Pez - since few years a public liminted company - was founded in 1927 at Traun, Austria. The founder of PEZ was Eduard Haas III whose basic idea has achieved triumphant success worldwide, and is still present nowadays. The name PEZ comes from the original German name for peppermint ( pfeff ermin z), and the original product was firstly made for high-class customers. PEZ marked a big success in 1953 by penetrating the USA market, where PEZ signed its first licence contract with Walt Disney. From this moment PEZ has started to become a kid's product. A new collecting strategy was developed – „play, nibble and collect“. By its international expansion it has become the leading licensed brand worldwide which nowadays offers a wide range of products, a rich collection of popular character figures and candies with excellent flavours.