HANSSENS

What HANSSENS does

HANSSENS (operating as Hanssens Catering, legal entity FRANS HANSSSENS NV) is a Belgian institutional meal catering company founded in 1967 as a family business and now in its third generation of ownership. The company prepares and delivers fresh, daily meals to schools and collectiviteiten (collectivities) across six Belgian provinces, operating from three central production sites in Wevelgem, Oosterzele, and Groot-Bijgaarden. Core production capabilities include in-house vegetable and meat processing, a multifunction cooking tunnel (baktunnel) supporting steaming, poaching, gratinating, and air-frying, and a recent 6,000-litre soup kettle (2024) that expanded batch capacity for hot meal volumes.

The integrated service model combines daily fresh-cooking with delivery, reusable packaging supply and collection, and waste processing. The company operates on recurring institutional catering contracts secured through a sales-led direct go-to-market approach with prospective clients. Food safety is anchored by annual BRCGS certification (AA grade in multiple years), HACCP compliance, Autocontrole, and FAVV registration. Sustainability infrastructure includes approximately 4,000 solar panels across the three sites, a biogas installation converting food waste to energy, and water treatment systems, with VOKA Charter for Sustainable Entrepreneurship laureate status held since 2020. Operations are supported by an internal ERP system, but no public revenue, employee-count breakdown, or quantitative production volume is disclosed.

Name

HANSSENS

Legal name

FRANS HANSSSENS NV

Website

https://hanssens.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HANSSENS is a third-generation Belgian family business that prepares and delivers fresh daily meals to schools and collectivities across six provinces from three central production kitchens in Wevelgem, Oosterzele, and Groot-Bijgaarden.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Institutional Catering Services

NAICS

Food Service Contractors (72231), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Contract Foodservice Management (Outsourced Catering) (THAFAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

Keywords

• Institutional catering
• School meal delivery
• Central kitchen production
• Collective food service
• Fresh daily meals

Headquarters

HQ city

Lendelede

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Meal Catering Services: Hanssens Catering generates revenue by preparing and delivering fresh, daily meals to schools, collectiviteiten (collectivities), and its own staff. Meals are prepared with fresh vegetables, meat, and fish, and delivered fresh every midday. The company operates on a recurring meal delivery model with regular customer orders.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hanssens Catering is a Belgian family-owned institutional caterer that prepares and delivers fresh, daily-prepared hot meals every midday to schools, collectiviteiten (collectivities), and its own staff. From three central production kitchens in Wevelgem, Oosterzele, and Groot-Bijgaarden, the company provides a full-service catering solution including menu planning, allergen declarations, temperature documentation, delivery, and reusable packaging pickup and cleaning for customers in six provinces.

Product overview

Hanssens Catering operates as a school meal catering service with a unified offering centered on fresh, daily-prepared meals. The company prepares and delivers varied, healthy meals to schools, educational institutions, and collectives across six provinces in Belgium from three central kitchen locations in Wevelgem, Oosterzele, and Groot-Bijgaarden. Their service includes meal preparation, delivery, and comprehensive customer support with reusable packaging collection and cleaning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• School Catering Services Daily hot meal catering to schools, providing freshly prepared, varied, healthy meals made with day-fresh vegetables, meat, and fish, served each midday to schoolchildren across six Belgian provinces.
• Catering for Collectivities (Collective Feeding) Catering services for institutional canteens and collective feeding operations beyond schools, including care facilities and organizational canteens, with full-service meal preparation and delivery.
• Reusable Packaging and Waste Management Service Pickup and professional cleaning of all reusable packaging, plus complete handling of residual waste at customer sites, included as part of the institutional catering contract.
• Menu Planning and Dietitian Oversight Service Menu planning aligned with seasonal ingredients, allergen declarations, nutritional oversight by an in-house dietitian, and educational programming around healthy eating offered to institutional customers.
• Educational School Kitchen Visits Guided educational visits for 5th-grade students and kitchen staff training sessions at the Hanssens production facilities, including tours of vegetable and meat processing areas and interactive healthy-eating content, offered to customer schools.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero residual waste at customer sites due to reusable packaging system
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BOLT EnergyminorOthersHanssens sells excess solar-generated electricity to BOLT, a sustainable electricity supplier. This partnership supports Hanssens' sustainability goals by monetizing renewable energy surplus rather than wasting it.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Hutten: Dutch family-owned institutional foodservice and hospitality group operating central production facilities serving healthcare, education, government, and business clients in the Netherlands. Comparable to Hanssens on family ownership structure, central-kitchen contract catering model, and institutional customer segments, though operating in a different Benelux geography.
• Albron: Dutch institutional contract caterer operating across the Netherlands with central kitchens serving workplaces, schools, healthcare, and public-sector clients. Comparable to Hanssens on contract catering model and school/institutional focus, but operating in a different geography (Netherlands rather than Belgium) and not directly competing in the same territory.

Direct peers

• Aramark: US-headquartered global contract foodservice and uniform services provider with European operations across education, healthcare, business, and leisure. Directly comparable to Hanssens on outsourced meal-service model and institutional customer segments, though operating at much larger scale globally.
• Elior Group: French contract catering group operating across Europe with school, corporate, healthcare, and public-sector segments. Closely comparable to Hanssens on contract foodservice model, school catering focus in continental Europe, and central-kitchen production approach.
• Sodexo: French-headquartered global leader in contract foodservice and facilities management, operating across institutional, school, corporate, healthcare, and government segments. Direct peer because Sodexo's institutional catering business operates on the same outsourced-meal-delivery model as Hanssens, serving overlapping customer types at much larger scale.
• Compass Group: UK-headquartered global contract foodservice and support services company with operations in education, healthcare, and workplace sectors across Europe. Directly comparable to Hanssens on business model (contract catering with central kitchens delivering to institutions) and customer base, but at vastly greater scale.
• Newrest Group: French-headquartered contract catering group with strong European presence in airline, institutional, and remote-site catering. Comparable to Hanssens on contract catering model and central-kitchen production, with overlap in institutional food services serving schools, healthcare, and corporate clients across continental Europe.

Broad incumbents

• ISS A/S: Danish-headquartered global facility services company with a sizable catering and food services segment as part of its integrated service portfolio. Comparable to Hanssens as a broad incumbent offering outsourced meal services alongside cleaning and other facility services, but operating across many verticals beyond Hanssens' specialized school focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hanssens

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 HANSSENS