Company history

1898 - Foundation

Henri Reynaud founds our parent company in Montbrun-Les-Bains

One branch of our HRF history begins at the end of the 19th century, in France. Henri Reynaud founds our parent company in Montbrun-Les-Bains in 1898. Over the years, the H. Reynaud & Fils portfolio has broadened beyond the original task of harvesting and distilling wild lavender to include more and more activities involving perfume and aromatic compounds. Alongside expanding production in French oils (lavender, lavandin, thyme, rosemary, clary sage, and more) we have developed loyal partnerships in many countries over the decades, to enable us to offer you the highest quality essential oils, such as patchouli, ylang-ylang, vetiver, geranium and many more. This lead to the creation of development and quality control laboratories as well as production sites for perfume oils and aromas in Saint Didier. H. Reynaud & Fils SA has been family-owned since its foundation.

Another branch of our shared history begins in the 1950s, in the heart of Vienna. The pharmacist (Mag. pharm) Margarethe Ruth Günsberg and her husband began importing essential oils and trading in perfumes as a newly founded small business, as well as using these raw materials to create perfume compositions of their own. We established contact with French manufacturers. We formed a particular close relationship with the French company H. Reynaud & Fils. The company Gerafleur was taken over predominantly by H. Reynaud & Fils France in 1975 and the Austrian HRF branch was founded. This relationship has been shaped and supported by the friendship between the Austrian and French family owners for generations.

In 2005, Patrick Günsberg took over management of HRF Austria as the third generation of the Günsberg family to do so. In 2018 he fulfilled one of his long-term dreams. Patrick and his wife Beatrix established a new company building of more than 600 m2 in St Pölten, and in doing so, created more space for new ideas and meeting high quality standards. A place of creativity, cooperation, shared goals and pleasure in the beauty of fragrance, from pure and high-quality essential oils to fantastic and inspiring compositions from the versatile world of perfumes.