History

Heinz Stockheim, the father of today’s owner Karl-Heinz Stockheim, laid the founding stone in 1948 for a formidable story of success in gastronomy. With his entrepreneurial talent and pioneering spirit he has created a place of hospitality even in the difficult phase of redevelopment in the following years of the Second World War. This was the birth of the “Restaurant Wolfschlucht“ on the 1st of  December 1948. It became the meeting place not only for coffee-and-cake afternoons for the Düsseldorfers but also a famous site for bigger feasts and celebrations. Soon enough the first carnival feasts ever to be held after the Second World War found their new home at Stockheim.
This was the beginning of a long and enduring alliance between the Rhenish cheerfulness and Stockheim which is to last until now. Today the large carnival events in Düsseldorf take place in one of the exclusive Stockheim locations, which is the Rheinterrasse.

The master baker and confectioner Heinz Stockheim had a sure sense for potentials and possibilities. This was his key to continuous success. Not only was there a steady increase in employees (originally 35) but also in gastronomical locations.
The Rheinterrasse Benrath, the Zweibrücker Hof, the Rheinhalle and Cafe Stockheim are a few examples.

The Düsseldorf tradition of exhibitions and events (the first trade exhibit took place in 1811) was continued very shortly after the Second World War. Readily a growing demand for more space for both exhibitors and visitors had to be met. New halls next to the Kunstpalast were thus established – like the Europahalle and the Viergeschosshalle. The Alte Messe as known today emerged. The gastronomical operations of such halls were handed over to Stockheim. Catering of big events like party conferences and conventions and congresses were also provided so that it was only a short easy leap for Stockheim from a restaurant- to a big-time gastronomical scales-operator. Soon after Heinz Stockheim also took over the operation of the Stadthalle. Indeed he remained the caterer on site even after the relocation near the airport.

His entry in the transport sector in 1955 was initiated by his gastronomy management of the Düsseldorf Main Station. However, demands have changed considerably in the last 50 years. In the 50s and the 60s the restaurants dominated the scenes. Now we find trendy fresh-, take-away and coffee-shops in such domains.

In addition to a consequence of continuous expansion and modernization of Stockheim’s gastronomy at the Düsseldorf Main Station, a third high-frequency location, the Düsseldorf Airport International, came into its realm in the beginning of the 70s. In 1971 Stockheim started operating the airport canteen. Two years later Stockheim opened the first coffee bar at the arrival area, likewise the catering of two conference halls. Soon enough further bars and exclusive restaurants followed offering exclusive top Stockheim quality to international airport visitors and clients.

In answer to an increasing demand for system-gastronomy and fast-food Stockheim shifted the focus in the middle of the 80s. With the fast food concept “Mister Quax“ later “Burgair World“ the enterprise introduced its first concept in system-gastronomy in 1986.
Way up into the big fire of 1996, Stockheim remained the sole gastronomer at the Düsseldorf International Airport which proves its talents for adaptability and flexibility as well as its reliable sense for trends. With a large and diversified product-mixture through a system of individual concepts and trend-system gastronomy Stockheim offers freshness and quality for every individual taste and preference.

The forceful expansion of gastronomy in the transport sector flourished with the catering of the emerging new locations. In 1978 the enterprise took hold of catering of Cologne Bonn Airport and Cologne Main Station. Ever than before Stockheim still offers a culinary haven with its international and local specialties.

At the Cologne Main Station, one of the most highly frequented sites in Europe, travellers, commuters and visitors have found and will still find a wide spectrum of offers – cosy cafes or coffee shops to linger in, fast- food snacks for the hasty ones and also convenience stores for short-stop shoppers.

In the field of event gastronomy Heinz Stockheim was able to add the important Rheinterrasse Düsseldorf to its location portfolio in 1972. Big balls and traditional events took place in this location. Many companies and organizations chose as before this location because of its incomparable charm and also for its exquisite cuisine and professional service.
The famous brewery “Zum Schiffchen“ also known internationally for its old tradition has found its way into Stockheim since 1983.

After the decease of Heinz Stockheim in 1989, Karl-Heinz Stockheim took over.
With a new strategical concept, the introduction of quality management and a strong brand-orientation he steered the enterprise into its oncoming success.
Profit centre ideas, compulsory guidelines as well as delegation of entrepreneurial responsibilities outline the mindframe of the enterprise which underline the further successful development until today.

In the 90s Karl-Heinz Stockheim recognized the importance and potential of key competence fields of high-frequency gastronomy: food development, architecture and marketing concept. Since then the enterprise has increasingly invested in this area. Firstly the necessary current know-how in these key fields is systematically reinstated. Moreover Stockheim customers are offered wide professional services from one source. Secondly this completes modernization of Stockheim into a full-service enterprise.

Since 1977 the Stockheim Group offers a wide know-how in high-frequency gastronomy in third markets successfully with its founding of the sister companies FARMHAUS (food development), HAGATEC (architecture) and HAGACON (marketing concepts).

The food specialists of Stockheim’s sister company FARMHAUS conceive and realize based on excellent recipes and natural, fresh ingredients, individual ready-to-cook and ready-to-serve products and product ranges. As always quality underlies the whole culinary palette.

With a highly specialized team of architects and interior designers HAGATEC plans and develops profitable, attractive and highly inspirational objects for gastronomy, hotels and trade.

With a sure sense for national and international gastronomy trends HAGACON creates an attractive concept for high-frequency locations since 1977 and develops these further systematically. Thus already at the end of the 90s the coffee shop concept CAFETIERO was launched – then one of the first modern coffee-bar-concepts to be realized in Germany. A life style of coffee savour combined with top quality trend design as epitomized by Star-Designer Terence Conran attracts not only gourmets but also travellers, commuters and tourists daily.
 To secure long-term success in an ever-increasing market, CAFETIERO was revised to meet future demands. The optimized concept now offers an outstanding culinary coffee choice and experience in over 20 outlets.

The passion for gastronomy of the Stockheim Group shows itself in many ways.
Prior to the opening of the first Cafetiero coffee facilities and equipment for coffee roasting were installed specially for CAFETIERO in one of Stockheim’s locations. For months test roasts were conducted in order to achieve an excellent coffee quality for CAFETIERO.
Since then Stockheim has been producing premium coffee for Cafetiero in-house for almost 3 years. In the year 2000 Stockheim found an exclusive coffee-roasting company with loads of personal commitment, which produced the desired high quality and freshness of Cafetiero Coffees (in the required quantities) roasted just-in-time.

The Stockheim Group forces its way into the new century through a country-wide expansion of high-frequency gastronomy. In the north as well as in the south of Germany one finds the rise and development of new locations for events and exhibitions as well as in the transport sector for gastronomy

Since 2003 the enterprise is represented in Karlsruhe. Its fair complex, congress centres and their corresponding locations – “dm Arena” and the event centre at the “Festplatz” are catered by Stockheim.

In 2005 the Stockheim Catering Hamburg GmbH was founded for the new location Hamburg.
This sister company caters among others the fair complex and congresses in Hamburg on site. Indeed international and congress visitors can now enjoy Stockheim’s exquisite cuisine. With the exclusive Hamburger locations like the  “Tropical Aquarium in the Hagenbeck Zoo” Stockheim offers for every event the appropriate atmosphere and memorable culinary delights.
In 2006 Stockheim opened at the train station in Hamburg Altona a modern foodcourt. This enables Stockheim to meet any demand with its wide palette of products and concepts gastronomically.

Stockheim was chosen as Caterer of the Year in 2003 and in 2004. In all aspects of catering, big-event as well as –premium the Catering Line of Stockheim was able to prove its qualities convincingly in performance, professionalism and creativity in sport events in big companies and also internationally. Individual Theme Catering has become one of Stockheim’s catering specialties. For every event or occasion, a specific concept is developed to correspond to the needs and wishes of customers to the smallest detail.

At the FIFA Soccer WM 2006 Stockheim has proven impressively its ability to meet high requirements of topmaster events with constant success through
its agile catering teams active countrywide. Stockheim made its utmost top achievement in terms of logistics and cuisine at this biggest sport event to date to be held in Germany as one of the four official catering partner of the iSe Hospitality Productions GmbH.

At the four locations Kaiserslautern, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and Nürnberg a total of 58,000 VIPs were catered in the designated ares of with Premiere- and Prestige Hospitality Packages in a 23-days-period. Also Stockheim teams were responsible for the catering of Partner & Suppliers, an exclusive guest circle of the main sponsors of the FIFA Soccer WM.

All in all that was the greatest single assignment in Stockheim’s company history so far.