Hero Group

Not to be confused with Indian company Hero Motors Company.

Hero Group is a privately held consumer food manufacturer and marketing company based in Switzerland. Focusing baby and toddler food, healthy snacks, and natural spreads,^[1] the group brands include Corny Snack Bars and Semper Baby food.^[2]

The Hero Group

Company type	Private
Industry	Food industry manufacture of prepared meals and dishes other processing and preserving of fruit and vegetables
Founded	1886; 139 years ago (1886)
Founder	Gustav Henckell Gustav Zeiler
Headquarters	Lenzburg (Aargau), Switzerland
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Dr Arend Oetker (honorary chairman) Dr Hasso Kaempfe (chairman of the Board of Directors) Rob Versloot (CEO)
Products	Baby & Toddler Food, Baby & Toddler Milk, Jams, Healthy Snacks
Revenue	CHF 1.14 billion (2021)
Number of employees	4,300 (2015)
Website	www.hero-group.ch

Overview

In 1995, Dr. Arend Oetker acquired a majority shareholding in Hero and re-positioned the Group to focus on branded business. Business segments that no longer fitted this brand strategy were divested. In parallel, the Group embarked on a major geographic expansion program.^{[citation needed]}

Today, Hero is producing products in its core product categories. The Group's operations are based predominantly in Europe, North America, Middle East/Africa and Turkey/Central Asia.

History

Small jars of Hero jam and marmalade at a brunch buffet

The Hero Group was founded in 1886 in Lenzburg, Switzerland by Gustav Henckell and Gustav Zeiler, two German immigrants.

In 1888, investor Carl Roth joined the business.^[3] After Zeiler’s death in 1890, the first two letters of Henckell and Roth's names were combined to name the company ‘Hero Conserven Lenzbourg’.

In 1995, Arend Oetker took a majority holding in Hero with full ownership of the company being transferred to the Oetker family in 2003.^[4][5]

In 2024, Hero bought the 'Deliciously Ella' brand, founded by Ella Mills.^[6]