Bahlsen is a German food company based in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. It was founded in July 1889 by

Hermann Bahlsen Hermann Bahlsen (born 14 November 1859 in Hannover; died 6 November 1919 in Hannover) was a German entrepreneur in the food industry as well as the inventor of the Leibniz butter biscuit and founder of the Bahlsen confectionery factory. Biogr ...

(1859–1919) as the "Hannoversche Keksfabrik H. Bahlsen". German politician Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014) was CEO of Bahlsen in the 1970s and the press gave him the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue Muppet character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' In a song in 2004, and later in an interview in 2017, Cookie Monster revealed his real name as "Sid". He is best known for hi ...

". Bahlsen produces a range of

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be s ...

s and cakes. Its best-known product is the

Leibniz-Keks The Leibniz-Keks or Choco Leibniz is a German brand of biscuit or cookie produced by the Bahlsen food company since 1891. It was created by the firm as a rival to a similar French biscuit, the Petit-Beurre. Name The brand name ''Leibniz'' com ...

(butter biscuit), introduced in 1891. It also makes products such as chocolate-dipped Pick Up! snack bars. Bahlsen operates five production facilities in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and exports products to about 55 countries. It also does private-label production. It remains funded by private capital.businessweek.com: "Company Overview of Bahlsen GmbH & Co. KG"
consulted Oct 2014 Between 1943 and 1945, Bahlsen used approximately 200 forced labourers. The majority of the labourers were women from Nazi occupied Ukraine. In February 2013, a gilded bronze sign in the form of a biscuit that hung outside the corporate headquarters in Hanover was stolen overnight. A ransom demand was received asking for donations to a local children's hospital. The sign was returned without payment of the ransom.telegraph.co.uk: "Cookie Monster's 'golden biscuit' found hanging from horse", 5 Feb 2013
/ref> From 1999 to 2018, Werner Michael Bahlsen was the sole shareholder and at the same time managing director. Today he is the chairman of the board of directors.

Key personnel

Management board: * Scott Brankin * Jörg Hönemann * Daniela Mündler Chairman of the Governance Board: * Werner M. Bahlsen

References

External links

* * German brands Food and drink companies of Germany Manufacturing companies based in Hanover {{Food-company-stub