Ohly (company)

Ohly yeast factory in Hamburg-Wandsbek

The Ohly GmbH (formerly German Hefewerke GmbH ) in Hamburg-Wandsbek is one of the leading manufacturers of yeast extracts and other yeast products in Europe. The traditional company goes back to the steam grain distillery Heinrich Helbing (see Helbing Kümmel ) founded in 1836 and is now part of the international food company Associated British Foods (ABF).

history

Share over RM 100 in Norddeutsche Hefeindustrie AG from September 1927

Historical company lettering on Wandsbeker Zollstrasse.

As early as the second half of the 19th century, besides caraway schnapps and other spirits , the production of baker's yeast was started and in 1889 the company was converted into a stock corporation - Dampf-Kornbrennerei und Presshefe-Fabriken AG, formerly Heinrich Helbing . By 1900 the company already had more than 400 employees who produced around 522 million liters of alcohol as well as spirits and liqueurs . In 1916 the Wandsbeker Industriebahn went into operation, which supplied the plant with 1500 wagons of molasses a year for yeast production via a 16 km long track branch from the Wandsbeker freight yard until 1966 .

Götz Ohly began developing yeast extracts in the mid-1930s. The development and manufacture of yeast and yeast products became more and more the main business area, which is why the company was renamed Norddeutsche Hefeindustrie AG in 1927 and finally Deutsche Hefewerke GmbH in 1961 . After the takeover of the Nuremberg competitor Bast AG (today's DHW) in 1970 finally rose to become the largest German yeast producer, the spirits business with the traditional Helbing Kümmel brand was sold to Borco-Marken-Import in 1974 .

Baker's yeast for household use has not come from Hamburg since 2008, but from Nuremberg.

In the following years, DHW itself was taken over several times: first in 1981 by Hüls AG , in 1994 by the Australian Burns Philp group and finally in 2004 by ABF. As a result, the fresh yeast production for end customer requirements was transferred to the Nuremberg DHW plant and this was sold to a Swiss financial investor in 2008. The Hamburg plant, however, remained with ABF and has been operating under the name Ohly ever since.

Todays situation

Ohly GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of ABF Deutschland Holdings GmbH based in Hamburg, which in turn belongs to Associated British Foods in London. Within the group, Ohly belongs to the ABF Ingredients Group.

Ohly produces yeast extracts and other yeast products primarily for the food industry , but also for pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. In the 2015/2016 financial year, Ohly employed around 160 people and achieved a total turnover of 49.7 million euros.