The 2021 Henokiens Annual Congress, which took place in Lyon (France) from 28 October to 30th October 2021 saw the following highlights:

Alberto Marenghi, from the company member Cartiera Mantovana, was elected for a two-year term from 2022, renewable once. In his introductory speech, the new President indicated to the members that he had two objectives: enlarging the Association, but not too much and not too fast, and continuing to show those who look at the Henokiens with curiosity and interest, how family business is a model for the future.

Andrea Grondona : « you cannot name the Grondona Biscottificio without immediatly thinking of one of our sweet products which have become iconic over time as the Lagaccio, the real biccotto baked and cooked twice, rough and fragrant, or canestrelli, which have the rich consistency of simplicity. The Grondona biscuit factory is a source of pride for the Liguria region and for Italy which it represents with its products throughout the world ».

Piero Luxardo : « During its long history, Luxardo has produced many different types of liqueurs and distillates, from the more traditional to more innovative ones. Sambuca, Limoncello and Amaretto represent the core range of the most traditional Italian liqueurs, Today Luxardo exports its specialities in over 93 different countries worldwide, whilst in the domestic market it is leader in the confectionary and gourmet market, with a wide range of alcoholic aromas and preserves and jams.

The presentation of a video prepared by all the Japanese members who, not having been able to travel to Europe, wished to express their friendly support to all the other members.

the nomination of Willem van Eeghen, successively President of the Henokiens (2014-2017) and Vice President (2018-2021), Honorary President of the Association.

The next Henokiens General Meeting will take place during the 2022 Henokiens Congress which will be organized in italy.

Following the General Meeting, Jesús Casado, Secretary General of European Family Businesses, an organization bringing together family business associations from different countries of the European Union, made a presentation entitled « Defending your business, Securing Continuity ».

The Leonardo da Vinci Prize co-founded by the Henokiens Association and Château du Clos Lucé, has been awarded this year to the French company Groupe SEB, world leader in the field of small domestic equipment. Since1930, the company has adopted a mass production model and has experienced strong growth by marketing reliable and innovative products. The Group invented the Cocotte-Minute pressure cooker in 1953, which marked the beginning of a series of innovations at the cutting edge of technology and perfectly suited to the new consumer trends of the time. SEB gradually broadened its activities by introducing new household appliancesand acquiring rival companies such as Moulinex/Krups in 2001 and the Chinese group Supor in 2007. Today, the company has a portfolio of 31 powerful and complementary brands, which are the pillars of its profitable and sustainable growth strategy(Tefal, Rowenta, Moulinex, Krups, Seb, Calor, WMF, Supor, to name a few). It employs 33,000 people at 40 different industrial sites, of which 10 in France,and is established in over 50 countries. Groupe SEB, with its global headquarters in Écully, near Lyon, had a turnover of 6.94 billion euros in 2020.

The ceremony award of the Leonardo da Vinci Prize continued with a presentation by Ms. Rania Labaki, Director of EDHEC Family Business Research Center of the study "Historical values, social and environmental responsibilities: the new generation of family businesses is leading the way" realized for ther 10th anniversary of the Leonardo da Vinci Prize at the initiative of its co-founders, the Henokiens Association and Château du Clos Lucé.

Following her presentation, Ms. Labaki moderated a round table in which three members of the Association participated, from left to right, Olivier Passot (Revol), Jeroen van Eeghen (Van Eeghen Group) et Emmanuel Viellard (VMC).

The Henokiens visited the company REVOL, manufacturer of culinary porcelain established in the department of Drôme since its creation in 1768. For nine generations, the company has been run by the same family whose origins date back to the 17th.

Throughout the 19th century, the company mainly manufactured domestic products and in particular bowls, dishes and soup tureens, but also many bottles intended either for alcohol or for the preservation of food liquids: oil, milk, water, etc...

Gradually the manufacturing evolved towards more sophisticated products and in particular gifts decorated, at the same time, the company launched itself in the market of the promotional object during the first half of the 20th century. 1980s, Revol has resolutely evolved towards the hotel market, forging partnerships with recognized Chefs and offering this rapidly evolving market, innovative culinary solutions.

The beginning of the 2000s marked the entry into the world for Revol of the « retail » and the big stores. Revol since then has the ambition to become an art brand of the professional table and the general public and also the leader of custom made products for luxury brands (bottles, candles…). Today the company employs 250 people on a single site, generates 55% of its turnover in the hotel industry and exports 72% of its production to 84 countries.

The 2019 Henokiens annual Congress which took place from 25 September to 29 September in London, Stourhead and Bath, saw the following highlights:

• The 2019 Annual General Meeting of the Association : Key points :
  • Presentation of the new member Champagne Billecart-Salmon (1818)
  • Presentation of the event to be organized in 2020 by the Association and le Château du Clos Lucé to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Leonardo da Vinci Prize
  • Presentation of the actions and projects developped by the Next Gen group of the Association
  • Updating of the « Compendium" project of the Association (writting and gathering of case studies on Henokiens members) : 17 studies published so far by the end of 2019 all in freely accessible on the Henokiens website
• Presentation of the Hoare family history since the foundation of the bank C.Hoare & Co. by Richard Hoare in 1672
• Visit of the Hoare family historic places in London (Fleet Street), Stourheard and Bath

The Leonardo da Vinci Prize, co-founded by the Henokiens Association and Le Château du Clos Lucé, has been awarded this year to the British company DC Thomson, one of the leading media organizations in UK, still entirely family own business since five generations, employing over 1,800 people across its seven subsidiaries in 15 different locations across the UK and overseas and achieving a turnover of 294 millions euros.

The ceremony took place on 26 September 2019 in London in the prestigious Two Temple Place in the presence of Lord Wilson of Dinton who gave the Prize to Mr. Christopher Thomson, Deputy Chairman of DC Thomson, Mr. Tokuichi Okaya, President of the Henokiens Association, Willem van Eeghen, vice President of the Henokiens Association, François Saint Bris, President of le Château du Clos Lucé- Parc Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Hoare and Rennie Hoare partners with C.Hoare & Co., the members of the Henokiens Association and their guests.

The last meeting of the Next Gen Association of the Henokiens was held on October 6 and 7, 2018 in Bordeaux, home city of the company member Catherineau (1750).

This meeting allowed the group to discover Catherineau led today by Anne-Sophie and Marie Catherineau, 8th generation of the founding family. It was also the opportunity to attend a presentation given by Mrs. Amélie Villeger (University Bordeaux ), to visit the city of Bordeaux and its famous vineyard and, above all, to allow participants to share their own experiences and challenges while linking personal connections thus preparing the future of the governance of the Association.

Fontainebleau, September 15, 2018

The Henokiens Association and INSEAD organized their traditonnal « Family Enterprise Day », the occasion for MBA's and Alumini to discover the draft of the « Henokiens Super Case II » a new research developed by INSEAD on 15 Henokiens focussed on three central themes :

Cuestamoras (www.cuestamoras.com) – Costa Rican multi-family owned company – organized on September 11, 2018 in San José its annual conference for families in business. Cuestamoras are pioneers in the region in terms of family governance and three years ago implemented a conference called "familyTALK" to which they invite families in business from Central America who are invited to participate in hearing best practices from content experts in three main topics: family business, new generations, and entrepreneurship.

Interested to learn best practices from the Henokiens Association, the 4th « Family Talk » invited Willem van Eeghen, vice President of the Association, to give a presentation on the goals and ambitions of the Henokiens, the principles necessary for long-term success, together with first hand experience on his own family company.

Mrs. Magda Uribe Sàenz, Director of the executive board of Cuestamorras, who participated to a panel on the following theme « New Generations and Entreprenership » along with Elena and Antonio Barnabo Uribe

Mr. Victor Messalles Cebria, vice President of "Grupo Empresarial de Supermercatos S.A. » participated to a panel on the following theme « Knowing the Patriarch» along with Monserrat and Victor Messales Vargas

Dr Daniel Papero from Browen Center- Georgetown University in Washington DC gave a lecture on « Process of intergenerational transfer of knowledge»

Cuestamoras is running in to its 3rd generation. Recently the company which sold its Central American supermarket chain stores to the world's largest supermarket concern Walmart, is now concentrating on (sustainable) Energy, Health, Forestry and Urban Development. The owners, Uribe-Sàenz, are a very innovative, enterprising and hospitable family.

The Henokiens Association visiting the Planetarium of the Munich Deutsches Museum, a museum founded in 1903 by Oskar von Miller great grand fatther member of Martin Schoeller, member of the Henokiens Associaton and organizer of the 2018 Henokiens Congress.

Gathering of the Henokiens at the Schoeller family house at lake Stenberg

• Sabine Rau
  Some quotes from her presentation under the theme « Tradition in Innovation »:
  1. The world is changing – and so are weTradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." Gustav Mahler
  2. Without innovation no survival… without survival no tradition
  3. What we know:
     
     • Innovation is main driver of growth
     • Longevity depends on innovationFBs invest less in innovation but are more efficient users of investment.
     • FBs receive fewer patents.

• Dr. Wolfgang Heubisch
  Some quotes from his presentation under the theme « Ludwig II, a visionary between fairy-tale and high-tech »:
  1. During the reign of King Ludwig II, Bavaria entered the era of industrialiation with its stronghold in future technologies such as electrical engineering and chemistry. Using state-of-the-art technology the fairytale-king created perfect illusions in his castles, experimented with countless gadgets and thus was – in many ways – a pioneer of progress.
  2. In his castles, he insisted that the latest technology be installed and the latest construction methods be used. Thus, instead of talking about fairytale castles we should rather call them "high-tech-castles". The king was an avid reader of the polytechnical newspaper and in 1867 even visited the world exhibition in Paris. He wanted the latest inventions to be integrated in his buildings and he needed them to realize his visionary ideas.

• Martin Zeil
  Some quotes from his presentation under the theme "From the Sky to Heaven on Earth – Welcome to Bavaria":
  1. Bavaria has a particularly great number of companies and enterprises which are still controlled by families.
  2. Family owners care for their employees far beyond the legal requirements and do everything to keep their staff even in times of economic decline or crisis.
  3. We always have to keep in mind that far more than 70% of all employees in Bavaria work for family-owned businesses.
  4. Family-owned businesses are extremely loyal to their place of business and their traditional environment. Even though many of them have been doing business in foreign countries before globalization has become a buzzword they do everything to keep employment at home.
  5. Family-owned companies are the best insurance against unfriendly takeovers, not always, but the mentality of families tends to resist to quickly giving up a company for the maximum proceeds.

The Leonardo da Vinci Prize, co-founded by the Henokiens Association and Le Château du Clos Lucé, has been awarded this year to the German company Schwan-STABILO, a 100% family owned group with three independent divisions: "Writing instruments", "Cosmetics" and "Outdoor". The company, one of the most successful family firms in Germany today, achieves a turnover exceeding 700 millions euros with more than 7000 employees and 22 sites across the world.

The ceremony took place on 28 June 2018 in Munich in the Deutsches Museum in the presence of the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Dr. Markus Söder, who gave the trophy to Mr. Sebastian Schwanhäußer, Executive Board Member Schwan-STABILO, Mr. Tokuichi Okaya, President of the Henokiens Association, Willem van Eeghen, vice President of the Henokiens Association, François Saint Bris, President of the Château du Clos Lucé- Parc Leonardo da Vinci and Professor Dr. Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General Deutsches Museum.

The 2017 Henokiens Annual Congress,
which took place in Vienna from 21 to 25 June in Vienna (Austria)
saw the following highlights:

Visit of 4 suppliers to the Imperial Court.: Lobmeyr (Cristal), Scheer (Footwear), Köchert (Jewelry) and Jungmann (Fabrics).

The 2017 Annual General Meeting :

• The meeting took place in the frame of the Henokiens Annual Congress organized this year by Wolfgang, Florian and Christoph Köchert which family company A.E. Köchert, member of the Henokiens Association, was founded in1814.

• The presentation of the new French member of the Association, the company H. Beligné & Fils (cutlery trade) founded in 1610 in which the 14th generation is now leading the company.

• A presentation by INSEAD of its academic works and the study they made in 2016 involving 24 members of the Henokiens Association developing themes such as Family Assets, Roadblocks, Succession and Innovation.
• The election for the next 2 years term (2018-2019) of the new Henokiens President, Mr. Tokuichi Okaya, who will become the first ever Japanese President of the Association since its creation 36 years ago.

• The announcement of the next General Assembly of the Association which will take place within the framework of the Henokiens 2018 Congress and will be organized in Munich by German member, the company Schoeller.

On 7 and 8 November 2016 the 3rd China Family Business Succession Forum dedicated to succession and sustainability took place in Beijing in presence of approximately 2000 people from 22 nationalities, 800 family companies and various research institutes.

According to a report of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the next 5-10 years, nearly 3 million private companies in China shall be facing the issue of power transition. Last century China experienced a long period of state controlled companies owing to the regime of the Cultural Revolution when every private company was nationalized. Later, during last century when government control gradually subsided, family companies started to appear again and now they are experiencing a period of a first transition of ownership to the 2nd generation.

This is taking place on an unprecedented scale and advice is sought from older family companies and institutions in the West and Japan.

From that perspective, the President van Eeghen was asked to share with the audience the unique « Henokiens experience » in the field of succession and sustainability. This formidable occasion to witness transition in progress has shown a great interest among this big group of participants.

Istanbul, October 19, 2016 :

Willem van Eeghen, President of the Henokiens association, gave a speech on the story, missions and actions of the association in Istanbul during the « Startup Summit for Family owned Businesses » organized for the CEO Club by CAPITAL leading business magazine in Turkey.

95% of the Turkish economy is dominated by private enterprises!

Fontainebleau, September 24, 2016 : the « Henokiens super case », an in depth research developed for the first time ever by INSEAD into the secrets of longevity of 25 company members of the association, was presented at the INSEAD « Family Enterprise Day ». During that one day event, MBA's and Alumini learned from the compeling stories of some of the 200 years old family run firms and listened to topics such as «How to value family assets in family businesses » « How to reduce or eliminate roadblocks in family businesses « How to balance long-term planning with succession » and « How to innovate ».The event was attended by approximately 100 participants.

The 2016 Henokiens Annual Congress, which took place in Rotterdam from 8 to 12 June, was organized by our Dutch member De Kuyper Royal Distillers.

The Congress saw the following highlights:

The ceremony took place in the Rotterdam city hall. The trophy was presentedto Mr. Pieter von Oord, CEO of Van Oord, by the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb ,in the presence of the Henokiens President, Willem van Eeghen, François Saint Bris, the President of le Château du Clos Lucé-Parc Leonardo da Vinci, Professor Pursey Heugens of the Rotterdam Erasmus University and Mr. Hans de Boer, President of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW).

The 2015 Henokiens Annual Congress which took place in Italy from 17 to 21 June was co-organized by 3 Italian members:
Cartiera Mantovana,
Stabilimento Colbachini
and Guerrieri Rizzardi.

The Congress saw the following highlights:

The Leonardo da Vinci Prize created by the Henokiens association and the Château du Clos Lucé, has been awarded this year to Bracco Group an Italian company employing 3300 people in three major industries: Imaging, Pharma and Health services.

The 2014 Henokiens Annual Congress
which took place in Tokyo
from 23 to 27 October was organized by company member Toraya.

The Congress saw the following highlights:

On the occasion of this meeting, the President Willem van Eeghen has reiterated that the association and its members should be resolutely turned towards the future because if, in his view, the histories of the Henokiens are their "ear mark" and their difference, history must not be considered as an end to itself. In this perspective, he drew two directions in which the association was primarily to take action:
- Encouraging tomorrow's managers to enter into family businesses
That is the purpose of the "Compendium" project launched by the Henokiens for communicating on members issues, in a educational perspective.
- Acting as a role-model in and for tomorrow's economy
When one knows that a great majority of young family companies do not survive beyond the 3rd generation, the President believes that the Henokiens association has the legitimacy to encourage younger family companies to establish activities with a long term perspective. This is the purpose of the "Leonardo da Vinci Prize" which simultaneously aims to highlight transmission and continuity in family businesses
At the meeting, the President also presented the new logo of the Henokiens to the members and announced the launch of the new website of the association.

The Leonardo da Vinci Prize created by the Henokiens association and the Château du Clos Lucé, has been awarded this year to the Japanese company Kai Corporation. This centenary family company manufactures more than 10,000 different kinds of cutlery and cutting tools, ranging from kitchen utensils to cosmetic accessories and surgical implements.
With a worldwide presence, the company, 100% owned by the founding family and in which the 4th generation is already represented, has since its inception, remained faithful to the "3 thanks": "Thanks to its predecessors", "Thanks to its customers and partners" and "Thanks to its family and former and present employees" and to the basis of its philosophy: "humanity over productivity". For the Henokiens and Le Château du Clos Lucé, Kai showed that it had all the qualities to continue its industrial adventure while continuing to pass on its values and expertise to future generations.
The Leonardo da Vinci Prize has been awarded to Mr. Koji Endo, President of Kai Corporation, by Princess Imperial Akiko de Mikasa in the presence of Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, MP and Japanese former Minister of Education and Foreign affairs.

Princess Akiko of Mikasa gave a conference to the Henokiens members and prestigious guests on the theme of preservation and transmission of traditions in a country increasingly attracted by modernity.

She particularly emphasized in her lecture on the importance of the transmission of the traditional Japanese know how to children and the preservation of the natural environment, especially in large cities, as the historical and religious monuments that are the soul of her country.