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Bremer HACHEZ Chocolade GmbH & Co. KG
IndustryChocolate production
Founded1 July 1890 in Bremen
FounderJoseph Emil Hachez
Defunct2019
FateCompany acquired in 2012, brand sold in 2019
SuccessorHanseatisches Chocoladen Kontor GmbH & Co. KG
Headquarters
Bremen
,
Germany
ProductsChocolate
Number of employees
360 (2015)
Websitewww.hachez.de

Hachez (French pronunciation: [aʃe]) was a chocolate manufacturing company based in Bremen in northern Germany. It was founded in 1890 by Joseph Emile Hachez and Gustav Linde. The Feodora pralines and chocolate brand has been part of the company since 1953. In 2012, the Danish confectionery company Toms took over the company,[1] which is now run under the name Hanseatisches Chocoladen Kontor. Production has been taking place in Nowa Sól in Poland since 2020.

History

The company was founded by Joseph Emile Hachez and business partner Gustav Linde in 1890.[2] Joseph Emil Hachez was the great-grandson of Joseph Johan Hachez, who was born in Bruges, emigrated to Bremen in the 18th century and married the daughter of a local merchant in 1785. In 1894 the company moved from the Bremer Altstadt district to the Weserstrasse in the Neustadt district left of the Weser, where the company's headquarters were until it was taken over by Toms.[3] In 1910, Otto Friedrich Hasse joined the company as a shareholder.[4] In 1923, Hasse created thin chocolate bars called Braune Blätter (brown leaves) because he liked the shape of the leaves, which developed into one of the company's most known product. After Joseph Emil Hachez's death in 1933, Hasse became the company's sole shareholder.[5][6]

During the Second World War, the company's factory was almost completely destroyed, with the reconstruction beginning after the end of the war. Renovations were made financially possible by selling 50% of the company to Zertus (still known as Zuckerraffinerie Tangermünde at the time) in 1953, which had settled in Hamburg after the war and then started producing chocolate together with Hachez in Bremen. In 1987, Hasso Nauck (1951–2017), grandson of Otto Friedrich Hasse, sold the remaining family share of 50% to Zertus, which subsequently took over Hachez.[7][8] In 1990, Nauck, who since 1987 was Head of Marketing for Milka at Jacobs Suchard AG (today Mondelēz International), joined the Hachez company as managing director together with one of his colleagues, Wolf Kropp-Büttner.[9] The headquarters of Jacobs Suchard AG in Bremen was only a few meters away from the Hachez factory building in the Neustadt district. In 2000, Nauck took over the Hachez company as part of a management buyout together with Kropp-Büttner, where Nauck held 60 % of the shares and Kropp-Büttner the remaining 40 %.[3][10]

In 2012, Nauck and Kropp-Büttner sold their shares to the Danish Toms Group, but initially remained employed as managing directors with contracts until the end of 2014. Nauck resigned from his post in January 2013,[9] Kropp-Büttner resigned in September 2013. Both remained with the company in an advisory capacity until their contracts expired at the end of 2014.[11] Hachez was unprofitable after the takeover and in December 2014, the company decided to cut jobs at its Bremen location.[12] The packaging was also revised in 2014 to be "a more attractive first choice among consumers".[13] The company's packaging activities were relocated to Poland at the end of 2014, with production continuing to take place in Bremen.[14] In mid-2015, Hachez employed around 360 people in Germany.[15] On 28 February 2018, it was announced that Toms would be giving up the Hachez factory in Bremen at the turn of the year 2019/20.[16][17] Production has taken place in Nowa Sól in Poland since 2020.[18] The closure also resulted in the resignation of managing director Christian Strasoldo.[19] In September 2019, the city of Bremen secured a Pre-sale right for the company premises in the Bremer Neustadt district and plans emerged for the continued use of the area.[20][21] As of 2019, the HACHEZ brand will be distributed by Hanseatisches Chocoladen Kontor GmbH & Co. KG, Bremen, as the successor company to Hachez.

At the end of 2018, fondant stars had to be recalled because mold was discovered in some packages.[22]

A test by Öko-Test in 2019 gave "Hachez Dark Whole Milk" a rating of one out of six points, because it contained too much mineral oil and the supply chain could not be retraced.[23]

Hachez ran a permanent exhibition on chocolate under the name Chocoversum at the Meßberghof in Hamburg from 2011 to 2021. Since 2021, it has continued to operate as an independent chocolate museum without Hachez's involvement.[24][25]

Production

The cocoa mainly comes from South America. The flavour is extracted by using the hot-air currents that are in traditional roasting drums. When the cocoa is ground and rolled, it is an average diameter of 0.0010 to 0.0014 mm. The conching of the cocoa then takes place for up to 72 hours. Altogether, it takes over 100 hours to produce the products.[26]

Distribution

Hachez has distribution partners in the following countries:

References

  1. ^ "Hachez wechselt den Besitzer". www.handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  2. ^ "Diele" [Hall]. www.hachez.de (in German). Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Wolschner, Klaus (2018-03-13). "Die feine Schokolade". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). pp. 27 ePaper 23 Nord. ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  4. ^ "Letztes Hachez-Überbleibsel an der Weser: Shop in Bremer City bleibt erhalten". www.kreiszeitung.de (in German). 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  5. ^ "The History of HACHEZ". BREMER HACHEZ CHOCOLADE. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Hauchdünne Versuchung - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  7. ^ "Sinn für Traditionen". DIE WELT (in German). 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  8. ^ Schnase, Simone (2012-04-19). "Bremer Wirtschaft globalisiert sich weiter: Die Smørebrød-Schokolade". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  9. ^ a b Beneke, Maren (2013-01-23). "Ich gehe mit einem guten Gefühl". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  10. ^ "Der Bremer Schokoladen-Prinz von Hachez". www.handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  11. ^ Beneke, Maren (2013-09-12). "Dänen führen Hachez nun allein". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  12. ^ Hüttmann, Jörn. "Hachez streicht weniger Stellen als angekündigt". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  13. ^ "Relaunch für Hachez und Feodora". www.markenartikel-magazin.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  14. ^ Schnase, Simone (2014-07-24). "Schokoladenhersteller baut ab: Hachez streicht Stellen". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  15. ^ "125 Jahre Schokogenuss". www.kreiszeitung.de (in German). 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  16. ^ Schwiegershausen, Florian (2019-04-02). "Hachez verteidigt Produktions-Aus in Bremen". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  17. ^ Lakeband, Stefan (2018-02-28). "Hachez verlegt Produktion nach Polen". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  18. ^ Urban, Steffi (2021-03-12). "Hachez-Quartier: Die städtebauliche Entwicklung der Bremer Neustadt geht weiter". SPOT Bremen (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  19. ^ Schwiegershausen, Florian. "Hachez-Chef Strasoldo geht". weser-kurier-de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  20. ^ "Pläne für Hachez-Quartier nehmen Form an". robertcspies.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  21. ^ Fueller, Rike (2022-09-02). "Wohnen im Hachez Quartier" (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  22. ^ "Hachez-Zuckersterne bundesweit zurückgerufen". www.merkur.de (in German). 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  23. ^ "Hachez Dunkle Vollmilch im Test als einzige Schokolade "ungenügend" - ÖKO-TEST". Oekotest.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  24. ^ "Interaktive Chocoladen-Erlebniswelt: Hachez Chocoversum". www.markenartikel-magazin.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  25. ^ Meyer-Odewald, Jens (2021-12-03). "Chocoversum: Hamburgs Schokoladenseite – Ein Traum für die Sinne". www.abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  26. ^ "Quality". BREMER HACHEZ CHOCOLADE. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  27. ^ "Worldwide HACHEZ Distribution Partners". BREMER HACHEZ CHOCOLADE. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2013.

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