When it comes to food and drink, Bremen is a capital of brands. If you look closely while doing your weekly shopping in any German supermarket, you'll often see Bremen listed on the packaging as the place of manufacture. Few other cities in Europe are home to such a large number of household names.
The food and beverage industry employs around 10,000 people in 250 companies in the state of Bremen.
The food industry accounts for around 30 percent of all Bremen's imports and just under ten percent of its exports. Coffee is the most important export and import commodity. In addition to coffee, refreshing beer and of course fresh fish play a major role.
Bremerhaven is famous for its location on the North Sea and for its fresh fish. FRoSTA AG set up operations in the port city more than a century ago. The company is now a market leader in frozen food. Frozen Fish International, Nordsee and Deutsche See are three other big names from Bremerhaven in the world of frozen and processed food. It's no surprise then that Bremerhaven is known as Europe's frozen food capital.
An entire industry has been built up around the frozen food business. All kinds of companies – from packaging specialists and logistics firms to food laboratories and research institutes – have set up operations in the region. Bremerhaven is Germany's biggest centre for the fish trade and a major player in the deep-sea fishing industry. In Germany's smallest federal state, a total of 4,000 people are employed in the 'fish economy'.
The 'Interessenverband NaGeB e. V.' represents the food and beverage industry in Bremen, Bremerhaven and the surrounding area of Lower Saxony. The NaGeB bundles common interests and strengthens the public perception of the industry. Thus the food and luxury food industry is to be emphasized and noticed as proven authority center also far beyond the region.
The NaGeB is in constant dialogue with politics, administration and the public of Bremen. With events on infrastructure, transport, energy, education and training, the association regularly informs its members and all interested companies in the sector and offers a competent network for all those involved.
Farm animals usually get soybean and fish meal mixed into their feed as a protein source. The Bremen-based start-up Farmcycle offers a climate-friendly alternative: It breeds the black soldier fly. Their larvae have high-quality protein. Feed producers like the idea.
Learn moreBecks and Melitta may be high-profile brands, but international food and beverage companies also manufacture lots of other products in Bremen and Bremerhaven. Here are twelve examples.
Learn moreThe Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is composed of two cities, namely the city of Bremen itself (population approx. 568,000) and the port city of Bremerhaven (population approx. 114,000). The two cities are 53 km apart, but together they comprise the German federal state that carries the official designation “Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.”
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