Globally Active and yet Familiar
The independence of the HACO Group is the basis of trust for the cooperation with our partners and customers: as a financially independent and unlisted family company, around 250 shareholders hold 100% of the share capital.
The HACO Group is made up of various sales and production companies in Europe, Asia and North America.
Our Vision
We are at home in the culinary world. Its diversity gives us the passion for our daily work, where we are always on the lookout for individual, innovative and contemporary convenience food solutions with our customers.
Creating food that matters
We want to create and produce food that makes a difference, that means something, that fits the customer's needs. This combination of creation and meeting customer expectations sets us apart from a mere manufacturer or mass producer – creation, innovation, strong customer focus, all these are essential components of our business activity and purpose.
Making a difference
Making a difference – for our customers, for our colleagues, for our managers and employees, for our owners; because it is precisely this infectious passion for what we do and going the extra mile that ultimately gives our product (“creating food that matters”) its compelling credibility.
Shaping a great HACO
Strengthen HACO again and again with our activities and our attitude, give us the form of a reliable partner for our customers and suppliers, be profitable and entrepreneurial on the road, help HACO to remain an employer where you can contribute and develop. Because only as a strong HACO will it be possible for us to create and produce food for our customers that makes a difference, that means something, that fits the needs.
Our Principles and Values
Vision and courage, pioneering spirit, innovative, entrepreneurial and forward-looking thinking and action, long-standing partnerships with our customers as well as outstanding performance have always characterized the history of the HACO Group. We build on our successful past to actively shape our future. A balance in our focus on people, products, performance and success is just as important to us as the values that drive us:
Passion
Being there with passion and heart and soul, knowing that “without passion there would be no genius” (Theodor Mommsen).
Trust
Confidence in our partnerships with customers; in the potential they hold; in our ability to unlock it.
Cooperation
Only together are we strong: in our teams, with our partners; because we know: only by bundling our strengths does 1+1 add up to more than 2.
Reliability
Ownership by all of us leads to reliability; reliability creates trust.
Openness
Openness to new things, seeing things with new eyes and looking at the world around us is at the beginning of our innovations.
Transparency
Transparency in what we do is the basis for our flexibility, for lean processes and for a rapid time-to-market.
Respect
Appreciation, attention, trust in each other's abilities – foundations for our cooperation.
Board of Directors and Group Management
In principle, the Board of Directors of HACO Holding is composed of representatives of the founding families. The Group Management is responsible for the operational management of the company and is headed by the CEO. Each operating company has a locally based management.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
GROUP MANAGEMENT
Facts & Figures
Our History
Inventions, pioneering achievements, Nobel Prize winners. The annals of the HACO Group are a fascinating logbook of progress and success.
From HACO Ltd. to the HACO Group
In the beginning, there was HACO Ltd. in Switzerland: this was founded in 1922 as a production and distribution site for specialities from the Bern pharmacy Haaf & Co.
The acquisition of the soup and bouillon manufacturer TexTon laid the foundation for the production of foodstuffs. As early as 1929, the company was able to win Migros as a customer – a collaboration that still exists today. However, the company's success was not only felt in the field of food production, but also in pharmaceutical research: in 1950, chemistry professor and HACO employee Tadeus Reichstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his study on the production of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). However, the pharmaceutical branch of HACO Ltd. was then discontinued in 1965 in favour of the production of foodstuffs.
The successful internationalization of the company began with the founding of HACO Holding Ltd. in 1994; today the HACO Group serves customers all over the world from twelve locations on three continents.
MILESTONES
- 1922
Foundation of HACO Ltd. in Gümligen/Switzerland – start of supply of pharmacies, from 1929 start of food production
- 1979
Foundation of Narida Ltd. in Schwarzenburg/Switzerland – Start of production of cereal bars
- 1994
Foundation of HACO Holding Ltd. in Gümligen/Switzerland and thus laying the foundation stone for the HACO Group
- 2004
Foundation of HACO Swiss Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd in Shah Alam/Malaysia – Start of coffee production in Asia
- 2005
Foundation of HACO Canada in Blainville-Québec/Canada – Start of distribution of HACO products
- 2007
Acquisition of GFF, Inc. in Los Angeles/CA, USA – takeover of the production of dressings as well as start-up manufacturing of culinary products
- 2009
Acquisition of Gutschermühle GmbH in Traismauer/Austria – Expansion of competencies and capacities in the category of cereal bars / snacks
- 2010
Acquisition of Plochman, Inc. in Manteno/IL, USA – Takeover of the production of mustard and start of production of dressings
- 2011
Expansion at the Malaysia site – expansion of production capacities and start of production of new packaging options
- 2012
Acquisition of the cereal bar manufacturer Ravensbergen Food B.V. in Sassenheim/Netherlands – Further expansion of competences and capacities in the cereal bar / snacks category
- 2013
Acquisition of Gautschi Spezialitäten Ltd. in Utzenstorf/Switzerland – Expansion of competencies in the category of
liquid / viscous culinary products (e.g., soups, sauces, dips, dressings) - 2015
Acquisition of Merschbrock-Wiese GmbH in Rietberg/Germany – Takeover and expansion of the production of spices and culinary products
- 2016
Acquisition of Bigfood GmbH in Hamburg and Zarrentin/Germany – Further expansion of competencies in the category of liquid / viscous culinary products (e.g., soups, sauces, dips, dressings)
- 2019
Acquisition of Altius Spices & Seasonings Inc. in Montréal/Canada – Acquisition of the production of spices in North America
- 2020
Acquisition of Zamek Food Solutions in Dresden/Germany and integration into the Merschbrock-Wiese Group – takeover of the production of culinary products and seasonings
- 2022
100 years of HACO