Henkel
Encyclopedia
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA is an multinational company headquartered in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

The company operates in three business areas: Home Care (with household cleaning products such as laundry detergent
Laundry detergent
Laundry detergent, or washing powder, is a substance that is a type of detergent that is added for cleaning laundry. In common usage, "detergent" refers to mixtures of chemical compounds including alkylbenzenesulfonates, which are similar to soap but are less affected by "hard water." In most...

 and dishwashing liquid), Personal Care (with beauty and oral care products such as shampoo
Shampoo
Shampoo is a hair care product used for the removal of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair...

, toothpaste
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it serves as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing...

, hair colorants and shower products like Dial Soap and Right Guard
Right Guard
Right Guard is a brand of deodorant for men. It is also a brand of shower gel. It is manufactured by the Dial Corporation unit of Henkel of North America, which acquired the brand in 2006 as a condition for Procter & Gamble's Gillette acquisition because P&G has other deodorant brands such as Old...

), and Adhesives, Sealants & Surface Treatment for consumer and industrial purposes.

With presence in 125 countries on five continents, Henkel engages in the majority of its business within Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Brands

It controls leading brands like:
  • Persil
    Persil
    Persil is a brand of laundry detergent currently and originally made by Henkel & Cie; but which is now also licensed for manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by the Unilever Corporation. Henkel and Unilever both manufacture their own formulations...

    washing powder, Spee washing powder, Vernel/Silan fabric softener
    Fabric softener
    Fabric softener is used to prevent static cling and make fabric softer. It is available as a liquid, crystals and dryer sheets.- Varieties :...

    , Somat/Glist dishwasher tablets, Pril washing-up liquid,
  • Schwarzkopf haircare (Cosmetics company Hans Schwarzkopf GmbH was acquired by Henkel in 1985. After the integration in 1987 the business sectors brand-name products were assigned to Schwarzkopf & Henkel Cosmetics GmbH, Düsseldorf
    Düsseldorf
    Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

    , and hair salon products to Hans Schwarzkopf GmbH & Co KG (Schwarzkopf Professional), Hamburg
    Hamburg
    -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

    , respectively), Schauma shampoo, Fa
    Fa (brand)
    Fa is a brand for personal care products owned by German company Henkel. Fa products include shower gels, bubble baths, soaps and deodorants. Soaps produced in Germany and Poland, shower gels and bubble baths in Slovenia and deodorants in Germany and Greece....

     shower gel and deodorant
    Deodorant
    Deodorants are substances applied to the body to affect body odor caused by bacterial growth and the smell associated with bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet and other areas of the body. A subgroup of deodorants, antiperspirants, affect odor as well as prevent sweating by...

    , Diadermine skin and body care, Dial shower and hand soap and Persil abaya shampoo
    Persil abaya shampoo
    Persil Abaya Shampoo or Persil Black is a liquid detergent that Henkel Company introduced to the Saudi Arabia market in 2007 and later to the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council markets....

  • Loctite
    Loctite
    Loctite is a brand of adhesives, sealants and surface treatments that include acrylic, anaerobic, cyanoacrylate, epoxy, hot melt, silicone, urethane and UV/light curing technologies...

     and UniBond adhesive
    Adhesive
    An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

    s and sealant
    Sealant
    A sealant may be viscous material that has little or no flow characteristics and stay where they are applied or thin and runny so as to allow it to penetrate the substrate by means of capillary reaction...

    s, Pritt
    Pritt
    Pritt is a brand of adhesives, tapes, KidsArt, correction, and fixing products designed and marketed by Henkel, an international company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Pritt invented the world’s first glue stick, also known as Pritt Stick, which is a twistable solid adhesive used in home,...

    glue stick
    Glue stick
    Glue sticks are solid adhesives in twist or push-up tubes. The user can apply glue by holding the open tube, thus keeping their fingers clean...

    s, Polyseamseal caulk, and Plastic Padding chemicals,


Historically, Henkel's most famous brand is Persil
Persil
Persil is a brand of laundry detergent currently and originally made by Henkel & Cie; but which is now also licensed for manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by the Unilever Corporation. Henkel and Unilever both manufacture their own formulations...

, the first commercial laundry detergent. Before that it was only either soap flakes or actual bars of soap.

History

The company was founded in 1876 in Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

 as Henkel & Cie by Fritz Henkel (a 28 year-old merchant who was interested in science) and two more partners. They marketed his first product, "Universalwaschmittel", a universal detergent based on silicate.

In 1878, to take advantage of the better transport links and sales opportunities, Henkel relocated his company to Düsseldorf on the Rhine (its present site). Düsseldorf was the gateway to the Ruhr region, which became the most important industrial area of the German Empire from the 19th century onward. That year, the first German brand-name detergent appeared: Henkel's Bleich-Soda [Bleaching Soda], an affordably-priced product supplied in sturdy paper bags. Made from water-glass
Sodium silicate
Sodium silicate is the common name for a compound sodium metasilicate, Na2SiO3, also known as water glass or liquid glass. It is available in aqueous solution and in solid form and is used in cements, passive fire protection, refractories, textile and lumber processing, and automobiles...

 and soda
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...

, it was the result of Fritz Henkel's own research. The soda was obtained from Matthes & Weber in Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...

 (Henkel bought this company in 1917 and sold it in 1994).

In 1879 Fritz Henkel was entered as the sole owner in the register of companies. Sales of Henkel's Bleaching Soda increased so rapidly that within just one year the rented factory on the Schützenstraße in Düsseldorf was unable to meet the demand. Fritz Henkel decided to build his own factory with a railway link.

In 1883 to improve liquidity and make better use of the Company's travelling sales staff, Fritz Henkel decided to sell merchandise in addition to his detergents. Sales started in 1884. The range included the colorant ultramarine
Ultramarine
Ultramarine is a blue pigment consisting primarily of a double silicate of aluminium and sodium with some sulfides or sulfates, and occurring in nature as a proximate component of lapis lazuli...

 [laundry bluing agent], gloss starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...

, a liquid cleaning agent
Cleaning agent
Cleaning agents are substances, usually liquids, that are used to remove dirt, including dust, stains, bad smells, and clutter on surfaces. Purposes of cleaning agents include health, beauty, absence of offensive odor, avoidance of shame, and avoidance of spreading of dirt and contaminants to...

, a pomade for cleaning, beef extract, and a hair pomade
Pomade
Pomade is a greasy or waxy substance that is used to style hair. Pomade makes hair look slick and shiny. Unlike hair spray and hair gel, pomade does not dry and often takes several washes to remove...

. Very soon Henkel developed its international presence--in 1886, Henkel opened its first international sales office in Austria. Carl Pathe had gone to Vienna as a representative the year before. In 1893 Henkel established its first business links with England and Italy.
In 1903, Schwarzkopf founded by Hans Schwarzkopf (1874–1921) launched a powder shampoo
Head Shampoo
In 1903, German drugstore owner Hans Schwarzkopf created a special powder formula that became the world’s first shampoo. It would be another 24 years before the same inventor would create the liquid version used by the world today....

.
Persil
Persil
Persil is a brand of laundry detergent currently and originally made by Henkel & Cie; but which is now also licensed for manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by the Unilever Corporation. Henkel and Unilever both manufacture their own formulations...

 came in 1907 as the first “self-acting laundry detergent”.

Henkel has been a family-run business since the beginning. In 1893, Fritz Henkel, Jr. (1875–1930) joined the firm as an apprentice. After receiving commercial training he became his father's right-hand man in commercial matters. He put Henkel's brand-name product business on a sound footing, developed its already successful advertising still further and was responsible for the Company's field service. On July 25, 1904, he became a partner in Henkel, which was transformed into a general commercial partnership. By this time, 110 people were employed at the Holthausen
Düsseldorf-Holthausen
Holthausen is an urban borough of Düsseldorf. It is located south of Oberbilk, west of Reisholz, north of Benrath and east of Itter and Himmelgeist...

 site. On April 25, 1905 Dr. Hugo Henkel (1881–1952), the youngest son of Fritz Henkel, Sr., joined the Company as a chemist. He was in charge of Chemical Products and Technology. Over the years, he laid the foundations of systematic research and introduced advanced technologies and new raw materials. In 1908, he became a personally liable partner in the Company.

In 1912 total production in Düsseldorf-Holthausen rose to 49,890 tons. At 19,750 tons, Persil laundry detergent accounted for 40 percent of this, just five years after its market launch. The number of employees increased by 89 relative to the previous year, resulting in a total workforce of 1,024. Around half were female. A first-aid center was set up in the plant and a full-time nurse was employed. In the previous year Henkel had installed ball fields and play areas to encourage exercise during break times. Female employees could attend the plant's own housekeeping school during the lunch break.

On January 11, 1923, troops from France and Belgium occupied the Rhineland
Occupation of the Ruhr
The Occupation of the Ruhr between 1923 and 1925, by troops from France and Belgium, was a response to the failure of the German Weimar Republic under Chancellor Cuno to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I.-Background:...

. The occupation made delivery of adhesives from suppliers used for the packaging of Persil unreliable. The disruption caused Henkel to internally manufacture adhesives for its own needs. Henkel found there was a demand for adhesives on the market, and on June 22, 1923, the first adhesive
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

 shipment left the plant.

During World War II, foreign civilians and prisoners of war were working for the company. Henkel was part of a large-scale restitution settlement.
On April 16, 1945 American troops occupied Henkel's Düsseldorf site. On June 5, the British military command in Düsseldorf took over from the Americans. From July 20, the British military government gradually granted permission for the production of adhesives, P3 and water-glass by Henkel, and for soaps and detergents as well as shoe polish by Thompson. In February, 1946, Matthes & Weber in Duisburg was given permission to process available raw materials into soda. On September 20, 1945, five members of the Henkel family and another seven members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board were interned.

In 1949 the launch of Schauma shampoo by Schwarzkopf marked the start of the most successful German shampoos.

In 1954, Henkel-subsidiary Dreiring launched Fa soap, a new type of toilet soap
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

. From 1970 onward it was joined by a series of Fa deodorant
Deodorant
Deodorants are substances applied to the body to affect body odor caused by bacterial growth and the smell associated with bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet and other areas of the body. A subgroup of deodorants, antiperspirants, affect odor as well as prevent sweating by...

s, shower gel
Shower gel
Shower gel or shower cream is the general term for a substance similar to liquid soap, which is used for cleaning yourself during a shower. Most commercial shower gels do not contain any saponified oil however, instead being products of petroleum...

s and bubble bath
Bubble bath
The term bubble bath can be used to describe aerated or carbonated baths, or to describe bathing with a layer of surfactant foam on the surface of the water and consequently also the surfactant product used to produce the foam....

s, making Fa one of the best known umbrella brands in the toiletry sector.

Pritt, the world's first glue stick, made its debut in 1969. Over the years, other products were introduced under this brand, underlining Henkel's importance in the office and stationery supplies
Office supplies
Office supplies is the generic term that refers to all supplies regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, from private citizens to governments, who work with the collection, refinement, and output of information .The term includes small, expendable, daily use items such as...

 sector. Exports of Pritt began in the same year, eventually making this Henkel's most widespread global brand. Vernel fabric softener and enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

-based bioactive Persil 70 appeared.
Starting in the 1960s, Henkel has combined organic growth with strategic company acquisitions:
  • in 1960 by acquiring Standard Chemical Products, Inc. (known as Henkel Inc from 1971), Henkel entered the USA chemical products market.
  • In 1962 Henkel acquired Sichel-Werke AG, Hannover, its main German competitor in the adhesives sector.
  • In 1974 Henkel acquired shares in The Clorox
    Clorox
    The Clorox Company is a US-based manufacturer of various food and chemical products based in Oakland, California, which is best known for its bleach product, Clorox.- History :...

     Company
    , USA, to facilitate the production and sale of certain products developed by Henkel for household and bulk consumers (sold in 2004).
  • In 1983 Henkel acquired the AOK facial care range from the company von Heyden GmbH and thus strengthened its position in the cosmetics
    Cosmetics
    Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...

     retail trade.
  • In 1984 Teroson of Heidelberg (in existence since 1898) was acquired and integrated into Henkel's Adhesives and Surface Technologies business sectors.
  • Cosmetics company Hans Schwarzkopf GmbH was acquired by Henkel in 1985
  • Later it purchased Loctite
    Loctite
    Loctite is a brand of adhesives, sealants and surface treatments that include acrylic, anaerobic, cyanoacrylate, epoxy, hot melt, silicone, urethane and UV/light curing technologies...

    in 1987.
  • The purchase of The Dial Corporation
    Dial (company)
    The Dial Corporation, a subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA , is a manufacturer of personal-care and household-cleaning products based in Scottsdale, Arizona....

    in 2004 was the biggest acquisition in the history of the company until then: This renowned U.S. personal care and household cleaning products company gave Henkel a strong foothold on the North American market.
  • 2004 Henkel also acquired the American cosmetics company Advanced Research Laboratories (ARL), that has developed and marketed hair cosmetics.
  • In April 2008 Henkel has taken over from AkzoNobel the Adhesives and Electronic Materials businesses previously owned by National Starch. In 2007, these two business segments of National Starch generated sales of £
    Pound sterling
    The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

    1.25 billion (about
    Euro
    The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

    1.83 billion). The purchase price was £2.7 billion (about €3.7 billion).


On May 5, 2011 Jyothy Laboratories
Jyothy Laboratories
Jyothy Laboratories Ltd is a Mumbai based FMCG company founded in 1983. In 2009–10 the company reported a turnover of and profit of . The company has 21 manufacturing units at 14 locations across India.It has 6 business divisions namely Fabric Care, Household Insecticide, Utensil Cleaners,...

 bought 50.97% stake in Henkel India. It has offered to buy 20% more in Henkel India through a compulsory open offer mandated by SEBI
Securities and Exchange Board of India
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is the regulator for the securities market in India.-History:It was formed officially by the Government of India in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament...

 norms

Henkel Art.Award

In 2002 Henkel CEE launched the Henkel Art Award — a prize
Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...

 for art in 30 countries in Central Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

 and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

. In addition to the monetary prize and presentation of the works of art in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, an exhibition
Exhibition
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs...

 is also organized for the winner in his or her homeland.

Competitors

Henkel's main competitors in its cleaning division are Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....

 and Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser plc is a global consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of household products and a major producer of consumer healthcare and personal products...

. In its beauty division, its main competitors are Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

, Procter and Gamble and L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...

. In its chemical and adhesive division, it has many competitors, but the main multinational competitors are Bostik
Bostik
Bostik is an international adhesives company, a subsidiary of the French oil and gas company Total S.A., head-quartered at Paris. The company was created as Bostik Findley in 2001 after the merger of Bostik and Ato Findley, following the merger of their parent companies, Total Fina and Elf...

and H. B. Fuller.

Note

  1. In an agreement with Unilever, the Persil brand is only used by Henkel in mainland Europe (with the exception of France), while Unilever only uses the brand in the UK, Ireland, Oceania and other markets.
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