Bahlsen

Hermann Bahlsen opened the Hannoversche Cakesfabrik in Hannover in 1889 and two years later created the Leibniz-Keks, a butter biscuit named after the city's philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. It remains the company's best known product and the one most UK shoppers already recognise, alongside the chocolate coated Choco Leibniz and the Pick Up bar.

In 1903 the company adopted the TET logo, an Egyptian hieroglyph read as 'eternally enduring', and in 1905 it ran the first assembly line production in Europe. The family business is still headquartered in Hannover and bakes in Barsinghausen, Varel and Berlin as well as two sites in Poland.

Every winter Bahlsen adds its seasonal range: Butter and Gewürz Spekulatius pressed with traditional motifs, soft hazelnut Zimtsterne with white icing, and the Zum Fest assortment that mixes Lebkuchen, Zimtsterne, chocolate biscuits and chocolate squares for the bunter Teller. The wheat flour comes from contract farms in Germany and Poland.