Our History

August Rainer Parmentier, the great-grandfather of the current responsible generation, relocated with his family to Frankfurt am Main and founded the company in the year of 1880. Through his connection in Africa, he supplied raw materials of gum arabic from Kurdufan as adhesive material to the office of postal services.

Shortly after, he was joined by his three sons - Heinrich, Georg and Gustav Parmentier. When two of the brothers decided to start their own business venture, Gustav Parmentier stayed on with the family business and continued it together with his father. Gradually, the focus of the company evolved over time. An example of this was the beginning of collaboration with Weiler - Ter Meer, Ürdingen/Rhineland. In year 1912, the company became the sole representative in Hesse for an aspiring wool scouring company Döhren from Hannover. Subsequently, Gustav Parmentier married Antonie Lindt, a descendent of a prominent family from Frankfurt am Main. One of her ancestor Georg Friedrich Lindt acquired the Weisser Hof in Eschenheimer Gasse, Frankfurt in 1724 for a cost of 30,000 Gulden. Georg Lindt made this purchase as representative of the German Emperor to acquire the area for the construction of the Palais Thurn und Taxis, which became subsequently seat of the headquarters of the Imperial Post.

During the difficult time of war from 1914 to 1919, Antonie Parmentier operated a modest business growth. When Gustav Parmentier returned from Ukraine, he succeeded his father as the founder of the business, hence the current name of the company, GUSTAV PARMENTIER. From 1920 to 1935, he rapidly expanded his business network in the chemical industry in Hesse as well as in the neighbouring states. This resulted in the company representing product ranges from Deutsche Gasolin AG, Berlin and Eduard Müller GmbH. In addition, his expanded network in the USSR, Persia and in countries bordering the Black Sea became the basis for the trade of the special product Isinglass.

After the death of Gustav Parmentier in 1935, his son Benno Parmentier took over the business responsibility. Soon after, the collaboration with WOLLKÄMMEREI DÖHREN was terminated. This was aggravated by the political circumstances at that time and business of the company GUSTAV PARMENTIER was suspended until the year 1947.

After World War II GUSTAV PARMENTIER took over the representation of GELATINEFABRIK HASSELT VILVOORDE, Belgium, and extended its scope to the food industry. In 1953, the company further expanded into the cosmetic industry by representing WESTBROOK LANOLIN COMPANY, England, a manufacturer of lanolin and derivatives. Henceforth, this established the first contact to the pharmaceutical industry.

In 1968 Benno Parmentier and WESTBROOK LANOLIN COMPANY jointly founded the DEUTSCHE-LANOLIN-GESELLSCHAFT, which took over the lanolin business from the then defunct Wollkämmerei Döhren. In 1998 this long-term cooperation came to an end, when WESTBROOK sold off its business unit. Fortunately, a new business partnership was fostered with NK CHEMICALS Ltd. from Singapore.

Meanwhile, EASTMAN KODAK, USA, a manufacturer of cellulose derivatives and natural vitamin E, offered a contract of representation to GUSTAV PARMENTIER in 1968, because of its good reputation gained over the years.

In 1975, Dr. Wolfgang Parmentier, a certified pharmacist, joined the company as the first of the 4th generation and extended the business activities to the representation of manufacturers of equipment for the pharmaceutical industry.

After the death of Benno Parmentier in 1981, his wife Hildegard Parmentier became the owner of the company and Dr. Wolfgang Parmentier took over the responsibility as the Managing Director. In 1986 Dipl.-Ing. Mathias Parmentier joined the company to oversee the growing field of pharmaceutical machinery. The focus of GUSTAV PARMENTIER shifted more towards the pharmaceutical field and nowadays the GUSTAV PARMENTIER is available as partner mostly for the pharmaceutical industry and the DEUTSCHE-LANOLIN-GESELLSCHAFT for the cosmetics industry.

After the death of Hildegard Parmentier in 1996, GUSTAV PARMENTIER OHG was converted to GUSTAV PARMENTIER GmbH, to provide a conducive environment for management succession by the 5th generation. Since 2003, the distribution of pharmaceutical and cosmetic excipients is ISO 9001 certified. In the beginning of 2013 , Dr. Johannes Parmentier, a licensed pharmacist and business graduate, joined the company as the Assistant Manager. After the death of Dr. Wolfgang Parmentier, he took over on the 1.7.2014 together with Dipl.-Ing. Mathias Parmentier the management of the company.