# PHW Group
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{{Short description|German company in the meat industry}}
{{Infobox company
| name = PHW Group
| logo = Logo-PHW.png
| type =
| industry = [Meat industry](/source/Meat_industry)
| fate =
| predecessor = Lohmann & Co. AG
| successor =
| founded = {{Start date and age|1998}}
| founder = Paul-Heinz Wesjohann
| defunct =
| hq_location_city = [Visbek](/source/Visbek)-Rechterfeld
| hq_location_country = [Germany](/source/Germany)
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = Peter Wesjohann {{small|(CEO)}}[{{cite web |url=http://www.phw-gruppe.de/unternehmen/ueber-uns/ |title=PHW Unternehmen - Über uns |website=PHW Group |language=de |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
| products =
| owner = Paul-Heinz Wesjohann and Family[{{cite web |url=http://www.phw-gruppe.de/unternehmen/mitarbeiter/ |title=PHW Unternehmen - Mitarbeiter |website=PHW Group |language=de |access-date=2022-12-11 |archive-date=2023-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510123557/https://www.phw-gruppe.de/unternehmen/mitarbeiter/ |url-status=dead }}]
| num_employees_year =
| parent =
| website = {{URL|https://phw-gruppe.de/en/}}
}}
The '''PHW Group''' is a German [family business](/source/family_business) in the [meat industry](/source/meat_industry) that operates internationally. Its core business is [meat processing](/source/meat_processing) of [poultry](/source/poultry). It is the largest company of the [poultry industry](/source/poultry_industry) in [Germany](/source/Germany)[{{cite web |url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/165668/umfrage/groesste-anbieter-von-gefluegel-in-deutschland-seit-2008/ |title=Umsatz der führenden Unternehmen in der Geflügelwirtschaft in Deutschland in den Jahren 2018 und 2019 |website=[Statista](/source/Statista) |language=de |access-date=2022-12-11}}] and the fourth-largest in [Europe](/source/Europe).[{{cite web |url=https://www.poultryinternational-digital.com/poultryinternational/202002/ |title=Top 11 European poultry producers |website=Watt Poultry |publication-date=2020-02-01 |access-date=2022-12-11}}] The PHW Group is headquartered in [Visbek](/source/Visbek)-Rechterfeld in the [Oldenburg Münsterland region](/source/Oldenburg_M%C3%BCnsterland), Germany.
==Structure==
The PHW Group is made up of two parent companies: the ''Erste Paul-Heinz Wesjohann GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft'' with €2,232.5 million in sales, and the ''Zweite Paul-Heinz Wesjohann GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft'' with €585.8 million in sales in the 2020/2021 financial year, both based in [Rechterfeld](/source/Rechterfeld).[Consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2020 and ending on June 30, 2021 of Erste Paul-Heinz Wesjohann GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, Rechterfeld. Published in [Bundesanzeiger](/source/Bundesanzeiger) on July 14, 2022.][Consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2020 and ending on June 30, 2021 of Zweite Paul-Heinz Wesjohann GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, Rechterfeld. Published in [Bundesanzeiger](/source/Bundesanzeiger) on July 28, 2022.] Part of the PHW group are several subgroups, among them the ''Lohmann & Co. AG'' based in [Vaduz](/source/Vaduz), [Liechtenstein](/source/Liechtenstein), which the PHW Group uses for public appearances.[{{cite web |url=https://www.phw-gruppe.de/impressum/ |title=Impressum |website=PHW Group |language=de |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
thumb|Site of the subsidiary company ''MEGA Tierernährung''.
The core business area of the PHW Group is [poultry production](/source/poultry_production) under the [brand](/source/brand) ''Wiesenhof''. The PHW Group features a strong [vertical integration](/source/vertical_integration) and combines large parts of the poultry production chain. These include [hatcheries](/source/Hatchery), fattening, the [production of feed](/source/Feed_manufacturing) and [veterinary medicine](/source/veterinary_medicine), logistics, the [slaughtering](/source/Animal_slaughter) and [cutting](/source/Meat_cutter) of [poultry](/source/poultry), and the processing and marketing of poultry meat. [Chicken](/source/Chicken)s are the main products processed, along with [turkeys](/source/Turkey_(bird)) and [duck](/source/duck)s. The PHW Group also owns just under 50 percent of the shares of the [WIMEX Group](/source/WIMEX_Group), one of the world's largest suppliers of day old chicks of the ''Cobb'' breed.[{{Cite web |title=Geflügelmast: So leiden die Hühnereltern |last=Kwasniewski |first=Nicolai |website=spiegel.de |date=2017-03-28 |access-date=2023-02-03 |url= https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/gefluegelmast-so-leiden-die-huehnereltern-a-1140175.html |language=de}}]
Additionally, the company has a business sector ''alternative proteins'', which in the fiscal year 2020/2021 made up €16.8 million (0,6% of the total revenue).[''Schuften für drei bis vier Euro - Ausbeutung in Fleischfabriken'' (in German). In: [ZDF](/source/ZDF) ''Frontal21'', July 3, 2007.] In 2011, similar conditions were documented by a [ARD](/source/ARD_(broadcaster)) TV-reportage.[{{cite web |url=https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/videos/ard-exclusiv-das-system-wiesenhof-102.html |title=ARD-exclusiv: Das System Wiesenhof |website=[ARD](/source/ARD_(broadcaster)) |language=de |date=2011-08-31 |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
===Animal abuse===
[Mistreatment of animals](/source/Mistreatment_of_animals) in the farms and the [slaughterhouse](/source/slaughterhouse)s was repeatedly criticized sharply. In 2010, the [ARD](/source/ARD_(broadcaster)) broadcast a ''Report Mainz'' reportage uncovering serious animal welfare violations at a chicken breeding farm.[''Tierquälerei bei Wiesenhof? Wie Hühner leiden müssen'' (in German). In: [ARD](/source/ARD_(broadcaster)) ''Report Mainz'', January 11, 2010.] In another [ARD](/source/ARD_(broadcaster)) reportage in 2011[{{cite web |url=https://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/tierquaelerei-bei-wiesenhof-maester-huehnchen-landen-lebendig-im-muell-3902642.html |title=Tierquälerei bei Wiesenhof-Mäster: Hühnchen landen lebendig im Müll |website=[Stern](/source/Stern_(magazine)) |language=de |date=2013-09-04 |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
===Environmental issues===
The PHW Group is accused of [overexploitation of groundwater](/source/overdrafting) resources in the vicinity of its production sites.[{{cite web |url=http://www.kreiszeitung.de/lokales/oldenburg/angst-elefanten-1194943.html |title=Die Angst vor dem Elefanten |website=Kreiszeitung |language=de |date=2011-04-08 |access-date=2022-12-11}}] In [Lohne](/source/Lohne%2C_Germany), [groundwater level](/source/groundwater_level)s near a plant of the PHW Group were documented to have dropped by several meters since 1951.[Linda Braunschweig: ''Naturschutzbund klagt gegen Kreis Vechta'' (in German). In: Oldenburgische Volkszeitung. August 28, 2012.]
===Illegal price agreements and tax evasion===
In 2014, the German [Federal Cartel Office](/source/Federal_Cartel_Office) imposed [fines](/source/Fine_(penalty)) totaling approximately €338.5 million on 21 [sausage](/source/sausage) producers and 33 responsible individuals. The so-called ''Wurstkartell'' ([German](/source/German_language) for ''sausage cartel'') also involved PHW Group subsidiary ''Wiesenhof Geflügelwurst GmbH & Co. KG'' based in [Rietberg](/source/Rietberg).[{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-sausage-makers-fined-for-price-collusion/a-17787417 |title=Sausage makers fined |website=[Deutsche Welle](/source/Deutsche_Welle) |language=en |date=2014-07-15 |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
In 2019, the PHW Group relocated the registered office of ''Lohmann & Co. AG'' to Vaduz in Liechtenstein. The financial services provider ''Ganten Trustees Ltd.'' serves as the representative office, which previously appeared in the [Panama Papers](/source/Panama_Papers).[{{cite web |url=https://www.bauernstimme.de/news/details/mit-wiesenhof-ins-paradise |title=Mit Wiesenhof ins "Paradise" |website=bauernstimme.de |language=de |date=2020-02-08 |access-date=2022-12-11}}] The party [Alliance 90/The Greens](/source/Alliance_90%2FThe_Greens) accused the PHW Group of [tax evasion](/source/tax_evasion).[{{cite web |url=https://www.nwzonline.de/plus/hannover-visbek-wiesenhof-mutterkonzern-in-der-kritik-begeht-die-phw-gruppe-steuerflucht_a_50,7,932067409.html |title=Wiesenhof-Mutterkonzern in der Kritik: Begeht die PHW-Gruppe Steuerflucht? |website=Nordwest-Zeitung |language=de |date=2020-02-07 |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
===Protests===
thumb|Protest at the headquarters of the PHW Group in Rechterfeld in 2021.
[Environmental](/source/Environmental_activist) and [animal rights activist](/source/animal_rights_activist)s blocked sites of the PHW Group multiple times in protest. In 2013, activists cemented themselves on the access road to the slaughterhouse in [Bogen](/source/Bogen%2C_Germany), [Bavaria](/source/Bavaria).[{{cite web |url=https://www.regensburg-digital.de/blockade-am-grosten-schlachthof-suddeutschlands/11032013/ |title="Mastanlagen Widerstand": Blockade am größten Schlachthof Süddeutschlands |website=Regensburg Digital |language=de |date=2013-03-11 |access-date=2022-12-11}}] In 2017, animal rights activists and members of citizens' initiatives blocked the slaughterhouse in [Königs Wusterhausen](/source/K%C3%B6nigs_Wusterhausen), [Brandenburg](/source/Brandenburg).[{{cite web |url=https://www.maz-online.de/Lokales/Teltow-Flaeming/Tierschuetzer-blockieren-Huehner-Schlachthof |title=Tierschützer blockieren Hühner-Schlachthof |website=[Märkische Allgemeine](/source/M%C3%A4rkische_Allgemeine) |language=de |date=2017-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531043340/https://www.maz-online.de/Lokales/Teltow-Flaeming/Tierschuetzer-blockieren-Huehner-Schlachthof |archive-date=2020-05-31 |access-date=2022-12-11}}] In 2021, the alliance ''Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie'' blocked the company [headquarters](/source/headquarters) in Rechterfeld with more than hundred activists.[{{cite web |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Protest-bei-Gefluegelproduzent-Polizei-loest-Blockade-auf,goldenstedt240.html |title=Protest bei Geflügelproduzent: Polizei löst Blockade auf |website=[Norddeutscher Rundfunk](/source/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk) |language=de |date=2021-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220191537/https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Protest-bei-Gefluegelproduzent-Polizei-loest-Blockade-auf,goldenstedt240.html |archive-date=2021-12-20 |access-date=2022-12-11}}][{{cite web |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/agrar-paul-wesjohann-strasse-visbek-polizei-loest-sitzblockade-vor-wiesenhof-zentrale-auf-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-210715-99-396690 |title=Polizei löst Sitzblockade vor Wiesenhof-Zentrale auf |website=[Süddeutsche Zeitung](/source/S%C3%BCddeutsche_Zeitung) |language=de |date=2021-07-15 |access-date=2022-12-11}}]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|PHW Group}}
*{{Official website|https://www.phw-gruppe.de/}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Meat companies of Germany
Category:Poultry companies
Category:Animal food manufacturers
Category:Companies based in Lower Saxony
Category:Food and drink companies established in 1998
Category:Family-owned companies of Germany
Category:German companies established in 1998
Category:Vechta (district)
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [PHW Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHW_Group) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHW_Group?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.