Hachez facts for kids

Hachez (pronounced "ah-shay") was a well-known chocolate company from Bremen, Germany. It started in 1890 thanks to Joseph Emile Hachez and Gustav Linde. Later, in 1953, the popular Feodora chocolates also became part of Hachez. In 2012, a Danish candy company called Toms bought Hachez. Today, the company is known as Hanseatisches Chocoladen Kontor. Since 2020, their chocolate is made in Nowa Sól, Poland.

The Story of Hachez Chocolate

How Hachez Began

Joseph Emile Hachez and Gustav Linde started the company in 1890. Joseph Emile Hachez's family had a long history in Bremen. In 1894, the company moved its main office to a new spot in Bremen. This building stayed their home until Toms took over.

Famous Chocolate Creations

In 1910, Otto Friedrich Hasse joined the company. He became a very important person there. In 1923, Hasse created a special kind of thin chocolate bar. He called them Braune Blätter, which means "brown leaves". He liked how leaves looked. These thin chocolates became one of Hachez's most famous products. After Joseph Emil Hachez passed away in 1933, Otto Friedrich Hasse became the sole owner.

Rebuilding After War

During the Second World War, the Hachez factory was almost completely destroyed. After the war ended, they started to rebuild it. To help pay for this, Hachez sold half of its company to Zertus in 1953. Zertus was another company that also started making chocolate with Hachez in Bremen. In 1987, the Hachez family sold their remaining shares to Zertus, which then owned the whole company.

New Owners and Changes

In 2000, Hasso Nauck, who was Otto Friedrich Hasse's grandson, and his colleague Wolf Kropp-Büttner took over Hachez. They bought the company themselves.

In 2012, Nauck and Kropp-Büttner sold Hachez to the Danish Toms Group. After this, Hachez faced some challenges. In 2014, the company changed its packaging to make it more appealing to customers. Also, some jobs were changed at the Bremen location. By mid-2015, Hachez had about 360 employees in Germany.

Moving Production to Poland

In 2018, Toms announced that the Hachez factory in Bremen would close. Production moved to Nowa Sól, Poland, in 2020. The city of Bremen made plans for what to do with the old factory area. Since 2019, the HACHEZ brand is sold by a new company called Hanseatisches Chocoladen Kontor.

The Chocoversum Museum

Hachez also had a chocolate exhibition called Chocoversum in Hamburg. It was open from 2011 to 2021. Now, it's an independent chocolate museum that teaches people about chocolate.

How Hachez Chocolate is Made

Hachez gets its cocoa beans mostly from South America. They use a special way to roast the beans with hot air. This helps bring out the best flavor. After roasting, the cocoa is ground into a very fine powder. It's so fine, it's like tiny dust!

Then, the chocolate goes through a process called conching. This is where the chocolate is mixed and smoothed for a long time, sometimes up to 72 hours! This makes the chocolate super creamy and delicious. In total, it takes over 100 hours to make Hachez chocolate products.

Where Hachez Chocolate is Sold

Hachez chocolate is enjoyed in many countries around the world. Here are some of the places where you can find it: