- Hermann Finzelberg founded the Rhineland-based family business back in 1875.
- Today Finzelberg is a global leader, with an extensive portfolio of innovative highly-effective extracts, made in Germany.
- A sustainable transformation pioneer, with a neutral carbon footprint at its German sites.
The year 2025 is a very special one for family business Finzelberg, as it celebrates its 150th anniversary. The company was founded by pharmacist Hermann Finzelberg all the way back in 1875, in the small town of Andernach in the Rhineland. Today it is one of the leading providers of highly-effective, premium botanical extracts – made right here in Germany. Many of those extracts are ingredients in some of the world’s best-known medicinal and dietary supplement products. That way, Finzelberg helps protect and promote the health of millions of people around the globe.
Success through quality and innovation
“We deliver effective results thanks to our high-performing botanical extracts and the excellent, science-based advice we offer our customers in the pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industries,” says Finzelberg CEO Michael Braig. “We assure the highest quality from the field to the final product. Over our history of 150 years we have consistently proven that we can get the very best results for our customers – thanks to our innovative power and our commitment to quality. And we have had close, trusting relationships with many of our customers for several decades now.”
Here’s to the next 150 years!
With its motto for 2025, “Here’s to the next 150 years!”, Finzelberg will be hosting various occasions looking back at the successes it has achieved and forward at its ambitions for the future. “Our botanicals and our scientific services will of course play a central role in all of that,” says Braig, “but so will our sustainability strategy.”
The founder: 19th-century pharmacist Hermann Finzelberg
Like other well-known pharmaceutical and chemical companies, Finzelberg’s origins lie in a pharmacy. As a young man, Hermann Finzelberg began an apprenticeship with Berlin apothecary Ernst Schering, who later went on to found the Schering company. Finzelberg then studied pharmacy in Bonn. In 1868, he founded the Hirsch pharmacy in the nearby town of Andernach, and then in 1875 he purchased premises on Koblenzer Str., where he began manufacturing chemical and pharmaceutical products under his own name. Those included valeric acid, butyric acid, pepsin and peptones. Finzelberg’s headquarters can be found in the very same location on Koblenzer Str. today. But now, the company employs 380 people around the globe.
Comprehensive portfolio of extracts from more than 80 plant species
Finzelberg is committed to developing high-performing natural active ingredients, guided by scientific insights and innovations. Alongside valerian, Finzelberg produces a vast assortment of extracts, obtained from more than 80 different plants. Those include “branded ingredients”: verified and patented in accordance with the most rigorous scientific standards, these ingredients have a confirmed positive effect on human health. Finzelberg’s branded ingredient CONCENTAL, for instance, which is based on Greek mountain tea, won two NutraIngredients Awards in 2021.
One big Finzelberg family
Employees have always played a crucial role in the success of Finzelberg, which has remained a family business throughout the generations going back to 1875. The knowledge and experience of those dedicated employees, their passion and commitment, have given Finzelberg the high quality it can boast of today. Many employees have been with the company for an unusually long time, with 25 percent of the workforce dedicating 20 years or longer to Finzelberg. In fact, the company has even employed several generations of some families – so it’s not a family business with regard to the owners only.
A pioneer in sustainable transformation
Finzelberg’s management strategy is set for the long term. Since 1989, the company has belonged to the nature network, a unique group of companies that offers an impressive range of botanical-based products and services. The nature network’s expertise ranges from cultivation, wild harvesting and processing to the analysis and licensing of natural products. The companies that belong to the network are united by their shared sense of responsibility for nature and human beings. “By taking a responsible approach from the very first link in our supply chain, we create sustainable added value for everyone who works with us,” says Braig. “That applies to our sustainably cultivated botanicals, our resource-saving production processes, our recyclable packaging, and the pyrolysis of our plant residues to make biochar. This strategy has enabled us to become a pioneer in the sustainable transformation of our sector.”
SBTi-validated CO2e reduction targets and award-winning Go Zero climate neutrality action plan
Finzelberg pursues a science-based climate protection strategy and is making its contribution to achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C. In 2024, internationally renowned organization Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) assessed and validated Finzelberg’s emissions reduction targets and its clearly defined plan for reaching those targets. Also in 2024, Finzelberg’s Go Zero climate neutrality action plan won the NutraIngredients Editors’ Award for Sustainability Initiative of the Year. In 2023, the company was nominated for a German Environmental Management Award.
An important milestone in 2025: Climate neutrality at Finzelberg’s German sites
In its anniversary year, Finzelberg is demonstrating further proof of its innovative power and its commitment to sustainability. Despite the fact that the production of botanical extracts is a very energy-intensive process, through its own efforts Finzelberg has been able to reduce the CO2e emissions at its German sites by 88 percent compared to the base year of 2020. That’s an annual reduction of more than 15,000 tonnes. This great achievement was thanks to a whole package of individual measures. Finzelberg will voluntarily compensate for the remaining 12 percent of site-related emissions from 2025. That constitutes an absolute quantity of 2,000 tonnes of CO2e. “Achieving a neutral carbon footprint at our German sites is an extraordinary milestone for our climate strategy”, enthuses CEO Braig. “We have demonstrated that although ambitious climate protection goals may be challenging, they are attainable.”
