Five generations of family continuity
(Text from the book  » L’alsace  » Edition Roland Hirlé)
Georges Bruck remains the only company in Alsace whose particular know-how in the art of making foie gras has lasted for five generations and the only one to have managed to ensure its independence. Created in 1852, the Bruck company moved to 7, rue Friesé in Strasbourg in 1920 where it is still located. Georges Bruck had sold the business around 1870 to Philippe Schmidt who gave it a remarkable expansion. In 1902, the son-in-law, Robert Heusch, came to support his father-in-law. From 1927, it was the turn of the grandson, Eric Heusch, to take over. In 1928, the firm became a general partnership.

In 1940, the Georges Bruck company, managed by Robert Heusch, was hit hard by the hostility of the Nazis towards Alsatians who were reputed to be French-speaking. The Heusch family was expelled and the company was closed for the duration of the war. The company was resumed in 1946 under these precarious conditions and with uncertain horizons. It was necessary to find livers and other raw materials in a world governed by ration cards. The farmers had to make special requests to obtain the corn necessary for force-feeding.However, in the autumn of 1947, Georges Bruck resumed its production and, significantly, its exports.A difficult start, but also a promising one, with the re-establishment of Hungarian livers for the 1949-1950 season. Until then, it had been necessary to work with the livers obtained in Lower Alsace, thanks to the allocation of corn by the Syndicat des fabricants de pâtés de foie gras de Strasbourg to the givers. The relatively rapid recovery of Georges Bruck is also due to its extraordinary establishment in a large number of foreign countries.

This reconquest of foreign markets was to continue until 1956; ten years after a difficult start, Georges Bruck achieved 80% of its turnover outside France.

The year 1956 was doubly significant for the Strasbourg manufacturers in general and Georges Bruck in particular: it was the year in which the administration set all the rules and standards for the manufacture of foie gras, and it was the year in which Philippe Heusch joined the company. 1956 was also an extremely difficult year due to the Hungarian revolution, which was harshly repressed by the Soviets, and the resulting difficulties in obtaining supplies of foie gras from that country. Let’s not forget that the Alsatian processors are still dependent on the import of Danubian livers. The following years were also affected by the Soviet takeover of the Hungarian economy.

In 1974, Philippe Heusch succeeded his father in the management of the company. He helped to ensure that the company continued to expand, while maintaining the age-old traditions that had made the company strong and famous.
Although the princely courts are nowadays rare, the marketing of its foies gras is still mainly done with luxury establishments in France and abroad. For the past few years, his son Vincent, great-great-grandson of Philippe Schmidt, has been managing the company alongside his father.

This is how the fifth generation of the same family presides over the destiny of the same company. In fact, Georges Bruck remains the only company whose continuity has been assured by the same dynasty and the only one that has never been controlled by any group.