H&F is a family owned company with currently 271 employees that was founded in 1934, with the daughter companies Herbafood Ingredients founded in 1980 and the H&F GmbH Pektin-Fabrik Werder bought in 1990. H&F produces and sells pectins, dietary fibres and fruit sweeteners from business to business worldwide. The company is market leader in apple pectin worldwide with a market share of about 17%.

The philosophy of the company is conservative with regard to ethical aspects such as personnel and reliable supplier-customer relationship and a harmonic integration in environment as well as progressive in research, spending about 3% of the annual turnover for research and development. Currently, H&F is participating in 5 founded research projects dealing with developing and improving the quality and processing of food ingredients. The slogan of Herbafood Ingredients GmbH ‘Lets make food better!’ underlines the company’s activities to enrich all kinds of foods with dietary fibre thereby closing the gap of dietary fibre deficit which can be found in the nutrition of the whole Western world. H&F is especially committed to the assistance of their customers in application technology.

H&F will supply different kinds of pectins and fibres derived from different fruits (apple, lemon, orange, currant) and crops (pea, linseed) to the project. They aspire to implement the findings of the project studies in the Directives and Regulations of the European Food Law. They expect a very good chance for cholesterol-lowering ingredients with a growth rate of probably 10% in the next 10 years and have a good market position for a successful exploitation of the results gained in the project.

Participant H&F has been classified as Other Participant because of the number of employees and turnover, which are too large to be classified as an SME. However H&F is an essential supplier for bioactive food ingredients which are to be incorporated into foods within this project. H&F is necessary to be included in the project due to its wide range of different fibre products, which are incorporated into foods. Only H&F guarantees the consignment of the high number of different required fibres in sufficient amounts and adequate quality needed for good results of the project.