Hilcona

Hilcona AG
legal form	Corporation
founding	1935
Seat	Schaan , Liechtenstein
management	Martin Henck, CEO; Lorenz Wyss, Chairman of the Board
Number of employees	approx. 2,000
sales	approx. 500 million CHF (2016)
Branch	Food
Website	www.hilcona.com

The Hilcona AG , headquartered in Schaan in the Principality of Liechtenstein is an international food company .

history

Hilcona AG headquarters in Schaan, Principality of Liechtenstein

In 1935 Toni Hilti founded Scana Konservenfabrik AG in Schaan . In 1961 the company produced the first frozen products . Ten years later, the founder's sons, Ekkehard and Jürgen Hilti, joined the management team. They developed due to changing dietary habits, new product ideas, the company consequently in HILCONA renamed derived from HIL ti CO nvenience NA currency medium.

As the first company in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Hilcona began producing fresh pasta industrially in 1984, opening up a completely new market. Today, ready meals make up 63 percent of sales and have become the core business. In addition, the company manufactured frozen meals for the food service sector and industrial needs and produced canned products for the Swiss market.

After the introduction of fresh products in Switzerland, expansion into other European countries was the next step. A subsidiary was founded in Germany in 1988, followed by a branch in France in 1991.

In 1993 Hilcona AG took over Deni's Pizza in Yverdon (CH). Six years later (1999) Hilcona AG started up its fresh pizza plant in Orbe (CH).

At the beginning of the new millennium, Hilcona AG also advertised in Germany.

At the beginning of 2011, the Swiss Bell AG , which is majority owned by the Coop cooperative, acquired a 49% stake in Hilcona AG with the option to take over a further 2% (i.e. the majority ownership) in 2015.

In 2012, Gastro Star AG and schwarz viva AG, which has been associated with it since 2011, with production sites in Dällikon and Villigen, were taken over. This makes salad and vegetable products.

On May 1, 2015, Bell Ltd exercised its option to acquire a further 2% share. Since then it has held the majority with 51%. The only other shareholder was the Toni Hilti family trusteeship . The Zürcher Eisberg Group, acquired by Bell on April 1, 2016, which produces lettuce with 400 employees in Switzerland and Eastern Europe and has a turnover of CHF 55 million, was organizationally integrated into Gastro Star as an independent Hilcona subsidiary.

On January 1, 2017, the former Frostag Food-Centrum AG in Landquart was 100% taken over by Hilcona AG and developed into an internal startup called Hilcona Taste Factory .

On May 30, 2017, Bell AG took over the 49% share of Toni Hilti Familientreuhänderschaft in Hilcona AG with retroactive effect to January 1, 2017. In 2019, Bell AG announced that it would move a total of 120 million francs in several tranches to the Hilcona location in Schaan wanting to invest.

Products

The company produces fresh pasta and sauces, frozen food, ready meals, tinned food and sandwiches for retail, catering and the impulse market . The most important export markets today are Germany, France, Austria, Great Britain and Benelux .

In April 2019 Hilcona launched a plant-based burger under the label The Green Mountain .

Locations

Hilcona AG has four production sites: Schaan (FL), Orbe (CH), Landquart (CH) and Bad Wünnenberg (D). In addition to the group management, the central administration and the production of fresh, frozen and other long-life finished products are located in Schaan. In Orbe in western Switzerland there has been a fresh production plant since 1999, in which, in addition to pizzas for the food retail trade, sandwiches and salads as well as Hilcona water and green tea are produced. The Hilcona Taste Factory in Landquart has established itself primarily as a vegetarian competence center (humus, tofu) and as a specialist in regional handcrafted specialties. Hilcona took over the plant in Bad Wünnenberg from Bell Germany in 2019 and converted it.

criticism

In February 2013, undeclared proportions of horse meat were found in some meat-containing finished food products in the trade, including those from Hilcona (see horse meat scandal in Europe 2013 ). Hilcona's direct sub-supplier was the German meat processor Vossko . The cooperation with the supplier was discontinued with immediate effect, and all branded products were immediately converted to 100 percent Swiss beef.