Chr. Hansen A/S is a bioscience company based in

Hørsholm Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality. Hørsholm prop ...

, Denmark. The company is a supplier of bacteria cultures,

probiotic Probiotics are live microorganisms promoted with claims that they provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut microbiota. Probiotics are considered generally safe to consume, but may cause bacteria- host ...

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

s and

human milk oligosaccharide Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), also known as human milk glycans, are short polymers of simple sugars that can be found in high concentrations in human breast milk. Human milk oligosaccharides promote the development of the immune system, can ...

s. Its products are used in the production of fresh dairy, cheese, meat, seafood, fermented beverages, dairy and meat alternatives, dietary supplements, infant formula, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products. In 2021, Chr. Hansen A/S was ranked 1st on FoodTalks' Top 30 Global Probiotic Food Ingredient Companies list. Chr. Hansen owns one of the world's largest commercial bacteria collections. Chr. Hansen A/S has development centers in Denmark, the United States, France and Germany including research facilities in Denmark and France. A large percentage of the employees engage in research and development for the international food and pharmaceuticals industries. Chr. Hansen A/S has five main production sites: two in Denmark and Germany ( Nienburg and

Pohlheim Pohlheim () is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hessen, Germany. It is situated 6 km south of Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gies ...

) and one each in France (

Arpajon Arpajon () is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arpajonnais'' or ''Arpajonnaises''. The commune has been awarded three flowers by the ''National ...

) and the US (West Allis, Milwaukee, WI) and an international presence in 30 countries. It has been listed on

Nasdaq OMX Nasdaq, Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation that owns and operates three stock exchanges in the United States: the namesake Nasdaq stock exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and the Boston Stock Exchange, an ...

Copenhagen since June 3, 2010, under the symbol "CHR".

History

The company is named for its founder, Christian D. A. Hansen, a pioneering Danish chemist whose work focused on enzymes. Hansen began the company in 1874 as a joint venture with pharmacist H.P. Madsen. Initial products included animal rennet for cheese-making as well as annatto-based coloring agents for butter and cheese. Operations in the United States were begun in 1878. Their lines soon expanded to include starter cultures for cheese, yogurt and sour cream. In 1890 Hansen purchased an island for a manufacturing facility on the Mohawk River of New York and named it Hansen Island. Hansen's son Johannes took over the company in 1916 upon his father's death. That same year, the company began production in England to bypass the German World War I blockade of exports to Great Britain and beyond. Facilities in Italy and Germany followed in 1936 during the inter-war period. By 1951, Hansen began production in Australia. Further international expansion in places such as South America followed, and from the 1970s to the 1990s saw a period of acquisition of other firms. The company released its first probiotic in 1987. In 1991, the Lundbeck Foundation obtained majority control of the company and initiated a major restructuring into a holding company format. Additional growth and consolidation followed, and Chr. Hansen Group was spun off into a separate, independent company in May 2005 which allowed the company to focus on long-term growth strategies rather than quarterly goals.

Sustainability

Chr. Hansen began looking for healthier meat alternatives in the mid-1970s due to rising problems within the chicken and meat industry. In 2019 Chr. Hansen was ranked as the most sustainable company in the world. The ranking was given by the Canadian business and society magazine ''

Corporate Knights Corporate Knights is a media and research company based in Toronto, Canada, focused on advancing a sustainable economy. The company publishes an award-winning magazine,  ''Corporate Knights'', and produces global rankings, research reports, a ...

'' and was announced at the World Economics Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In November 2021, Chr. Hansen launched climate targets for 2030 and began to reduce its carbon footprint in an effort to meet those targets.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Chr. Companies listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen Food and drink companies of Denmark Biotechnology companies of Denmark Companies based in Hørsholm Municipality Danish companies established in 1874