Producer
Van Hessen (SARIA)
Self-described 'leading global player in the harvesting, processing and distribution of natural casings, meat products and pharmaceutical products.' Part of SARIA's Food & Pharma division since 2017; SARIA is also parent of Devro (collagen casings) — making SARIA the parent of the world's largest natural casing company AND the world's largest collagen casing company simultaneously. Van Hessen operates gutrooms inside slaughterhouses globally, positioned 'close to the source.' Also extracts pharmaceutical raw materials (heparin, collagen) from the same intestines processed for casings. Recent acquisitions: full ownership of Westpol-Teeuwissen (Netherlands/Poland).
3
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
1
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
3 inputs Van Hessen (SARIA) supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
agricultural
Natural Hog Gut Casings (Weasands, Runners, Rounds) →
pharmaceutical
Crude Porcine Heparin Mucosa (Pharmaceutical Anticoagulant Feedstock) →
manufactured
Medical-Grade Atelocollagen (Wound Care / Bone Regeneration / Device OEM) →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Van Hessen (SARIA) makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Natural Casings (Hog, Beef, Sheep)
65%Pharmaceutical Raw Materials (Heparin + Collagen)
20%Gut Room Operations (B2B Service)
Meat Products
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Van Hessen processes pig intestines for natural sausage casings AND simultaneously extracts the mucosal lining of those same intestines to produce crude heparin — the most widely used anticoagulant drug in medicine, essential for dialysis, open-heart surgery, blood clot prevention, and catheterization. The same hog gut that becomes a bratwurst casing also yields the pharmaceutical raw material for a drug administered to tens of millions of patients annually. Van Hessen is one of the few major non-Chinese Western sources of crude heparin mucosa — a critical supply chain diversification asset after the 2008 contamination crisis in which adulterated Chinese heparin caused approximately 81 deaths in the United States.
Van Hessen B.V. ↗Origin2023
Van Hessen was founded in Den Bosch, Netherlands in 1889 as a natural casing company. Acquired by SARIA Bio-Industries in 2017, and SARIA then acquired Devro plc (the world's largest collagen casing maker) in 2023. This means the Rethmann family's SARIA conglomerate now controls simultaneously the world's largest natural casing company (Van Hessen, ~25% of global natural casing trade) AND the world's largest collagen casing company (Devro). A single German private family conglomerate controls more of the global sausage casing supply chain — across both major casing types — than any other entity on earth.
Van Hessen B.V. ↗Capacity2023
Van Hessen operates gut rooms — the facilities inside slaughterhouses where intestines are harvested, flushed, and initially processed — directly within third-party slaughterhouse premises globally. This 'close to the source' model gives Van Hessen first access to intestines at the moment of slaughter, maximizing freshness and dual-stream yield: the outer intestinal wall goes to casing processing while the mucosal lining simultaneously goes to pharmaceutical heparin extraction. No other business model captures this dual yield as efficiently; a van Hessen-operated gut room effectively creates two revenue streams from the same animal organ.
Van Hessen B.V. ↗