Manufacturer of made-to-order cooked meat and vegetarian convenience products, deep-frozen and chilled, based in Stolzenau.
HAPPY FOOD Feinkost GmbH
Stolzenau/Holzhausen (Weser)New on Amplifa
Expertise in Cooked Convenience Products
HAPPY FOOD Feinkost GmbH produces made-to-order cooked meat and vegetarian convenience products for industry, home care services, food retail, discount stores as well as gastronomy and large-scale consumers. Founded in 1989 by Heinrich Hesse and headquartered in Stolzenau/Holzhausen, the company emerged from a farm and a poultry slaughterhouse of the Hesse family and today processes around 3.000 t of chilled and deep-frozen products per year with approximately 70 employees. Materials processed include pork, beef, veal, poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, goose), game as well as vegetarian and vegan raw materials such as soy. The production spectrum covers various cooking techniques (contact grilling, deep-frying, hot air, steam cooking, sous-vide, water bath), computer- and laser-controlled cutting, mincing and chopping, gram-accurate portioning with sauce and vegetables, freezing (block and IQF) as well as packaging from bulk containers to small packs. Scalable batch sizes of approx. 1 t to 10 t per production run, an in-house deep-freeze warehouse for over 2,000 europallets and an in-house product development department with its own laboratory complete the value chain.
- Site
- Stolzenau
- Processes
- Teflon contact grilling, Deep-frying, Hot-air cooking, Steam cooking, Sous-vide cooking, Water-bath cooking, Boiling, Laser-controlled cutting (weight-accurate)
- Materials
- Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Veal
- Certificates
- IFS Higher Level
- Founded
- 1989
- Employees
- approx. 70
- Industries
- Industry, Home care services, Food retail, Discount, Gastronomy/Large-scale consumers, Retail
- 01
Raw goods receiving
- 02
Goods inspection in laboratory
- 03
Cutting/Mincing/Chopping
- 04
Forming
- 05
Cooking
- 06
Portioning
- 07
Chilling and freezing
- 08
Packaging
- 09
Deep-freeze storage
- 10
Delivery
Production Site
Stolzenau/Holzhausen (Weser)
DEProduction site/Headquarters
- Lot size
- approx. 1–10 t per production run
- Materials
- Pork, beef, veal, poultry, game, vegetarian/vegan
- Cutting machines (computer- and laser-controlled)
- Grinder
- Bowl chopper
- Filling technology
- Spiral belt freezer
- Tunnel freezer
- Nitrogen freezer
- 8-arm sorting scale
- Thermoforming machine
- Tray sealer
- Cartoning machine
- Multihead weigher with bagging machine
- Deep-freeze warehouse (over 2,000 europallets)
Product Examples
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teflon contact grillingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Deep-fryingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Hot-air cookingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Steam cookingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Sous-vide cookingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Water-bath cookingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| BoilingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Laser-controlled cutting (weight-accurate)Cutting | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game |
| Dicing 6x6mm to 30x30mmCutting | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game |
| Cutting into strips, julienne and grated piecesCutting | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game |
| Mincing (3mm, 5mm, 8mm)Cutting | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game |
| Fine chopping in bowl chopperCutting | – | – | – | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game |
| Forming of meatballs 1g to 150g, burgers, patties, nuggetsForming | – | – | 1g – 150g | – | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Filling technology: gram-accurate portioning with vegetables and/or sauceAssembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chilling & freezing (block freezing, IQF) with spiral belt, tunnel and nitrogen freezersSurface treatment | – | – | – | – | – |
| Packaging (bulk containers, foodservice packaging 500g-5kg, small packs)Assembly | – | – | 500g – 5kg | – | – |
| Deep-freeze storage (over 2,000 europallets)Assembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| Product development of convenience products from A-ZEngineering | – | – | – | approx. 1t per production run – approx. 10t per production run | Pork, Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Game, Vegetarian/vegan |
| Microbiological controls in the in-house laboratoryTesting | – | – | – | – | – |
13 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cutting machines (computer- and laser-controlled) | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Filling technology (portioning) | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Spiral belt freezer | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Tunnel freezer | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Nitrogen freezer | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| 8-arm sorting scale | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Thermoforming machine | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Tray sealer | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Cartoning machine | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Multihead weigher with bagging machine | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Grinder | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Bowl chopper | – | – | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
| Deep-freeze warehouse (over 2,000 europallets) | – | 1 | – | – | Stolzenau/Holzhausen |
Additional services
Quality Assurance and Certification
An in-house laboratory continuously monitors raw materials, intermediate and finished products microbiologically, supplemented by permanent cleaning and disinfection monitoring. Specific analyses are carried out with external laboratories; quality is regularly confirmed independently by experts.
| Evidence | Stolzenau/Holzhausen (Weser) |
|---|---|
| IFS Higher Level |
Company History
- 1970er
A poultry fattening operation and poultry slaughterhouse with their own marketing emerge from the Hesse family's farm.
- Ende 1970er
Specialization in Barbary ducks and German geese.
- 1980er
Market leadership position for fresh German ducks and geese.
- 1989
Foundation of HAPPY FOOD Feinkost GmbH by Heinrich Hesse; first systems for cooking meat.
- 1990er
Steady growth, investments in cooking techniques, new customers from industry, home care services, retail, discount and gastronomy/foodservice; the four children join the company.
- 2000er
Expansion and modernization: boiling, steam cooking, hot-air cooking, contact grilling and deep-frying become available.
- 2004
First IFS certificate at Higher Level.
- 2005
Marc Hesse joins the management board.
- 2009
Heinrich Hesse hands the company over to his four children; management: Cord and Marc Hesse.
- 2016
Merger of Geflügelhof Holzhausen GmbH with HAPPY FOOD Feinkost GmbH.
- 2017
Last goose slaughter; full focus on cooked meat and vegetarian convenience products.