Hassia Mineralquellen GmbH & Co. KG

The HassiaGruppe

Hassia Mineralquellen GmbH & Co. KG, headquartered in Bad Vilbel, is the parent company of the HassiaGruppe, one of Germany's largest producers of non-alcoholic beverages. Founded in 1864, the family business, now in its fifth generation, draws mineral water from 30 springs and also bottles lemonades, schorles (fruit juice spritzers), near-water, functional and fruit juice drinks as well as iced tea. The group comprises ten sites in Germany, including the fruit presses Rapp's, Höhl and Kumpf as well as the mineral spring operations Carolinen, Gaensefurther, Glashäger, Güstrower Schlossquell, Lichtenauer and Thüringer Waldquell, and BIONADE GmbH. The parent plant in Bad Vilbel employs 564 staff; there, up to 2.8 million bottles per day can be filled on seven bottling lines. The group sells around 928 million litres per year and, with a refillable bottle share of 93 percent at its parent site, operates regionally and nationally in food retail and the hospitality industry.

Site

Bad Vilbel

Processes

Visitor tours/visitor centres, Logistics (automated high-bay warehouses, logistics centres), Country fruit pressing/fruit intake (Rapp's/Höhl), Event location Juice Factory, Traceability portal for juice origin, Product complaint service, Sponsoring

Certificates

ISO 50001 (Energy management), IFS Food, ZNU standard "Sustainable Business", ISO 50001

Founded

1864

Employees

1650

Industries

Beverage industry, Food / Soft drinks, Fruit juice

1. 01

   Development and extraction of mineral water from own springs

2. 02

   Fruit intake and pressing (fruit presses Rapp's, Höhl, Kumpf)

3. 03

   Production and bottling in modern bottling lines

4. 04

   Storage in automated high-bay warehouses

5. 05

   Distribution via food retail and the hospitality industry

Sites

Bad Vilbel

DE

Parent plant / Group headquarters, production

Materials

Mineral water, lemonades, schorles, fruit juice drinks, iced tea

• 7 bottling lines
• 5 automated high-bay warehouses (up to 130,000 pallets)

Ostheim/Rhön

DE

BIONADE GmbH, production

Materials

Organic soft drinks

Bielefeld

DE

Carolinen Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG, production

Lot size

135 million bottles/year

Materials

Mineral water, near water, schorles, lemonades

Hecklingen

DE

Gaensefurther Schlossbrunnen GmbH & Co. KG, production

Lot size

over 70 million bottles/year

Materials

Mineral water, lemonades, carbonated soft drinks, schorles

Bad Doberan

DE

Glashäger Brunnen GmbH, production

Lot size

over 50 million fillings/year

Materials

Mineral water, lemonades, fruit juice drinks, schorles

Güstrow

DE

Güstrower Schlossquell GmbH & Co. KG, production

Lot size

approx. 30 million bottles/year

Materials

Mineral water, wellness drinks, schorles, carbonated soft drinks

• Bottling lines
• flexible logistics centre

Markgröningen

DE

Kumpf Fruchtsaft GmbH & Co. KG, production

Lot size

Bottling 100,000 l/day; fruit press 800 t of fruit/day

Materials

Fruit juices, nectars, schorles, direct juices and concentrates

• Tank volume 12.5 million litres

Lichtenau

DE

Lichtenauer Mineralquellen GmbH, production (brands: Lichtenauer, Margon, Vita Cola)

Lot size

around 800,000 bottles/day, up to 1.5 million in summer

Materials

Mineral water, soft drinks

• High-performance bottling lines

Schmalkalden

DE

Thüringer Waldquell GmbH, production

Lot size

over 120 million litres/year

Materials

Mineral water, soft drinks

Maintal/Hochstadt

DE

Kelterei Wilhelm Höhl (country fruit press, fruit intake)

Materials

Pressing fruit, apple juices, cider

Inside the production

Quality and Certifications

The HassiaGruppe has its management systems for quality, environment, energy and sustainability audited by external, accredited certification bodies. All sites meet the IFS Food standard; in addition, there are certifications according to ISO 50001 and, since January 2026, according to the ZNU standard "Sustainable Business".

History

1. 1864

   Johann Philipp Wilhelm Hinkel develops the first spring in Bad Vilbel – founding of the mineral spring company

2. 1898

   Son Fritz turns the mineral water into the "hassia" brand; Ernst Kumpf founds the Kumpf Obstverwertungsgesellschaft (fruit processing company)

3. 1900

   Registered as Hassia-Mineralbrunnen-Sprudel in the commercial register

4. 1928

   Founding of the Rapp's fruit press (Venus-Quelle, Ed. + B. Schäfer, Karl Rapp und Sohn)

5. 1955

   Hassia-Sprudel in the spa gardens officially recognised as a healing spring; the Rapp's pressing operation in Bad Vilbel is integrated

6. 1982

   Merger with Luisen Brunnen, company renamed Hassia & Luisen Mineralquellen

7. 1991

   Founding of Lichtenauer Mineralquellen GmbH

8. 1997

   Acquisition of the Rapp's fruit press and Wilhelmstaler Mineralbrunnen

9. 1998

   Hassia acquires 100% of the Rapp's fruit press as well as Hessenquelle

10. 2001

    Acquisition of Rosbacher Brunnen GmbH

11. 2005

    Acquisition of Brau und Brunnen Mineralquellen GmbH (Thüringer Waldquell, Margon, Glashäger, Vita Cola)

12. 2006

    Thüringer Waldquell becomes part of the HassiaGruppe

13. 2008

    Kumpf becomes a member of Hassia Mineralquellen

14. 2017

    Acquisition of the Bionade and Ti brands from the Radeberger Group

15. 2021

    Carolinen and Gaensefurther join the Hassia group

16. 2025

    Rapp's fruit press relocates from Karben to Bad Vilbel

17. 2026

    Certification according to the ZNU standard "Sustainable Business"