Our history

The founding of the company by Rudolph Kanzow in Hamburg marks the beginning of our long story of success. In the early years, the company was focused on the herring trade and its first offices were located at Admiralitätsstraße 24 in Hamburg.

When poor herring yields threatened the continued survival of KANZOW, our company founder decided to break new ground by importing frozen Norwegian haddock from a Norwegian fishing company. This was in the early days of refrigeration technology, after the first deep-freeze machine had been invented by the German engineer Carl von Linde in 1876.

Rudolph Kanzow was one of the pioneering importers of fish to Germany, a business venture which wasn’t risk-free at the time and thus would remain a small part of the business for many years. However, starting in 1895, importing North American salmon became surprisingly important. KANZOW was able to set a new standard of quality and variety within the fish trading industry.

In 1968, the company was turned into a limited liability company (GmbH), before Dirk Wogart became part of the management team in 1970. With this move, the next generation of the family took over management responsibilities, laying the groundwork for future developments. Dirk Wogart’s work was focused on building the company’s very own refrigerated warehouses, which would prove to be a real milestone in the history of KANZOW.

During the 1970s and 1980s, KANZOW was the exclusive sales partner of the RUPERT BRAND in German-speaking countries – an important partnership that would expand the company’s product range significantly.

Management realised that the company could only prosper and expand if quality was the all-defining focus. Thus, KANZOW set out to search for reliable suppliers, travelling the world from South America to Canada and the US, and even East Asia. Many of the professional relationships established during this time are still strong to this day.

Around the turn of the millennium, KANZOW expanded its target audience to include the cruise industry. This strategic decision would open up new markets for the company, diversifying its customer base and driving further growth.

As in the previous decades, KANZOW participated in numerous trade fairs, presenting itself as an innovative company and fostering closer interactions with customers. Soon, the introduction of the brands MERANUS® and BLUE® would give the company additional drive.

As one of the first importers in Germany, KANZOW recognised the increasing popularity of Asian cuisine, introducing a wide range of sushi products. In 2007, KANZOW established “Superfreeze”, a new type of refrigeration technology that enables the company to store fish such as tuna and Hamachi without discoloration.

In 2013, KANZOW achieved certification to the MSC Chain of Custody Standard, followed by ASC certification one year later. This established certified traceability and supply chain standards as an integral part of the company’s processes.

In 2015, KANZOW celebrated its 125th anniversary with a grand party at Hotel Hafen in Hamburg, inviting customers, suppliers and friends from around the globe. At the same time, KANZOW launched a new logo to renew the KANZOW brand.

In 2016, the company relocated to Altenwerder, where it has remained ever since. Here, our offices are directly adjacent to our state-of-the-art refrigerated warehouses. The quality of our refrigerated warehouses is one thing that is regularly emphasised by auditors during the regular MSC, ASC and IFS (since 2020) audits.

In 2018, Julia Wogart joined the management team as the next generation of the Wogart family running KANZOW.

In 2023, Julia Wogart took over the sole management of KANZOW after Dirk Wogart’s passing, and she has continued to manage the company successfully ever since.

Julia Wogart preserves the company’s DNA by staying true to the core values of quality, family and innovation, leading KANZOW confidently into the future.