Tea, coffee and confectionery wholesale with its own roastery, private-label filling and accessories from Hamburg.
Dethlefsen & Balk GmbH
Hamburg · Chicago (USA, representative office) · Budapest (Hungary, representative office) · Shanghai (China, representative office) · Sint-Katelijne-Waver (Belgium, representative office)New on Amplifa
About Dethlefsen & Balk
The Dethlefsen & Balk GmbH is a tea and coffee trading house founded in 1836 and based in Hamburg. As an importer, manufacturer and wholesaler, the company supplies specialist retailers, wholesalers, the gastronomy and hotel sector (HoReCa), coffee roasteries and online retailers with tea, roasted coffee, raw coffee, confectionery and accessories. In-house, tea blends are refined with more than 5,000 recipes, customer-specific blends are produced from 5 kg, and raw goods are packed in containers of 1, 5 and 25 kg. The company's own coffee roastery has been roasting the Café Cult brand as well as customer blends and contract roasting since 2004. In addition, D&B offers private-label filling, individual labels and bands, tea pyramids with custom logo and assembled gift sets from 300 units. Deliveries are made worldwide to over 80 countries; sales are exclusively to resellers.
- Site
- Hamburg
- Processes
- Coffee roasting (own roastery, roasted coffee, contract roasting), Tea blending / flavouring / refinement (tea taster blends, >5,000 recipes, from 5 kg), Private-label filling (individually filled teas, coffees, confectionery), Packaging of raw goods into containers (1 kg, 5 kg, 25 kg), Filtering and removal of foreign objects from raw goods, Quality control / laboratory testing (HACCP, IFS, batch traceability), Printing / personalisation of labels and bands (product labels, tin bands), Printing of pre-made tea bag sachets with logo
- Materials
- Tea (raw material, various varieties: black tea, green tea, fruit/herbal tea, rooibos, white, Raw coffee / coffee (Green Coffee, Specialty Green Coffee), Confectionery / sweets (bar chocolate, tea bears, syrup beans), Beech wood (tea box, stained and lacquered), Polystyrene (display, white), Acrylic (display, transparent), Porcelain (pots, tea-for-one sets), Ceramic (tea-for-one sets, Lieske/Patricio series)
- Certificates
- IFS, HACCP, DE-ÖKO-003 (Organic certification)
- Founded
- 1836
- Industries
- Specialist retail, Wholesale, Gastronomy / Hotels / Cafés (HoReCa), Coffee roasteries, Online retail
- 01
Import of raw goods (tea, raw coffee)
- 02
Quality control and foreign-object filtering
- 03
Tea blending and flavouring
- 04
Coffee roasting
- 05
Filling and packaging
- 06
Assembly and gift sets
- 07
Shipping to the retail trade
Raw Goods and Materials
Tea (raw material)
Black, green, white tea, fruit/herbal teas and rooibos as a basis for blends and flavourings.
Raw Coffee
Specialty Green Coffee from all over the world, roasted in the company's own roastery, available from 5 kg.
Confectionery
Sweets and bar chocolates from European manufacturers as well as own brands for specialist retail.
Beech wood
Used for stained and lacquered tea boxes and displays for product presentation.
Polystyrene
Used for white displays for the presentation of sachets.
Acrylic
Transparent displays with six compartments for sachet presentation.
Stainless steel
Strainers and lids for pots and tea-for-one sets.
Locations
Hamburg
DEHead office with roastery, refinement, filling and logistics
- Lot size
- Customer blends from 5 kg; gift sets from 300 units; printed sachets from 5,000
- Materials
- Tea, raw coffee, confectionery
- Coffee roastery
- System for filtering and removal of foreign objects
Chicago
DESales and representative office North America (Dethlefsen & Balk, Inc.)
Budapest
DERepresentative office Central Europe (D&B Közép-európai Tea- és Kávékereskedelmi Bt.)
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee roasting (own roastery, roasted coffee, contract roasting)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Raw coffee, Coffee |
| Tea blending / flavouring / refinement (tea taster blends, >5,000 recipes, from 5 kg)Engineering | – | – | 5 kg – 25 kg | – | Tea, Raw tea |
| Private-label filling (individually filled teas, coffees, confectionery)Assembly | – | – | – | – | Tea, Coffee, Confectionery |
| Packaging of raw goods into containers (1 kg, 5 kg, 25 kg)Assembly | – | – | 1 kg – 25 kg | – | Tea |
| Filtering and removal of foreign objects from raw goodsTesting | – | – | – | – | Tea, Raw goods |
| Quality control / laboratory testing (HACCP, IFS, batch traceability)Testing | – | – | – | – | Tea, Coffee, Confectionery, Raw goods |
| Printing / personalisation of labels and bands (product labels, tin bands)Surface treatment | – | – | – | 100 units | Paper, Cardboard |
| Printing of pre-made tea bag sachets with logoSurface treatment | – | – | – | 5,000 pieces/variety | Plastic (sachet), Paper (tag) |
| Packing / filling of tea pyramids and tea bags (tea pyramids & long bags)Assembly | – | – | – | – | Tea, Pyramid sachet |
| Assembly of individual gift sets (packing from 300 units)Assembly | – | – | – | 300 units | Tea, Coffee, Accessories, Matcha, Mate, Tea bears |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
Quality management verifies all product properties independently of supplier information; since 2015 raw goods have been mechanically filtered to remove foreign objects before release. A batch number system ensures seamless traceability back to the raw goods; additional testing is carried out by independent, accredited laboratories in accordance with EU directives.
| Evidence | Hamburg |
|---|---|
| IFS | |
| HACCP | |
| DE-ÖKO-003 (Organic certification) |
History
- 1836
Foundation of an import trading business for spices and tea by Gustav C.H.J. Balk in Hamburg's old town; opening of a retail shop at Admiralty Street 39.
- 1846
Concentration of the business on tea imports from China; rental of an entire house at Admiralitätsstraße 37.
- 1858
Relocation of the company to Rödingsmarkt 79; first bank account under its own name.
- 1870
After the founder's death, partnership between Gustav Balk and Amandus Dethlefsen; registration as "Dethlefsen & Balk – Theehandlung en gros" in the commercial register, move to Kleine Reichenstraße 21.
- 1878
Receipt of the first trading post in front of pillar 14 of the Hamburg Stock Exchange.
- 1892
Move to office and warehouse premises in the Speicherstadt (Holländischer Brook 22).
- 1893
Departure of Amandus Dethlefsen; entry of Heinrich R.G. Balk as the third generation.
- 1899
Heinrich R.G. Balk takes over the company as sole owner.
- 1904
Heinrich Balk becomes a member of the "Versammlung eines Ehrbaren Kaufmanns zu Hamburg e.V.".
- 2004
Launch of the company's own coffee roastery with the Café Cult brand and introduction of the confectionery range.
- 2015
Commissioning of a system for filtering and removing foreign objects from raw goods.