{"id":3901,"date":"2026-04-28T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/?p=3901"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:59:48","slug":"the-pioneering-years-analytics-goes-digital-1986-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/2026\/04\/28\/the-pioneering-years-analytics-goes-digital-1986-1994\/","title":{"rendered":"From a start-up in Oberhummel to a Europe-wide laboratory network"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; gap=&#8221;35&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1761748777236{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;4355&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;From a start-up in Oberhummel to a Europe-wide laboratory network&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|text_align:left&#8221; farbe=&#8221;green&#8221; fontsize=&#8221;fs40&#8243; schriftschnitt=&#8221;bold&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column_text fontsize=&#8221;fs20&#8243; maxwidth=&#8221;max_w90&#8243; css=&#8221;&#8221;]<strong>The pioneering years: Analytics goes digital (1986\u20131994)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It all began in the old school in Oberhummel. While the industry was still bogged down in paper forms, we consistently focused on bits and bytes. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1986<\/strong>: Paul Wimmer founds AGROLAB Labor GmbH. The vision: to convert analysis data directly into digital fertiliser recommendations. A real technical advance for agriculture.  <\/li>\n<li><strong>1992<\/strong>: We prove that our system is scalable: our first step beyond the Bavarian border takes us to Thuringia (Oberdorla).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Growth with substance: from field to plate (1995\u20132005)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We realised early on that quality knows no boundaries. That&#8217;s why we expanded our focus from the soil to the entire value chain. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1995<\/strong>: Entry into environmental analysis through the acquisition of Dr. Blasy-Dr. Busse in Eching. Water and soil become new core competencies.  <\/li>\n<li><strong>1999:<\/strong> Expansion of agricultural analysis across Germany through the acquisition of the Koldingen Institute.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2001:<\/strong> A decisive year. With LUFA-ITL in Kiel, the group gains a wealth of experience in food and feed analysis. At the same time, we expand beyond the German border and take over the Dr. Axel Begert environmental laboratory in Austria.  <\/li>\n<li><strong>2002 \u2013 2005:<\/strong> AGROLAB goes international. We begin our European success story with our first activities in the Netherlands and France. We learn and grow with our new tasks.<br \/>The European network consolidates (2006 \u2013 2018) AGROLAB becomes a brand synonymous with efficiency. We export our Bavarian values to new markets, with knowledge exchange between our international teams becoming the most important driving force.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The European network consolidates (2006 \u2013 2018)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AGROLAB becomes a brand synonymous with efficiency. We export our Bavarian values to new markets, with knowledge exchange between our international teams becoming the most important driving force. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2006 \u2013 2008:<\/strong> Consolidation in Western and Southern Europe. Following the takeover of Dr. Verwey in Rotterdam (2006), the Spanish Vidal Group is acquired in its entirety in 2008. <\/li>\n<li><strong>2011:<\/strong> <\/li>\n<li><strong>2014:<\/strong> Italy becomes part of the AGROLAB family. With the purchase of R&amp;C Lab, we massively strengthen our presence in the south. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Growth with a firm footing: investing in independence (2019 \u2013 present)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We invest in our freedom and fill in the last blank spots on the map \u2013 with the hunger of a start-up, but the experience of 40 years.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2019:<\/strong> Move to the new holding company headquarters in Landshut. A clear commitment to our Lower Bavarian home. <\/li>\n<li><strong>2021 \u2013 2025:<\/strong> We are expanding our areas of expertise through targeted acquisitions such as Belan in Austria and IMU, which specialises in mineral oil.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2026\/2027: Building the future.<\/strong> A modern environmental laboratory is currently being built in Heudebouville, France. For our local customers, this means shorter distances and faster response times thanks to a regional team. <\/li>\n<li><strong>Today: New horizons.<\/strong> We are consolidating our presence in Switzerland and have now established our own location in Belgium. Most recently, with a new laboratory in Romania, we are taking the first step into another important market in South-Eastern Europe. We are starting small there \u2013 just as we did back then in Oberhummel.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221;][vc_column][eud_button button_text=&#8221;back to overview&#8221; link=&#8221;\/blog\/&#8221; button_pos=&#8221;eud_button_right&#8221; button_size=&#8221;eud_button_medium&#8221; use_icon=&#8221;yes&#8221; icon_animation=&#8221;hover&#8221; el_class=&#8221;marg_b30 marg_t10&#8243; icon=&#8221;fa-rightarrow-tail&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How did a small lab in an old schoolhouse become a network with locations from Belgium to Italy? Discover our milestones from 1986 to the present day and take a look at the future of our laboratory group. 40 years of experience \u2013 one click into our history!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-unkategorisiert","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3901"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4566,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3901\/revisions\/4566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrolab-events.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}