Beginnings and Development
Hochland’s history began in 1927, when Georg Summer and Robert Reich, who were related by marriage, founded a cheese plant to produce processed cheese. In 1942 Hochland merged with the canned cheese factory Konservenkäsefabrik Fuchs. All three company owners – Georg Summer, Robert Reich and Franz Fuchs – shared the same pioneering spirit and enthusiasm for their joint company. Over the decades, Hochland kept growing, even beyond national borders.
Company Group
Hochland SE is still a family business to this day, headquartered in Heimenkirch in Allgäu. Since its beginnings, the company has concentrated on producing, refining and distributing cheese. With more than 5,200 employees Hochland SE generated sales of around 1.59 billion euros in 2019. This makes the company group one of the largest pro ducers and refiners of cheese in Europe. Nationally and internationally, the Hochland Group serves all major cheese segments. In addition to the German plants, there are other decentralised production sites for cheese in France, Spain, Poland, Romania, Russia and the USA. Cheese from Hochland is sold in around 30 countries. The subsidiary E.V.A. GmbH also develops, produces and distributes vegetable cheese alternatives. The Hochland Group also includes the engineering company Hochland Natec. It specialises in the construction of machines for the production, processing and packaging of processed cheese.
Hochland Deutschland GmbH
Hochland Deutschland GmbH was founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of the former Hochland AG – since 2010 Hochland SE. Hochland Deutschland is responsible for the production of all products that concern the German brand business as well as the international areas of business Food Service and Private Label. Distribution for the Private Label sector is handled by an independent company. Unless expressly stated otherwise, this Sustainability Report always refers to Hochland Deutschland GmbH. More than 1,700 people are employed at the sites in Heimenkirch, Allgäu and Schongau, Upper Bavaria. In 2019, Hochland Deutschland had a total sales volume of around 172,000 tons, an increase of 3.5 percent over the previous year. The company distributes well-known cheese brands such as Hochland, Almette, Valbrie, Patros, Grünländer and Gervais. The portfolio includes processed cheese, hard and semi-hard cheese, cream cheese, cheese in brine, cottage cheese and herb quark cheese. The Heimenkirch site is not a milkprocessing company in the classic sense. The raw materials used here are various types of cheese, which are processed and refined, primarily into processed cheese but also hard and semi-hard cheese. The plant in Schongau is one of the most important production facilities for white cheese and cream cheese in Europe. Hochland Deutschland is represented in the food retail trade with its branded products, but it also manufactures products for the retail trade’s own brands. In addition, the company supplies the food industry and catering sector with special ly developed prod ucts in all desired forms.
