26 April 1879

Birth of Hermann Laue, founder of the company, in Schafau (Prussia) as a farmer's son.

17 May 1881

Birth of Pauline ("Paula") Höfig in Hamburg as a carpenter's daughter. Later, she becomes the wife of Hermann Laue.

1893

Carl Heinrich Rose establishes Carl H. Rose & Co. with a contribution of 2,000 Reichsmark from Hamburg-based "Droguen- und Chemicalienhändler" (drugs and chemicals trader) Julius Nicolaus Mangels.

Hermann Laue moves to Hamburg and starts his apprenticeship at Carl H. Rose & Co.

In the beginning, the company mostly trades medicinal herbs and chemicals, comparable to a drugstore today.

The premises are in the borough of Barmbek at  Bachstrasse 155.

25 November 1904

Aged 25, Hermann Laue becomes authorised representative of Carl H. Rose & Co.

13 May 1905

The company Carl H. Rose & Co. stopped it´s operative business temporarily.

19 May 1906

Hermann Laue marries Pauline Höfig. The young couple lives at Herderstrasse 7.

16 August 1906

The company name is changed to "Hermann Laue". The first company logo is created later in the year.

26 September 1906

The company Hermann Laue now specialises in spice trade.

15 May 1909

The first son of Hermann and Paula, Rudolf Laue, is born.

1 August 1912

Hermann Laue becomes a member of Hamburg's Staatsbürgerverband, meaning that he has assembled a certain amount of wealth. Until 31 July 1912, he was a citizen of Prussia.

13 September 1912

Hermann Laue receives the citizenship of Hamburg and swears the citizen oath, swearing to serve the City of Hamburg.

1 August 1914

The second son of the Laue family, Kurt, is born.

3 January 1919

After Germany has lost the First World War, the monarchy comes to an end with the emperor fleeing to the Netherlands during the revolution in November 1918. Hermann Laue receives the permission to trade with spices and additives necessary for meat processing.

The German government tries to improve the food situation in the country. It is the first time that the company has a nationwide relevance.

1928

The company shop Hermann Laues can now be found at Kampstrasse 22 in the so-called Schanzenviertel, close to the slaughterhouse.

4 March 1940

Kurt Laue receives his PhD in economics at Technische Hochschule München.

1946

Hermann Laue re-establishes his shop at Kampstrasse 22 with only three employees.

1949

After working as an auditor for a couple of years after the war, Dr. Kurt Laue joins the family business together with his brother Rudolf. Hermann Laue hires more and more employees, in 1951 the number of employees grows to 17. Laue starts to modernise the company, buying machines and deciding to start a sales department for the meat-processing industry.

The company no longer specialices in spice trading. Rather, spice mixes and additives for meat processing become ever more important.

26 November 1949

Dr. Kurt Laue marries Martha Teichmann (born 3 April 1922 in Hildesheim). Since 12 December 1939, Martha Laue has been working at Howaldtswerke in Hamburg. She continues to work until 31 January 1950.

12 May 1952

Birth of Björn Laue, son of Kurt and Martha, today the owner of the company.

16 April 1954

Death of Hermann Laue. His wife Pauline inherits all his possessions but does not start to work in the company. Dr. Kurt Laue takes over the financial side of the business, his brother Rudolf takes care of purchasing and sales.

1956

Christmas party at restaurant "Gustav Adolf ".

1960

Dr. Kurt Laue has the idea to manufacture portioned packages for saltening, sweetening, and seasoning. Customers are international airline companies, e.g. Lufthansa. Later, the programme is extended to the gastronomy.

1963

The spiced ketchup is invented and the company builds a production line to produce different varieties of spiced ketchup. With its large amount of spices, it is an innovation among usual tomato ketchups. Today, even though a large number of similar ketchups have been introduced, Hela remains market leader.

1970

The Hela logo is being developed further.

1972

A new sales division for large-scale consumers and gastronomy businesses is started. Industry association vffb (Vereinigung zur Förderung der fleischbearbeitenden und -verarbeitenden Betriebe e.V.) is also started and is supported by Dr. Kurt Laue.

24 November 1972

Laying of the cornerstone of the new Hermann Laue spice factory.

1973

The five-storey building is ready. Different production lines are built here.

1976

Branch offices in Austria and Switzerland are founded.

1976

The Hela lab kitchen is started, a place where a large number of innovative products will be developed.

1978

Branch office in Singapore is started.

1980

Branch office in Canada is started. In Germany, a new production line for ketchup is built and the spice research institute GEFI is founded by Dr. Kurt Laue.

1981

A new production line allows the production of coated spices. Salt and spices are coated to make sure that no juices can escape.

24 July 1982

Björn Laue marries Dr. Carola Bönig. The couple has four children.

2 November 1983

Death of Dr. Kurt Laue. His wife Martha and his son Björn take over the company.

1984

Development of spice oils to season and marinade meat in a single step.

1985

Extension of Hela Technikums, a laboratory butchery for the development of products and training of representatives from the meat-processing industry.

1987

Branch office in France is established.

1989

The premises of the company are being moved to Ahrensburg just outside of Hamburg.

1990

"Ethnic Food" is the megatrend of the 1990s. Hela introduces a number of  Italian, Mexican and Asian spice mixes.

1991

The move from Hamburg to Ahrensburg is complete.

1991

Shares in the Dutch company Thissen are bought.

1992

The Hela logo is developed further.

1995

Establishment of a joint venture in Jinan / China.

1995

The certification according to ISO 9001 standard commits Hela to use modern technology and high-quality products. With this certification, Hela underlines its services both internally and exernally and guarantees all customers and business partners that quality-assurance systems are in place company-wide.

1999

Establishment of a branch office in Beijing / China.

2000

Establishment of joint ventures in Australia and Chile.

6 June 2004

The new factory in Jinan, China starts the production.

2005

Hela Gewürzwerk Hermann Laue celebrates its 100th anniversary.

2008

The new Hela pilot plant and R&D facility opens.

2011

The painting in the background shows the son of company founder Hermann Laue, Dr. Kurt Laue. In front of the painting are Björn Laue, current business director and his son Alexander Laue who joined the company in 2011.

2012

Hela acquires the majority of shares in general Ingridients in Brasil. 

2013

In Germany everyone knows it, it is an absolut classic and has become iconic - the Hela Curry Kethchup mild in the red bottle with the green cap. The fact that Hela entered the exclusive circle "Brands of the Century" confirms this and shows that Hela is one highlight of the German market