The Halfar System GmbH company building in Oldentrup in former times

THE HISTORY OF HALFAR® BAGS AND BACKPACKS

When Armin Halfar, managing partner of Halfar System GmbH, started his own business in 1986, he focused all his attention on rescue bags. Being a paramedic himself, he was dissatisfied with the available bags. They were too heavy and too bulky. The bags were like a weight on the leg and were a hindrance in the event of an emergency. So Halfar set about developing suitable models. Very quickly he found out that weight and manageability are of utmost importance for the operation and therefore had to be in the foreground. In addition, the organization of emergency backpacks and bags is elementary in order to always have the right thing at hand quickly. This personal passion for better bags quickly turned into a professional company and brand for bags: HALFAR®. Read more about the milestones of our history below.

1986-2000

1986 Armin Halfar founds the company Halfar System and starts the production of bags and backpacks. The first individually made plastic and leather bags are delivered to customers. In the early years, these bags are predominantly emergency bags and bags for safety devices.
1993 Halfar grows and rents new premises in Bielefeld city. The first series productions are made. The Halfar team grows to ten members of staff.
1996 Foundation of the Halfar System GmbH together with Kathrin Stühmeyer as an associate and joint managing director.
1994/1998 Halfar bags also come from Asia and the Czech Republic.
2000 Halfar purchases its own company premises at 23 Ludwig-Erhard-Allee in Bielefeld and 23 members of staff move in.

2001-2010

2003 The JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG becomes a shareholder in Halfar System GmbH.
2005 Space is created: with a new 2,600 sq m of warehouse and office space. The Halfar catalogue now features a total of 130 bag models. One wins the Promotional Gift Award: the FlapBag.
2006 Another Promotional Gift Award in Bronze for the TyreBag. Halfar broadens the internal decoration options with embroidery and transfer print. Over the next years, embroidery and digital print with automatic lamination follow.
2007 Halfar acquires two sister companies with the Günther Fassbender GmbH (FARE®) in Remscheid and the mbw Vertriebsges. mbH in Wanderup.
2008 HALFAR® becomes a brand! The promotional bags and technical bags emerge as two business divisions under one name. The members of staff develop a company mission statement.
2009 Bureau Veritas, a leading global test laboratory, certifies the Halfar quality management system. As a member of the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative, since 2018: amfori BSCI), Halfar obligates itself to the defined social standards. As a first supplier of promotional bags, Halfar introduces a 5-day express delivery service: the expressbags.
2009 Halfar introduces the c-mark quality seal from Bureau Veritas.

2011-2017

2013 More space was created again: The extension of the building in the Ludwig-Erhard-Allee was moved into during the third construction phase. Besides an expansion of production orientated towards silkscreen printing, the embroidery section is also enlarged, and new offices and a new showroom are created.
2015 Halfar System GmbH is certified in line with the quality management standard DIN ISO 9001 ff.
2015 Halfar wins the PSI Sustainability Award in Category 4 - Environment Initiative.
2016 The Alliance for Family of Bielefeld honours Halfar as Family-Friendly Company.
2016 The Regionale Personalentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH Bielefeld (Community for Personnel Development Bielefeld) certifies Halfar for offering refugees job qualifications.
2017 Halfar is successfully re-certified in line with the quality management standard DIN ISO 9001:2008. Furthermore, Halfar is certified for 15 years of cooperation with the Werkhaus Bielefeld, which gives disabled people the chance to work.
2017 After we have added organic cotton bags to our standard range, we have been certified in line with the GOTS. In addition, Halfar has achieved to run its company building 100% carbon-neutral.
2017 Halfar is nominated for the PSI Sustainability Awards in 5 categories and finally wins in three categories.

Halfar is a multiple winner at the PSI Sustainability Awards

2018-2020

The construction of the Halfar logistics centre in Altenhagen

2018 Halfar is certified by the ÖKOPROFIT network for the third time.
2018 Halfar wins the CSR Prize OWL (as a company with <250 employees).

2018 Halfar has again been certified in line with the GOTS. Furthermore, Halfar has been certified in line with DIN ISO 9001:2015 and DIN ISO 14001:2015.
2018 Halfar again wins the PSI Sustainability Award in the category "Social Excellence".
2019 Halfar wins the Promotional Gift Award with its backpack DIAMOND.
2019 More space was created another time: The extension of the building in the Ludwig-Erhard-Allee was moved into during the fourth construction phase. Here, an innovative New Work Area has been created.
2019 In cooperation with Insect Respect, Halfar employees planted another green compensation are on its roof.
2019 Halfar has been re-certified in line with the GOTS and is now certified for the third time in a row.
2019 Halfar grows: In only 10 months we built our new logistics centre in Bielefeld Altenhagen which offers 11,300 pallet spaces.
2019 Halfar wins the PSI Sustainability Award in three categories! We ranked first in the category "Social Excellence", second in the category "Social Initiative" and third in the category "Economic Excellence".
2020 Halfar wins the Promotional Gift Award with its FRAME series and the innovative HALFAR FAST LANE decoration technique.

2021-2023

2021 Halfar wins at the PSI Sustainability Awards 2020 in the categories "Social Excellence", "Environmental Initiative" and the overall victory as "Sustainable Company of the year".
2021 Halfar renews the existing EcoVadis certification and receives the "Silver" status.
2021 Halfar is recertified according to DIN ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015.
2022 The cooler shopper SOFTBASKET wins the Promotional Gift Award in the "Premium Product" category.
2022 Halfar wins the special prize of the "CSR-Preis OWL" for continuous commitment and further development of the strategy in the CSR area.
2022 Halfar wins the PSI Award "Sustainable Company of the year" for the second time
2022 Halfar receives "Gold" status in the renewed EcoVadis certification. This puts us in the top 2% of companies in our industry as rated by EcoVadis.
Since 2022, Halfar has been working closely with ClimatePartner to offset all currently unavoidable emissions of the company as well as the emissions of the products in the standard range.
2022 Our biodiversity areas have been officially designated as insect-friendly.
2023 In the "Premium Product" category, the ACTIVE sports/travel bag wins the Promotional Gift Award.
2023 Halfar is certified as an ÖKOPROFIT® company for the 4th time.
2023 The Bielefeld Alliance for Families honours Halfar for the 2nd time as "AWARD-WINNING FAMILY-FRIENDLY".