History

1883

The story of Berner started 126 years ago, in the 1880s, when the young Norwegian Sören Berner arrived in Helsinki in order to chart the markets in this town of 40,000. He decided to start business operations in Finland by importing herring directly to Helsinki from the fishing port in Stavanger. As trading activity increased, Berner added other fish products to his wholesale trade range. The first wheat flour deliveries from America led to agency sales. In addition to salt, rye, barley, and fish products, Berner began to import rarer delicacies such as marzipan, liquorice, raisins, and coffee.

1930

As agriculture developed further, Berner started importing products such as fertilisers. His company was the first to provide Finns with crop protection substances, in the 1930s. The effects of wartime rationing were visible in Finland for a long time. Berner met the increasing demand by importing potato flour, corn flour, glycerine, and canned meats. The company expanded its operations to veterinary medicine and, further, to cover hospital and laboratory equipment in the decades that followed.

1950

In the 1950s, the post-war reconstruction years saw Berner develop its first relationships as a cosmetics representative. In-house manufacture began in the technochemical factory, and with the car imports of the 1960s, the product range expanded to include not just hair care but car care products. In the 1970s, Berner responded to the increasing demand for leisure goods by establishing a sport division. In the same decade, a foodstuffs department and forklift truck department were founded.

1980

In the 1980s, Berner began its operations in the institutional kitchen cleaning sector and continued to invest in the hospital equipment business. In the 1990s, the company’s acquisition of technochemical operations from Alko Ltd (for example, Lasol) and Sareko Agro Oy helped Berner to become a leading company in Finland in the crop protection field. The 1990s also saw Berner purchase the operations and facilities of Bergenheim Yhtiöt (Instrumentarium). By the end of the century, the subsidiary Berner Eesti Oü had been founded in Estonia, and later operations expanded into Lithuania and Latvia.

2000

In the early 2000s, a new, modern technochemical plant was purchased in Heinävesi, and all operations at the Herttoniemi plant were transferred there (for items such as water-based hygiene products). In addition, Berner acquired a Swedish wholesaler of crop protection substances, Gullviks, which was later merged with Bröderna Berner Handels AB. Other significant corporate acquisitions in the 2000s include Nokian Footwear, LV products for sensitive skin, the Herbina hygiene series, Rajamäen vinegar-business operations, and GrowHow business operations. In 2008, Berner decided to concentrate all logistics functions in a single modern logistics centre in Viinikkala, Vantaa. This centre opened on 14 January 2009.
Since 1987, the company’s managing director has been George Berner, a great-grandson of founder Sören Berner. Today, Berner remains an up-to-date, versatile expert in marketing and sales. The goal of the company’s operations is to develop long-term partnerships with a broad range of interest groups.