The heart of our company beats in the depths of the sea. There, about 40 meters below the water’s surface, natural sponges grow — a true wonder of nature. With their silk-like texture, they are durable, versatile, and especially gentle on the skin. Our story begins with a fascination for these marine organisms.
1897 beschlossen Gustav Croll und Theodor Denecke, rohe Schwämme aus dem griechischen Mittelmeer nach Bremen zu importieren und hier in Handarbeit zu veredeln. Das machen wir noch heute so – mittlerweile haben wir unsere Produktpalette aber um nachhaltige Wellness- und Haushaltsprodukte erweitert. Wir, das sind Peter, Nina Hankiewicz-Brandes, dritte und vierte Betriebsgeneration. Unsere Mission: nachhaltige Haut- und Körperpflegeprodukte mit gutem Gefühl und im Einklang mit der Natur.
Nina Hankiewicz-Brandes, Export Sales Manager Croll & Denecke
Up to that point, it had been a long journey. Others initially sought to follow the same path: at the time of its founding, Croll & Denecke was not alone with the idea of trading in sponges. Back then, there were still more than a hundred companies in Germany. Only a few of them remain today – many were unable to find successors, others did not survive the wars. Croll & Denecke was spared both fates. In 1928, our grandfather joined the company, followed in 1958 by our father, Peter Hankiewicz. Since 2008, alongside Peter Hankiewicz, his daughter Nina Hankiewicz-Brandes has also been part of the management.
Family and business don’t go together, some say. For us, it’s different. As a family, we have values — and we live by them. Today, Croll & Denecke is run by the third and fourth generations. From a young age, we grew up with our product world and learned from the generations before us. We learn from one another and face challenging times with courage — because that gives us the strength to keep creating new things. That is what drives us forward as a company.
And this is why we continue to be successful today: as a wholesaler of natural raw materials, we are the market leader in Europe. From Bremen-Vahr, we export our products to more than 50 countries — and the number grows every year.
We want to consume good things ourselves — products that are sustainable and long-lasting. We stand for what we work for. And it has proven successful: for generations, we have relied on the power of nature in our products. Naturschwämme sind biologisch abbaubar, halten bei guter Pflege jahrelang − und sind nicht nur zur Hautpflege, sondern auch im Haushalt vielfältig einsetzbar. Auch bei unseren Wellnessprodukten setzen wir auf hochwertiges, hautverträgliches und nachhaltiges Material. Sie haben bestimmte Wünsche? Sprechen Sie uns einfach an.
Gentle, sustainable harvesting of our natural sponges and preserving the ecological balance are essential to us. We check this personally on site on a regular basis. Our partners harvest only mature sponges in a controlled and careful manner — because sponges have a natural life cycle. The sponge walls always remain intact. The special part: when cut, millions of seeds are released, allowing the sponges to regrow repeatedly.
Humans have a major impact on nature. More and more often, we receive sponges in which tiny plastic particles have become embedded — which is pure poison for nature. We cannot change this on our own, but we want to contribute to improvement. In recent years, we have replaced most of our plastic packaging with sustainable alternatives.
It doesn’t yet work for all products the way we would like — but our long-term goal is to eliminate almost all plastic. Even now, we save around one ton of plastic waste every year. We are happy to respond individually to all customer wishes.
What you take care of remains with you for a long time. This applies to our products and our business relationships. We have worked successfully with many trading partners for generations. The same applies to our employees in our Bremen production: some of them have been part of the team since the 1930s.
A holistic view of each individual is important to us. At Croll & Denecke, diversity is welcome — we are a colorful mix.
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