Milestones in our history

STILL WRITING OUR SUCCESS STORY THAT STARTED IN 1688

In 2024, we can look back on over 330 years of Harry history. In this time, a little bakery in Altona near Hamburg has evolved into Germany’s market leader for bread and baked goods. Here are a few milestones from our company’s history. We look forward to many more of them in the future.

  • 1688

    Johann Hinrich Harry opens his little bakery in Altona near Hamburg. He swears to closely follow the rules of the bakers’ guild.

  • 1890

    Andreas Harry – the seventh generation of Harry bakers – modernises and expands his business in Altona. It starts showing signs of developing into a large-scale bakery.

  • Ca. 1900

    Harry’s rusks are transported to ports all around the world as provisions on board Hamburg’s major shipping lines.

  • 1929

    Harry expands to Hannover: Franz Harry – Alexander Harry’s son – takes over the Hannoversche Brotfabrik factory (Habag) and runs it by the name of Harry-Habag. The bread is sold nationwide with the help of horse-drawn carriages and later vans.

  • 1963

    The large-scale bakery in Schenefeld near Hamburg is set up (and remains our headquarters to this day). Fresh, pre-packed Harry bread appears on more and more shop shelves. Harry becomes a brand.

  • 1980

    Harry starts supplying retailers in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1973. In 1980, it becomes necessary to build a new large-scale bakery in Ratingen near Düsseldorf to cope with the increase in market volume.

  • 1990

    Following Germany’s reunification, Harry takes over the large-scale bakery in Berlin from the federal trust company and thoroughly modernises the business. Initially, all of the states in the former East Germany are supplied with Harry bread from here.

  • 1993

    Harry penetrates a completely new segment in the bread market with Sammy’s Super Sandwich. Sammy’s remains the market leader here to this day.

  • 1993

    Harry establishes the first large-scale bakery in a rural setting in Wiedemar near Leipzig. The states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are supplied from here.

  • 1995

    The takeover of a large-scale bakery in Schneverdingen/Nordheide makes it logistically possible to bake special varieties for the whole sales area and the export market.

  • 1997

    Harry rolls out the pre-baked concept, making it possible for retailers to open in-store bakeries with lucrative products and attractive shopfittings.

  • 1999

    The first large-scale bakery for frozen products is established in Osterweddingen near Magdeburg. Top-quality rolls and biscuits can be supplied for the pre-baked concept using a freezing technique. Capacity doubles in just two years.

  • 2005

    A second production facility for frozen bakery products is built in Troisdorf to cater for growing demand and optimise logistics for Western Germany.

  • 2006

    Football bread in promotional packaging featuring a pitch design becomes a huge success during the 2006 World Cup. The year-round promotion receives the Salescup award in 2007.

  • 2008/2010

    Located by the A7 with great transport links, the Soltau site is planned as a dual facility: in two phases, a production plant for fresh bread and a bakery for frozen bread are built.

  • 2013

    Harry celebrates its 325th anniversary with all of its employees and their families.

  • 2014

    Awarded the Goldener Zuckerhut award by the publication Lebensmittel Zeitung.

  • 2015

    Harry launches a freshness campaign: the brand records double-digit growth in some segments with overall growth of 6%. This is made possible by the optimum combination of the Frischdienst delivery service, material planning and logistics

  • 2016

    With its innovative rose-shaped rolls, Harry recreates artisanal baking using a fully automated process. This product becomes the best-seller in the bake-at-home segment in a very short space of time.

  • 2018

    Harry caters for consumers who want natural food with the successful launch of its spelt sandwich loaf.

  • 2019

    The company takes over the Witten site, previously Kronenbrot. The Harry Frischdienst service is substantially expanded.

  • 2020

    Harry shakes things up in the bread aisle once again by launching its anno »1688« and Protein Sandwich products. Another innovation is the Nutri-Score label, which is gradually incorporated into all packaging (by the end of 2021).

  • 2021

    Harry celebrates its 333rd anniversary by refreshing its branding and design.

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