Production and marketing of turkey meat and poultry products from hatching egg to packaged retail product
Heidemark GmbH
Ahlhorn · Garrel · Höltinghausen · Vahldorf · PolandNew on Amplifa
About HEIDEMARK
Heidemark GmbH, headquartered in Ahlhorn (Lower Saxony), is a food manufacturer specializing in turkey meat and poultry products. Founded in 1965 as a family business, it covers essential stages of the value chain: parent stock and hatching egg production, rearing, in-house fattening, slaughtering, cutting and portioning to customer specifications, further processing into convenience products such as marinated meat, roast products and meat sausage, as well as packaging and refrigerated logistics. Around 13 million slaughter turkeys are processed each year. Customers come from food retail, the further-processing industry, gastronomy, wholesale, airline catering and baby food. The company employs around 2,300 staff at five sites and generates annual revenue of around 750 million euros, of which approx. 20% goes to export.
- Site
- Ahlhorn
- Processes
- Turkey slaughtering (poultry slaughtering), Cutting/portioning of turkey meat (individual cuts), Processing/pre-mixes to customer specification (supplier to the further-processing industry), Marinating of meat (convenience products), Manufacture of roast products and meat sausage, Halal poultry slaughter, Food packaging (modified atmosphere packaging MAP, CPET oven-ready trays, vacuum packaging), Food cold-chain logistics (transport of chilled goods)
- Materials
- Turkey meat (turkey), Male turkeys, Female turkeys, Turkey meat (male/female), Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), CPET oven-ready trays, Halal slaughter
- Certificates
- QS, IFS, VLOG (GM-free), BRC Global Standards, Halal, ZNU Standard Sustainable Business, Initiative Tierwohl (barn plus space, fresh-air barn)
- Founded
- 1965
- Employees
- 2300
- Industries
- Food retail, Food further-processing industry, Agriculture, Gastronomy, Wholesale, Baby food
- 01
Parent stock and hatching egg production
- 02
Rearing/fattening (in-house fattening)
- 03
Slaughtering
- 04
Cutting/portioning
- 05
Further processing (convenience, sausage)
- 06
Packaging (MAP, CPET)
- 07
Refrigerated logistics
Raw Materials & Processing
Turkey meat (male/female)
Basic raw material for breast, drumstick, thigh, wing, trimmings, offal and by-products.
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)
Market-standard fresh packaging for retail and industry.
CPET oven-ready trays
Oven-safe packaging solution for convenience products.
Halal slaughter
Slaughter in accordance with Islamic law, meeting the Halal standard.
Sites
Ahlhorn
DEHeadquarters, production/slaughterhouse, sales
- Lot size
- 13 million slaughter turkeys/year
- Materials
- Turkey meat
- Slaughterhouse
- Portioning
- Packaging (MAP, CPET)
- Factory outlet/poultry shop
Garrel
DESlaughterhouse (historic), convenience products
- Materials
- Turkey meat
Höltinghausen
DEFeed mill (original origin, sold in 2015)
Vahldorf
DEProcessing (historic)
Heidemark Polska Sp. z o.o.
PLPoland site
Products
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey slaughtering (poultry slaughtering)Assembly | – | – | – | 13 million slaughter turkeys/year | Turkey |
| Cutting/portioning of turkey meat (individual cuts)Machining | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Processing/pre-mixes to customer specification (supplier to the further-processing industry)Assembly | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Marinating of meat (convenience products)Assembly | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Manufacture of roast products and meat sausageAssembly | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Halal poultry slaughterAssembly | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Food packaging (modified atmosphere packaging MAP, CPET oven-ready trays, vacuum packaging)Surface | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Food cold-chain logistics (transport of chilled goods)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Product development for poultry productsEngineering | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
| Vertical integration: parent stock and hatching egg production, rearing, fatteningAssembly | – | – | – | – | Turkey |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality & Certifications
All production takes place in a closed system with internal and external audits by independent certification bodies. Trained employees, a hygiene concept and a multilingual digital training system ensure quality standards along the production chain.
| Evidence | Ahlhorn |
|---|---|
| QS | |
| IFS | |
| BRC Global Standards | |
| VLOG (GM-free) | |
| Halal | |
| ZNU Standard Sustainable Business | |
| Initiative Tierwohl (barn plus space, fresh-air barn) |
History
- 1965
Reinhold Kalvelage founds the feed mill in Höltinghausen
- 1969
Construction of a turkey slaughterhouse in Garrel
- 1980
Company renamed HEIDEMARK
- 1985
Bernd Kalvelage (2nd generation) joins
- 1993
Foundation stone laid for the successful in-house fattening model
- 2002
Establishment of parent stock and hatching egg production
- 2007
Acquisition of the slaughterhouse in Ahlhorn
- 2015
Company passes to the third generation under Christopher Kalvelage
- 2017
Increased internationalization with new sites in Europe
- 2019
ZNU certification of the Ahlhorn site
- 2026
Sale to Storteboom Food Group (Boparan Private Office)