What’s in a name: Sanatura® comes from the Latin words “sanus” (sound, healthy, reasonable) and “natura” (nature). So our name perfectly describes our mission statement about the quality of our products.

We have created the Sanatura brand to cover all our products that help to strengthen vital body functions, supporting health and wellbeing, on the basis of natural essential nutrients. All products are exclusively composed of high-value, natural and minimally processed vegetable-based ingredients, and their quality is subject to constant monitoring at internal and external laboratories.

Flavour enhancers or artificial fragrances are taboo. And we have no artificial preservatives or anti-oxidants. All of our suppliers must be transparent about the origin and quality of their products. Internal and external laboratories are permanently testing the composition of ingredients and finished products. This means that our production consistently meets the strict “neuform” guidelines on health food products and is certified under the Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000 management system for manufacturing industries. 

Naturawerk, represented by its managing directors Michael Rudnick and Stefan Cohrs and its employees, is committed to continuing to run the company in the spirit of its founders and owners, with an unwavering intention to produce and offer healthy, human-friendly and nature-friendly food products and nutritional supplements. And our vision is that we will continue to be the first port of call for health food products and vegan nutrition in the future as well. As in past decades, in the future too we will be synonymous with quality, regionality, fairness and environmentally-friendly practice. 

The Managing Directors of Naturawerk
Michael Rudnick and Stefan Cohrs 

There are stages in life where the body needs more than it gets from its daily diet. 

For example, stress, physical exercise, illness, restrictive diets, age-related changes or certain food intolerances may mean additional intake of important essential nutrients is required. 

But achieving positive effects is not just about choosing the right nutritional supplement. It’s just as crucial to get the combination of ingredients just right, with a balanced dosage tailored to your precise needs. Sanatura offers a range of healthy, natural products in various dosage forms to suit the indication.

Natura has become particularly competent in caring for the gut over many decades. Under our health brand Sanatura we offer numerous products for a healthy gut, each with a different formulation to suit the purpose. All products are suitable for long-term administration and can be combined to useful effect. 

For many people, looking after their stomach and gut is very important. New discoveries about the existence of a so-called “abdominal brain” show how important the digestive tract is for personal wellbeing. The gut not only supplies the whole body with vital nutrients, it hosts around 80 per cent of its defence cells. Like a shield, it also defends against pathogens and incompatible substances that enter the body as part of its diet. 

All of the gut’s functions are supported by the gut flora, bacteria that live on the mucosal lining. Any imbalance in this microsystem of hundreds of different bacteria prompts the body to respond with malaise and often also with irregular digestion. That’s because contrary to received opinion not all bacteria have a negative effect on physical wellbeing. On the contrary: attached to the gut mucosa, useful lactic acid bacteria act like a living protective barrier helping to prevent damaging germs from multiplying. However, everyday indigestion is sometimes simply due to a lack of fibre in the diet. The daily intake of fibre recommended by the German Nutrition Society (DGE) is 30g but only a few people achieve this, and many look for natural solutions for indigestion. This is where Sanatura can help, with a wide selection of fibre products with different properties depending on the need.

Severe stress can have a particularly irritant effect on the complex interaction between nerves, gut muscles and gut flora.

For example, many people taking antibiotics need support to maintain the composition of the gut flora, not just at the start of treatment but also afterwards. High doses of lactic acid bacteria, whose effects have been scientifically tested in a clinical study, are highly suitable for achieving stable, healthy gut flora in people taking antibiotics. If you want to take a customised approach to caring for your gut,

there are four proven helpful ingredients to choose from in the Care for your gut: intensive course. For anyone who suffers very frequently from digestive problems, psyllium husks offer a natural and effective support. With their high content of soluble fibre and mucilage, they are particularly good at stimulating the gut muscle and ensuring that stool weight increases. This stimulates excretion and increases stool frequency. Psyllium husks, available pure or fine-ground, are also highly recommended for sensitive users.

Vitamins are vital substances that are only required in very small amounts by the body. Since the body cannot produce them itself - apart from vitamin D at certain times of the year - they must be regularly ingested with food. 

Many other essential substances also have important functions in the body. Minerals maintain the acid-base balance, support gut muscle and digestive enzyme function, maintain our electrolytic balance, support nerve cells and are contained in bones, teeth and blood. Hormonal balance could not be regulated or nutrients processed without vitamins

and minerals. Even so-called secondary plant compounds play an important role in normal, healthy body functioning. Sanatura’s vitamins and essential nutrients are finely-tuned combinations of ingredients with carefully balanced dosages. They can help when requirements are too high for normal diets to meet. And supplementing your diet with important essential nutrients can often appear advisable in relation to restrictive diets, certain food intolerances or special age-related changes. Here, Sanatura products offer easily digestible solutions that are based on generally recognised minimum requirements and can be easily taken as part of your daily routine.

Naturawerk was originally founded on 28.12.1901 by brothers Georg and Hans Hiller. Their brother-in-law Josef Zgorzalewicz joined the company’s management shortly afterwards. The company headquarters were then an office building in Hinüberstrasse, Hanover. 

The company was formed to supply the 16 health food shops existing in Germany at the time. Naturawerk is considered to be the first official manufacturer in the health food sector still existing in its original form as an independent company. Vegetarians, naturopathic treatments and healthy lifestyles were not very widespread at the time. But the health food movement took off in the years that followed. The rapid expansion and success of the company required a division of labour. Mr Georg Hiller was responsible for product development and “spreading the good news” through publications. Georg Hiller was a highly literary personality with an extremely thorough knowledge of nutritional physiology for the time. He published articles on the harmful effects of drinking, the benefits of a raw fruit and vegetable diet, essays on the benefits of honey and its impact on health, as well as poems for company anniversaries and codes of conduct. Branded products such as Frugola (1909), Biotella (1926), Naturade (1928) and Frugeletten (1934) were developed on the basis of his thorough knowledge. Georg Hiller knew about the complexities of nutrition and was a champion and pioneer of healthy lifestyles. 

He used his knowledge to make a crucial contribution to the success of the health food movement in Germany. Naturawerk’s rapid success was based on using only the best, natural, unrefined raw materials, backed up with highly literate essays on healthy diets. Looking back, we can say he was the pioneer of the health food movement. Hans Hiller took on responsibility for commercial matters whilst Josef Zgorzalewicz covered the technical side including the manufacture of the developed products. 

Everything revolved around a healthy diet

By 1918 the price list already included mineral nutrients, soup seasoning (later Frugola), powdered egg substitute and a wide selection of herbal teas. Just ten years later, cereal products, dried fruit and kernels, chopped nuts and other nut products, juices, honey, cocoa and custard powder were added. These were followed by vegetarian soups and stews, nut, fruit and raw vegetable specialities, fats, coffee and substitute coffee, agar agar, oils and diabetic products. Yoghurt bacteria and glycobacter tablets were also included in the programme. The company founders handed responsibility to their sons Hans Hiller and Leon Zgorzalewicz under the difficult conditions of the First World War. The company building in Hinüberstrasse quickly became too small and in 1928 the company moved to the newly built buildings in Neanderstrasse, also in Hanover. This has been the company’s headquarters ever since. Here the company was able to develop further to match the significant increase in demand for health food products. 

After the Second World War

The Naturawerk factory was almost completely destroyed in the Second World War. Following the difficult period of reconstruction, the economy in Germany recovered and success was gradually re-established. The range of products was reviewed and new items such as meat replacement products under the brand name Frika Fix or Naturana found customers in the health food shops. After the death of Leon Zgorzalewicz Hans Hiller managed the company on his own. The company flourished and it also began to have successes in exporting products. In the mid-1970s his sons Klaus and Hans Georg Hiller, together with Udo Vogel, took over as managers of the Naturawerk factory. They remained solidly committed to healthy foods and nutritional supplements. Experts in the company worked with external specialists to develop new successful products such as the Darmflora Plus line or inulin products. 

Following the departure of Klaus and Hans Georg Hiller, Mr Stefan Cohrs joined the company management in 2001 and runs the company alongside Mr Vogel. In 2002 even the premises in the Neanderstrasse had become too small and the Naturawerk factory was expanded considerably on the site. To emphasise the demarcation between foods and supplements more clearly, from 2008 onwards all nutritional supplements were marketed under the new Sanatura brand. 

Other successful products such as psyllium husk products, sweeteners (Stevia), as well as additions to the gut flora range and the establishment of acerola products were launched. In 2012 Udo Vogel handed over responsibility for the company to Thorsten Gooss. In the following year Naturawerk acquired Meier Pudding GmbH & Co KG and began modernising production methods at the company. The food division branched out into new products and was completely redesigned. The SANATURA brand was relaunched in this year. Clear design with a high recognition factor, additional products such as Aceronia, Gut flora capsules or the Care for your gut course emphasise our company’s competence in natural nutritional supplements for care of the gut, the immune system and human health in general that goes back more than 100 years.