Heintz van Landewyck

Heintz van Landewyck is a Luxembourg-rooted tobacco company whose history reaches back to 1847, when Josephine van Landewyck and Jean-Pierre Heintz founded the business. Today the group operates as Landewyck Tobacco S.A. under Landewyck Holding S.à r.l., a private holding company that the German Wikipedia describes as owning 26 companies across seven countries. Its product portfolio is unusually broad for a mid-sized tobacco manufacturer: the company states that it manages around 40 brands, spanning cigarettes, fine-cut tobacco, cigars and cigarillos, rolling papers and tubes, filling devices, and newer smokeless categories such as nicotine pouches. The group is best known in the German-speaking market through its German subsidiary, Tabak- und Cigarettenfabrik Heintz van Landewyck GmbH, based in Trier-Euren in Rhineland-Palatinate. That subsidiary is one of only seven cigarette and tobacco manufacturers resident in Germany and one of two German subsidiaries of the Luxembourg holding. It specialises in the production of fine-cut tobacco, while cigarettes sold under the group's brands are manufactured in Luxembourg. Its own brands sold in German retail — particularly supermarkets and discounters — include Afri, Maya, Ducal, Elixyr, Fargo, Ché and Energy. The German business distributes tobacco products across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). Landewyck positions itself as a quality- and flavour-focused manufacturer that is "always a little different," emphasising craftsmanship, regional roots and a diverse brand ecosystem dedicated to "life's pleasures." The company also promotes a corporate social responsibility agenda built on the three pillars of society, environment and economy, citing a partnership with the ECLT (Eliminating Child Labor in Tobacco Growing Foundation), responsible procurement, investment in research and development, and the 2020 opening of a modern Fridhaff site with a reduced environmental footprint. It has donated large green areas to the City of Luxembourg as part of the redevelopment of its former Hollerich site. In Germany, Heintz van Landewyck is a member of the Deutscher Zigarettenverband and was a founding member of the Bundesverband der Tabakwirtschaft und neuartiger Erzeugnisse, created in 2019. The company has had to adapt to tightening EU tobacco regulation, including graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging and the ban on menthol cigarettes. Its German management has changed several times in recent years; as of the German Wikipedia article, Sven Müller and Charles Lemmer serve as equal managing directors, with Lemmer succeeding Robert Guden in October 2023.

The origins of Heintz van Landewyck lie in Luxembourg in 1847, when Josephine van Landewyck and Jean-Pierre Heintz founded the tobacco business. Because Luxembourg was part of the German Customs Union (Zollverein) from 1834, the Luxembourg company increasingly sold its products in Germany during the 19th century. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 ended this customs arrangement, and Heintz van Landewyck decided to establish a branch in the German Rhine Province; this was realised in Trier in 1925. During World War II, Allied air raids on Trier destroyed the city and with it the economic basis of Heintz van Landewyck's German operations in the course of 1944. After the war ended, the company rebuilt its branch from the ground up at the same location. In 1995, after 60 years in the city centre, the company moved to the Euren district of Trier, where it remains headquartered today. In the same year, the business was converted and made legally independent, operating since then under the name Tabak- und Cigarettenfabrik Heintz van Landewyck GmbH. In the early 2000s, Heintz van Landewyck increased its market share in Germany to 19 percent and employed around 250 people. In 2005, the company built a new warehouse in Trier and progressively expanded its production facility. In subsequent years, the business was affected by several EU regulations, such as the introduction of deterrent images on cigarette packaging and the ban on menthol cigarettes. At group level, the Luxembourg parent operates as Landewyck Tobacco S.A., with Landewyck Holding S.à r.l. as the holding company. According to the German Wikipedia, the holding comprises 26 companies in seven countries, and the German subsidiary is one of two German subsidiaries of Landewyck Tobacco S.A. (the other being Heintz van Landewyck Unterstützungs- und Pensionskasse GmbH). The group states that it manages around 40 brands sold on regional, national and international markets, and it has expanded into newer product categories such as nicotine pouches, marketed under names including Thor. Management of the German subsidiary has changed repeatedly in recent years. Hans-Josef Fischer and Jan Vandenneucker were succeeded by Robert Guden and Sven Müller; Guden had served as equal managing director with Sven Müller since July 2020, and in October 2023 Charles Lemmer replaced Guden. Fischer left the management after 30 years and retired. The company is a member of the Deutscher Zigarettenverband and, in 2019, initiated the founding of the Bundesverband der Tabakwirtschaft und neuartiger Erzeugnisse, in which it is a founding member and, until Fischer's departure, held the chairmanship. In the past it also belonged to the Verband der deutschen Rauchtabakindustrie and, until its dissolution, the Verband der Cigarettenindustrie. In 2018, Heintz van Landewyck and Camelot Itlab GmbH received the Best of Consulting Award from Wirtschaftswoche in the Operational Excellence category. In May 2020, the company supported a donation collection for tobacco product retailers suffering revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 2023

  Charles Lemmer succeeds Robert Guden as equal managing director in October.

• 2020

  Opening of the modern Fridhaff site with a reduced environmental footprint.

• 2020

  Robert Guden becomes equal managing director with Sven Müller in July.

• 2019

  Initiates the founding of the Bundesverband der Tabakwirtschaft und neuartiger Erzeugnisse and becomes a founding member.

• 2018

  Receives the Wirtschaftswoche Best of Consulting Award in the Operational Excellence category together with Camelot Itlab GmbH.

• 2005

  Construction of a new warehouse in Trier and progressive expansion of the production facility.

• 1995

  Move to the Euren district of Trier after 60 years in the city centre; the company is converted and made legally independent as Tabak- und Cigarettenfabrik Heintz van Landewyck GmbH.

• 1944

  Allied air raids destroy Trier and the economic basis of the German operations; the branch is later rebuilt from scratch at the same location.

• 1925

  Establishment of a branch in Trier, German Rhine Province, after the end of the German Customs Union arrangement.

• 1847

  Josephine van Landewyck and Jean-Pierre Heintz found the tobacco business in Luxembourg.

Quality- and flavour-focused tobacco manufacturer with a diverse brand ecosystem, regional roots and a CSR agenda; "always a little different."

• Afri

• Maya

• Ducal

• Elixyr

• Fargo

• Ché

• Energy

• Thor

• Fine-cut tobacco

• Cigars and cigarillos

• Rolling papers and tubes

• Filling devices

1. 1Landewyck Tobacco S.A. official websitelandewyck.com
2. 2Social Responsibility | Tobacco and Cigarette Factory Heintz van Landewycklandewyck.com
3. 3Heintz van Landewyck GmbH – Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Tabak- und Cigarettenfabrik Heintz van Landewyck – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org