Denofa AS, established in 1912 as De Nordiske Fabriker A/S (De-No-Fa for short), is a Norwegian industrial company. It has produced

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s and

fatty acid In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an ...

(

lecithin Lecithin ( ; from the Ancient Greek "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...

) for the

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

industry, the fodder industry and the

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry is a medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or self-administered by) patients for curing ...

.About us
- Denofa official site. Retrieved on 27 October 2008. Starting with

whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...

as a basis for refinement,History
- Denofa official site. Retrieved on 27 October 2008. the use of

soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

later became more widespread. The company was established on 10 May 1912. The first board consisted of P. Bogen, Joh. Gmeiner, Hugo Wetlesen, Carl Dietrich Hildisch, Helge Offerdahl and

Wilhelm Nicolaysen Wilhelm Lorentz Lexau Nicolaysen (16 February 1869 – 22 July 1944) was a Norwegian barrister and businessperson. He was born in Oslo, Kristiania as a son of professor of medicine Julius Nicolaysen (1831–1909) and Bolette Marie Berentine Nicol ...

. The first production facility was located in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

, planned and constructed by

Carl Fredrik Holmboe Carl Fredrik Holmboe (25 August 1882 – 15 January 1960) was a Norwegian engineer and business executive. Biography He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway as the only son of Jens Anton Holmboe (1828–92) and his third wife Marie Aarreberg ...

. In 1923 Holmboe became chief executive officer. De-No-Fa launched a cooperation with the soap company

Lilleborg Lilleborg AS is a major hygiene and cleaning article company in Norway, owned by Solenis, and formerly owned by the Orkla Group. It was established in 1833, and was one of the first companies in Norway to start manufacturing brand name products ...

in 1925, and eventually acquired it as a daughter company. Later, a 50% stake in the company was bought by

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

(formerly

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...

), where Carl Fredrik Holmboe was chief engineer prior to his period in De-No-Fa. Holmboe left the CEO position in 1946. In 1959 Unilever's stake was bought by

Borregaard Borregaard is a Norway, Norwegian company, established in 1889 in the southeastern town of Sarpsborg in Østfold county. Its main products were traditionally pulp and paper. The company later started producing Chemical industry, chemicals based ...

. In 1960 De-No-Fa and Lilleborg was merged to form DeNoFa Lilleborg. The company owned

Stabburet Stabburet is a Norwegian food producer founded by Gunnar Nilsen in 1943. Stabburet is a part of Orkla Foods, and has ten factories in southern Norway Southern Norway (; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical List of regions of Norway, ...

from 1969 to 1985. The year after that, Borregaard was acquired by the

Orkla Group Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium products and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and its he ...

. Lilleborg was demerged in 1996 to again form a separate company, but remained a part of the Orkla Group. In 2005, 40% of Denofa was bought by Unikorn. Orkla now owns 20%, while the remaining 40% are owned by the Brazilian company Inlogs. In addition, Denofa owns 60% of the Polish company Nagrol. Denofa has also been active in Russia, and opened a sales office in Romania in 1996. In addition to Fredrikstad, Denofa also owned a production facility in

Leknes Leknes () is a town in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Vestvågøy Municipality (with 11,619 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality in Lofoten and Vesterålen). Lek ...

, acquired after buying 100% of the company Marine Lipids. In 2004 it was decided to close the fat refinery in Fredrikstad. At that time the plant employed 120 people, already downsized from 450 over a fifteen-year period. The extraction plant (nicknamed ''X-verket'') with 70 employees, located adjacent to the fat refinery, was also threatened with closing. However, it was retained following the influx of fresh capital from Unikorn. The changes marked a stronger leaning towards soy. The

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s are imported from Brazil; in addition grain from Norway is used. The company currently has 75 employees, and the current CEO is Hans Petter Olsen

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Chemical companies established in 1912 Manufacturing companies of Norway Companies based in Fredrikstad Orkla ASA 1912 establishments in Norway