precision, GEKA has also brought several specialized capabilities in-house that are uncommon in the industry. These include manufacturing its own hot-stamping tools and using industrial computed tomography scanning to verify component conformity with exceptional accuracy.
Innovation meets co-creation
This industrial excellence is central to GEKA’s value proposition — but it is only part of the equation.
Beyond its portfolio of more than 10,000 standard combinations, the company partners with brands on bespoke developments through its Mascara Workshop in Bechhofen.
During these collaborative sessions, GEKA’s teams work alongside customers to define the key parameters of a mascara — from brush selection and formula viscosity to packaging design and performance targets — before validating concepts through application testing, standardized evaluations, and documented technical recommendations.
The goal is no longer simply to supply a component, but to help brands build a credible product claim from the earliest stages of development.
"We work side by side with our customers to co-create the ideal mascara — from defining the right brush, formula, packaging and performance to validating concepts through rigorous testing. We ensure every solution is adapted to different climates, ethnic needs and consumer preferences. Customers leave not only with a tailored mascara concept, but also with actionable market insights that help accelerate innovation," explains Jennifer Dean, Head of Beauty Business Unit at medmix, GEKA’s mother company.
This co-creation model has proved particularly attractive to young DTC brands, which often have a strong grasp of consumer trends but more limited R&D capabilities. To support them, GEKA’s marketing teams continuously monitor emerging signals across social media, trend agencies, makeup schools, and international markets.
Powering the sustainability transition
Bechhofen also sits at the heart of medmix beauty’s sustainability strategy. Since 2025, the site has operated with zero waste to landfill.
On the product side, lowering packaging-related emissions has become a key innovation driver. GEKA already offers brushes made with post-consumer recycled PET (PCR-PET) fibers, while bottles and caps increasingly incorporate PCR polypropylene. The company has also introduced its EOSgreen range of bio-based fibers, alongside its proprietary Shadow Printing technology, which delivers decorative effects while reducing the emissions associated with conventional lacquering processes.
Yet GEKA is careful not to overstate its sustainability credentials. According to its teams, every environmental claim undergoes multiple rounds of verification before it is communicated.
By concentrating design, engineering, testing, and manufacturing expertise at its Bechhofen campus, GEKA is reinforcing its position in a category where product performance depends as much on the packaging as on the formula itself.
