100 Years of Franz Haas Waffelmaschinen
25 August 2005
In September the Austrian company Franz Haas Waffel- und Keksanlagen-Industrie GmbH will celebrate its centennial.
Everything began on July 14, 1905, when master locksmith Josef Haas was granted the license to run a building fitting and machine fitting business in Vienna. The building boom at that time brought many orders and contributed to the positive development of the locksmith workshop. His three sons learned from him the locksmith trade and took over the small company after qualifying as master craftsmen in 1933.
In 1943, one of the sons, Franz Haas, got an order to repair wafer irons used in the manufacture of “Karlsbader Oblaten” (traditional flat round wafer products) and other wafer products. He became interested in wafer machines and developed new concepts for the production of wafers. In 1948, he built the first wafer machine designed by him. Encouraged by continuous sales successes and supported by his wife Maria Haas in commercial matters, he realized systematically his technical ideas for the manufacture of modern wafer production lines.
In 1966, Franz and Maria Haas founded the company “Franz Haas Waffelmaschinen” and made it to a reliable supplier of the wafer, biscuit and confectionery industries in Austria and more than 120 countries on all continents.
Today the business has developed into a global group of companies managed by the children of Franz Haas with the headquarters and main factory in Austria and with subsidiaries in Germany, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, USA, Brasil, Singapore and Hong Kong. By strategic acquisition of specialized companies, biscuit machinery and aeration equipment were added to the original wafer machinery program.
Being now a worldwide leading manufacturer of production lines for wafers, biscuits, ice cream cones, wafer sticks, waffles and pancakes, Haas’ production program comprises batter, dough and cream mixers, ovens, conditioners, cream spreaders, coolers, cutters, dough sheeters, gauge rollers, biscuit moulding, cutting and sandwiching machines, and aeration machines for the production of a wide variety of products such as marshmallow, cakes, biscuits, yoghurt or butter. The services offered cover all stages from planning, design, production and commissioning of turnkey plants to aftersales. In addition, the in-house laboratory and testing facilities provide technological support for developing new recipes and products or for improving existing products.
Continuous innovation, stringent quality standards and attaching high importance on customer satisfaction are the basis for the success of Haas, which will continue on its way according to the corporate maxim:
Let us adhere to what is old if it is good, but endeavor always to build anew on our historical foundations.
