Frey & Lau
Frey & Lau is a fourth-generation, family-owned German manufacturer of essential oils, flavors, fragrances, and aroma chemicals, supplying B2B enterprise customers in food, beverage, pharma, cosmetics, home care and animal feed industries across 120+ countries from its Henstedt-Ulzburg headquarters.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1836
- HeadquartersHenstedt-ulzburg, Germany
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Frey & Lau does
Frey & Lau GmbH is a fourth-generation, family-owned German manufacturer of essential oils, flavors, fragrances, and aroma chemicals, headquartered in Henstedt-Ulzburg north of Hamburg. Founded in 1836 as a steam factory for essential oils by Heinrich Zeise, the business was acquired by Johannes Frey and Hinrich Lau in 1904 and progressively expanded into perfume oils (1912) and flavors (1970). Today it operates from a single integrated 20,000 sqm campus employing more than 200 staff, housing development and analytical laboratories (GC/GC-MS), a custom-designed distillation plant, a proprietary CAPSO encapsulation technology for flavor granules, a batch vacuum rectification system with GMP production area, a vanilla extraction facility, and a 5,000-tonne hazardous materials warehouse.
The company runs four core product lines — Essential Oils, Flavors, Fragrances, and Aroma Chemicals — supplying B2B enterprise customers in beverage, food, animal feed, cosmetic, fabric care, home care, and pharmaceutical industries across more than 120 countries. Revenue is generated through quote-based, negotiated B2B sales of proprietary and tailored formulations; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market combines direct export sales from the Henstedt-Ulzburg headquarters with an international agent network reinforced by regular multi-day agent meetings, plus presence at trade fairs such as PLMA in Amsterdam. Multiple certifications (GMP, GMP+, IFS, FSSC 22000, ISO 9001, Kosher, Halal, Bio, Fairtrade, REACH, Sedex/SMETA, Ecovadis Gold, CDP) underpin qualification for pharmaceutical, food, and ethically sourced end-markets.
Ownership is entirely family-held, with current leadership comprising siblings Dr. Maja Zippel (Technical Managing Director, Quality/Development/Production) and Claas Nendel (Commercial Managing Director, Purchasing/Sales/Finance), both in place since 2009. No external investors, funding rounds, subsidiaries, or parent entities are disclosed in the source material, and no public ticker or exchange listing exists. Recent capital deployment has concentrated on upgrading core processing assets (new distillation plant, batch vacuum rectification), expanding encapsulation capacity, and formalizing sustainability disclosures — consistent with a stable, reinvestment-oriented mid-sized industrial operator.
Frey & Lau firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Frey & Lau
- Legal name
- Frey + Lau GmbH
- Website
- https://freylau.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1836
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Frey & Lau is a fourth-generation, family-owned German manufacturer of essential oils, flavors, fragrances, and aroma chemicals, supplying B2B enterprise customers in food, beverage, pharma, cosmetics, home care and animal feed industries across 120+ countries from its Henstedt-Ulzburg headquarters.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Frey & Lau industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Ingredients (Essential Oils, Flavors, and Fragrances)
- NAICS
- Soap and Cleaning Compound Manufacturing (32561)
- SIC
- Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090), Medicinal Chemicals & Botanical Products (2833)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Natural Extracts & Essential Oils (Botanical/Citrus/Herb/Spice Extracts) (AFAJADAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Extracts, Oleoresins & Essential Oils (Spice Extracts for Flavoring) (AFAJANAJ)
Keywords
Where Frey & Lau is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Henstedt-ulzburg
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Frey & Lau business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Essential Oils: Sourcing and processing essential oils from around the world. Products refined using unique distillation plant for consistent high quality, suitable for pharmaceuticals, oral care, wellness products, and as flavour and fragrance components.
- Flavours: Development and production of flavours (fruity, sweet, chocolatey) in powdered, granulated, liquid, or encapsulated forms. Created for food, tea, beverage and oral care industries.
- Fragrances: Distinct fragrance compositions for personal care, home care, and technical perfumery segments. Tailor-made fragrance concepts customized to consumer preferences in national and international markets.
- Aroma Chemicals: Wide range of fragrance and flavouring substances always available in stock. Expert in raw materials business with extensive inventory ensuring immediate supply to partners.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Frey & Lau product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Frey & Lau manufactures and supplies essential oils, flavours, fragrances, and aroma chemicals for industrial use. The company refines essential oils using its own custom-designed distillation plant and produces encapsulated flavors via its proprietary CAPSO® technology. Finished products are formulated for the pharmaceutical, food, beverage, animal feed, cosmetic, home care, and personal care industries, with the company exporting from Germany to customers in over 120 countries.
Product overview
Frey & Lau is a leading mid-sized manufacturer of essential oils, flavors, fragrances, and aroma chemicals. The company operates four core product lines: Essential Oils sourced globally and refined using unique distillation plants; Flavours developed at the Flavour Design Center in powdered, granulated, liquid or encapsulated forms; Fragrances for personal care, home care and technical perfumery; and Aroma Chemicals as raw materials with extensive inventory. A proprietary technology, CAPSO®, enables encapsulated flavor production. The company serves customers in over 120 countries across beverage, food, animal feed, cosmetic, fabric care, home care and pharmaceutical industries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Capso: Innovative encapsulated flavor technology for granular flavors
- Capso
Products and services
- Essential Oils Essential oils sourced globally and refined using a unique custom-designed distillation plant, delivered as consistent high-quality ingredients for pharmaceuticals, oral care, wellness products, and as flavor and fragrance components.
- Flavours Custom-developed fruity, sweet, or chocolatey flavors in powdered, granulated, liquid, or encapsulated forms, formulated at the Flavour Design Center for food, tea, beverage, and oral care applications.
- Fragrances Custom fragrance compositions for personal care, home care, and technical perfumery segments, created by perfumers as tailor-made concepts customized to consumer preferences in national and international target markets.
- Aroma Chemicals Qualified fragrance and flavoring raw materials sourced from reliable worldwide supply chains, held in extensive inventory to enable immediate delivery of best-quality components for use in flavor and fragrance compositions.
- CAPSO® Encapsulated Flavors Proprietary encapsulated flavor technology producing solid encapsulated flavor granules using state-of-the-art spray dryers, fluid bed plants, and extruders for controlled-release flavor applications in food, beverage, and oral care products.
Quantifiable outcome
- Just-in-time delivery capability with storage capacity of 5,000+ tonnes
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Frey & Lau
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Frey & Lau technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Frey & Lau partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Industry Association MembershipsminorFREY&LAU is actively involved in leading industry associations including IFEAT, EFFA, IFRA, E.F.E.O, VDC, Deutscher Teeverband, DVAI, WKF, DGP, SEPAWA, DVRH, DGK, ZDS, BDIH, AGA, WGA, B.A.H, Food Regio, and IHK. These memberships support industry advocacy, knowledge sharing, and market development.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves23 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Frey & Lau competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Givaudan: World's largest flavors and fragrances house, producing aroma chemicals, essential oil derivatives, flavors, and fragrances for the same end markets Frey & Lau serves. Direct competitor on global key accounts and benchmark for F&F industry economics.
- Symrise: Global top-tier flavors and fragrances manufacturer with significant essential oils, taste, and scent operations serving food, beverage, personal care, and pharma customers. Directly comparable to Frey & Lau across all four product categories but at vastly larger scale.
- DSM-Firmenich: Combined nutrition, health, and F&F powerhouse with substantial perfumery, taste, and ingredients businesses. Competes with Frey & Lau in flavors, fragrance compositions, and ingredient supply to multinational CPG and personal care customers.
- Treatt: UK-listed manufacturer of natural and synthetic flavor and fragrance ingredients, with strong citrus and essential oil derivatives business. Highly comparable in scale and product focus to Frey & Lau's essential oils and aroma chemicals segments.
- Takasago International Corporation: Japanese F&F producer with established presence in flavors, fragrances, and aroma chemicals, including essential oil processing. Competes with Frey & Lau in Asia and globally on multinational accounts.
- Mane: Privately held French flavors and fragrances manufacturer with comparable product breadth across flavors, fragrances, and aroma ingredients, and similar mid-tier global scale.
- Bell Flavors & Fragrances: Mid-sized privately held US F&F manufacturer producing flavors, fragrances, and botanical extracts for food, beverage, and personal care. Closely matches Frey & Lau's positioning as a privately owned, mid-tier B2B ingredient supplier.
- International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF): Major US-listed F&F producer with deep presence in flavors, fragrances, and aroma chemicals across food, beverage, home care, and pharma. Direct overlap with Frey & Lau's product portfolio and customer industries.
- Robertet: French family-controlled F&F house specializing in natural raw materials, essential oils, and fragrance compositions. Closest peer to Frey & Lau by ownership profile and natural-ingredients positioning, with similar mid-sized international footprint.
Broad incumbents
- Kerry Group: Large Irish-listed taste and nutrition company with a substantial flavors and functional ingredients division serving food and beverage customers. Overlaps with Frey & Lau's flavors business but operates at much greater scale and with broader portfolio.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Frey & Lau social profiles
Digital presenceFrey & Lau compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance15 records
Frey & Lau financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Frey & Lau leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Frey & Lau funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frey & Lau M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Frey & Lau
What does Frey & Lau do?
Frey & Lau manufactures and supplies essential oils, flavours, fragrances, and aroma chemicals for industrial use. The company refines essential oils using its own custom-designed distillation plant and produces encapsulated flavors via its proprietary CAPSO® technology. Finished products are formulated for the pharmaceutical, food, beverage, animal feed, cosmetic, home care, and personal care industries, with the company exporting from Germany to customers in over 120 countries.
Is Frey & Lau a public or private company?
Frey & Lau is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Frey & Lau founded?
Frey & Lau was founded in 1836. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Frey & Lau based?
Frey & Lau is headquartered in Henstedt-ulzburg, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Frey & Lau make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Essential Oils are the primary driver. The others are flavours, fragrances and aroma Chemicals.
Who are Frey & Lau's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Givaudan, Symrise, DSM-Firmenich, Treatt, Takasago International Corporation, Mane, Bell Flavors & Fragrances, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) and Robertet. Kerry Group is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Frey & Lau have an API?
No public API is recorded for Frey & Lau.
What industry is Frey & Lau in?
Frey & Lau's product category is Specialty Ingredients (Essential Oils, Flavors, and Fragrances). Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAJADAB, Natural Extracts & Essential Oils (Botanical/Citrus/Herb/Spice Extracts), with a secondary code of AFAJANAJ, Extracts, Oleoresins & Essential Oils (Spice Extracts for Flavoring). Its NAICS code is 32561 and its SIC code is 2844.