Henkell opts for name change

05 January, 2009
German wine producer Henkell & Söhnlein has kicked off the new year with a change of name.

German wine producer Henkell & Söhnlein has kicked off the new year with a change of name. As of Jan 1 2009 the company will be known as Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei KG – a name which, says the company, “makes clear that Henkell sparkling wines find themselves in good company both nationally and internationally.”

Following its most recent acquisitions in Ukraine and Italy, the Henkell group is represented by its own subsidiaries in ten European countries, and Henkell sparkling wines are available in more than 70 countries worldwide.

“Internationally we have already been perceived as the ‘Henkell Group’ for a long time,” said Dr Hans-Henning Wiegmann, spokesman for the board of directors. “Consequently the board of directors, together with the owner family, have decided on this corporate change of company name.”

The group has operated under the name of Henkell & Söhnlein Sektkellereien KG since the 1987 merger of the two longtime competitors Henkell & Co. and Söhnlein Rheingold.

In the 2007 fiscal year, the group achieved double-digit growth both abroad and on the domestic market. Sales volumes increased by 7.4 per cent to the equivalent of 18.3 million 9l cases; this breaks down into 11.8 million 9l cases of sparkling wine, 2.6 million 9l cases of wine and 3.9 million 9l cases of spirits.

Sales have climbed by almost 11 per cent at a disproportionately rapid rate to 569 million Euros, with above average growth in central European markets.

In 2007, Henkell & Söhnlein employed 527 staff members in Germany and 1,088 abroad.