100 years of Dr. Schär.

It was back in 1922 that our founders launched their first product and we have been making nutrition more inclusive and food enjoyable for all ever since. 

Working to provide people with the right products to meet their nutritional needs has always required us to cultivate a huge variety of minor crops. And this experience in creating diverse crop cultures has become increasingly important as we look to the future, allowing us to promote biodiversity.

Here we look back over a century of catering for diverse nutritional needs, bringing people together, and growing from a small firm to a global gluten-free specialist. 
 

Our milestones

In 1922 in the South Tyrol Dr Anton Schär and Gottfried Untertrifaller launch their fortified wheat semolina to tackle child malnutrition after World War I. Their business flourishes and they widen their goals to develop healthy products and relieve food-related suffering for adults as well as children

The company continues to develop over the decades, until the young businessman Ulrich Ladurner gets permission to use the Dr Schär name for his natural, health-oriented food brand. During an interview on local TV in 1980 he has the inspired idea of creating a range of specialist gluten-free products geared towards those with coeliac disease and gluten intolerances.

The Schär brand, specialising in gluten-free products, is officially launched on the market in 1981. In 1985 the brand unveils its first gluten-free pasta, created in conjunction with doctors and coeliac associations. It also launches its first gluten-free baked goods including its first gluten-free White Bread. The gluten-free range continues to grow as it embraces the mission encapsulated in its slogan ‘We solve dietary problems’.

Schär expands into the UK, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. 

The firm launches new Panini Rolls packaging, the world’s first gluten-free bread to be packaged in certified recycled plastic.

Dr Schär turns 100 and has 18 production and distribution sites in 11 countries and employing 1,500 people.

Dr Schär has undergone many changes over the last century but our commitment to meeting people’s diverse nutritional needs and cultivating minor crops has not faltered.

This focus is reflected in the project we have chosen to undertake to celebrate our 100th anniversary. ‘Field 100’ is an effort to create the most biodiverse field ever cultivated and, as such, is a living expression of our commitment to promoting and preserving biodiversity.