By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A beer brewmaster by trade, Swiss immigrant Carl Hirzel and his wife, Lena, came to the U.S. in the early 1900s with hopes of building a business here in America. But when prohibition became the law of the land in 1920, Hirzel had to find a new profession.
Hirzel purchased 60 acres in Northwood in 1923 and began planting vegetables. Competition in the produce business was tough, so he merged his beer-making skills with his farming – fermenting cabbage into sauerkraut.
In 1924, Hirzel added tomatoes to his product line.
A century later, the Hirzel Canning Co. is still producing tomatoes and sauerkraut, and being operated by the fourth and fifth generation of the Hirzel family.
On Thursday evening, the company was recognized as Wood County Economic Development Corporate Citizen of the Year. The cans of Dei Fratelli tomato products at each table provided a clue to this year’s honoree.
Wood County Commissioner Craig LaHote shared the early story of Hirzel Canning and the company’s continued commitment to work with local family farms to raise tomatoes and cabbage.
LaHote recognized the “rare tradition” of the Hirzel family keeping the company going, maintaining the commitment to quality, and keeping generations of Hirzels and other families in the business.
The Hirzels continue to have huge annual family reunions, often at the plant in Northwood, which LaHote frequently attends to “savor the home-cooked food.”
With several third, fourth and fifth generation Hirzel family members in attendance at the annual economic development dinner, company President Steve Hirzel accepted the award.
“The Hirzels have been around a long time,” said Steve Hirzel, a fourth generation family member working with the business. “We are grateful we have been recognized for this award in the county.”
He spoke of his great-grandfather, Carl, starting out selling cabbage.
“They were trying to make a living growing cabbage. Then he used the beer technology and started fermenting the cabbage.”
Carl Hirzel believed farming and feeding people to be a very noble profession.
“It’s quite noble to pick a crop coming out of the field,” Steve Hirzel said, recalling his great-grandfather’s words passed on from one generation to the next. “You aren’t going to make a killing in this business, but if you do it right, you should be able to make a living.”
The initial Star Cross brand of sauerkraut incorporated the flag of Switzerland in the logo. And the Dei Fratelli brand – meaning “the brothers” – was a natural name for the tomato products carried on by generations of Hirzels with “pure tomato juice” in their veins.
In 1954, the company expanded to a plant in Pemberville, where residents know the canning process is underway when they smell the tomatoes cooking.
Hirzel Canning not only has longevity with the family, but also with multi-generations of employees, suppliers and customers. Steve Hirzel thanked past employees for becoming part of the family.
“You’ve been part of the journey,” he said.
“It’s like coming to work with your family everyday – even if you’re not family.”
Hirzel Canning is involved from the ground up on its products – from the seeds to the can. The tomatoes are grown from selected seed varieties that are germinated and cared for in Hirzel greenhouses until they are ready to be ripened by the warm summer sun. Dei Fratelli works with more than 30 family growers in close proximity to one of its three packing facilities to ensure the freshest tomatoes possible.
“There’s not a lot of people doing that anymore,” Steve Hirzel said. “We have a pretty good reputation across the country. It takes all these years to grow it.”
“It’s been a pretty good 100 years,” Steve Hirzel said.
Previous winners of the Wood County Economic Development Corporate Citizen of the Year award are: Owens-Illinois, Jones Hamilton Co., Principle Business Enterprises, First Solar Inc., Keystone Foods Equity Group, Wood County Hospital, CSX Transportation, Rudolph/Libbe Companies, Poggemeyer Design Group, Northwood Industries, Phoenix Technologies, National Tractor Pulling Championships, NSG Group, Charter Steel, BGSU, and the Northwestern Water and Sewer District.
