What Harke Group does

Harke Group is a family-owned, second-generation German chemical and plastics distribution company headquartered in Mülheim an der Ruhr, founded in 1964. It distributes specialty raw materials and finished specialty products across 30+ industries — including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food and beverage, home and personal care, industrial and institutional cleaning, automotive care, agrochemicals, base chemicals, water treatment, coatings, plastics, polymers, rubber, and imaging — through 16 subsidiaries spanning Europe and India and reaching customers in more than 50 countries.

The company's underlying technology is a chemical and plastics distribution platform combining a technical sales and formulation support organization, three laboratories and two contract packing sites for blending and packaging services, and an e-commerce storefront (shop.harke.com) for direct product transactions. The portfolio is organized into eight divisions and 25 business units, and includes proprietary sub-brands such as SOLUBLON water-soluble films, Boselon corrosion protection films, HYPERCLEAN clean-container systems, ImageBlast, Ikonart and Hydrokon imaging products, SoluPack and ChemPack packaging services, and the HarkePlus RemindPro nutraceutical. The company operates a B2B, sales-led model with quote-based pricing, supported by ISO 9001, Responsible Care, EU organic, and IFS-HPC2 certifications and REACH-compliant operations, and executes more than 40,000 deliveries per year.

Harke monetizes primarily through one-time product sales of distributed and proprietary chemical, plastic, and packaging products to industrial customers, supplemented by formulation and contract packing services. Its go-to-market pairs a localized technical sales force across subsidiaries with digital channels (corporate website, newsletter, brochures, events, online shop). Customer concentration risk is reduced by horizontal segmentation across 30+ industries and 50+ countries, while growth has come through incremental geographic expansion (notably into India) and the gradual addition of higher-margin proprietary sub-brands.

Name

Harke Group

Legal name

Harke Group

Website

https://shop.harke.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Harke Group is a family-owned German chemical and plastics distributor serving 30+ industries across 50+ countries via 16 subsidiaries, offering technical sales, formulation support, packaging services, and an e-commerce platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Mülheim An Der Ruhr

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Chemical Distribution: Distribution of high-quality chemical products from solid principals to industrial customers across 30+ industries. Revenue generated through product sales with technical support and formulation expertise.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Harke Group distributes specialty chemicals, polymers, plastics, and packaging products to industrial customers across pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food and beverage, home and personal care, coatings, and rubber industries. The company combines wholesale distribution of ingredients from solid principals with proprietary branded products (water soluble films, corrosion protection films, soluble packaging) and offers formulation, logistics, and contract packing services. It operates a B2B online shop (shop.harke.com) alongside direct technical sales through 16 subsidiaries in 50+ countries.

Product overview

Harke Group operates as a high-performance chemicals and plastics distributor with an e-commerce platform offering products across 8 divisions and 25 business units. The portfolio includes both proprietary sub-brands (SOLUBLON water soluble films, Boselon corrosion protection films, HYPERCLEAN cleaning products, ImageBlast/Ikonart/Hydrokon imaging products, SoluPack and ChemPack packaging services) and broad chemical ingredient categories spanning Life Sciences (pharma, nutraceuticals, food), Home & Personal Care, Chemistry (base chemicals, aqua care, agrochemicals), and Coatings/Plastics/Polymers. The company operates as a multi-category chemical wholesale and online shop serving over 30 industries in more than 50 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Solublon: Water soluble films product line
• Boselon
• HYPERCLEAN
• ImageBlast
• Ikonart Screen Print
• Hydrokon Hydro Dipping
• SoluPack
• ChemPack
• HarkePlus RemindPro

Products and services

• Life Sciences Division
• Home & Personal Care, I&I Division
• Chemistry Division
• Coatings, Plastics & Polymers Division
• SOLUBLON Water Soluble Films
• Boselon Corrosion Protection Films
• HYPERCLEAN Clean Container System
• ImageBlast Imaging Products
• Ikonart Screen Print
• Hydrokon Hydro Dipping
• SoluPack Soluble Packaging
• ChemPack Chemicals Packaging

Quantifiable outcome

• Proven to boost total memory by up to 10.1% with HarkePlus RemindPro

Segments23 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Azelis: Specialty ingredients distributor serving personal care, pharma, food, and industrial markets. Directly comparable to Harke in life sciences, home/personal care, and CASE segments with similar technical-sales-led model.
• Brenntag: World's largest chemical distributor with broad portfolio across life sciences, personal care, and industrial chemicals. Directly comparable as a multi-category B2B chemicals distributor, though much larger and publicly listed.
• Univar Solutions: Major global chemical and ingredient distributor serving pharma, food, personal care, and industrial markets. Comparable to Harke across virtually all major divisions, with similar horizontal segmentation strategy.
• Nordmann, Rassmann: Hamburg-based chemical distribution company serving CASE, plastics, personal care, and industrial markets. Directly comparable to Harke in coatings, plastics, and home/personal care segments with similar European footprint.
• Helm AG: Hamburg-based family-owned chemical and fertilizer distribution company. Comparable to Harke as a German-headquartered multi-category chemical distributor with global subsidiary network and industrial customer focus.
• Caldic: Specialty ingredients distributor serving food, personal care, and industrial markets. Comparable to Harke in pharma/nutra/personal care distribution with overlapping value-added formulation services.
• IMCD: Specialty chemicals and ingredients distributor with strong focus on life sciences, personal care, and coatings. Comparable to Harke as a value-added specialty distributor with technical sales emphasis, though more focused on higher-margin specialty segments.
• Barentz: Specialty ingredients distributor focused on food, nutrition, personal care, and animal nutrition. Closely comparable to Harke in Life Sciences and Home/Personal Care divisions with similar European footprint.
• Biesterfeld: Hamburg-based family-owned chemical distributor serving industrial chemicals, rubber, plastics, and life sciences. Very close comparable to Harke as a German mid-market family-owned multi-category chemical distributor.
• TER Chemicals: Hamburg-based distributor of specialty chemicals serving coatings, plastics, rubber, and personal care. Closest direct peer to Harke in the German mid-market with overlapping product categories and European geographic focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/harkegroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/harkegroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/harke-group

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harke Group