How did it all start?

I studied Industrial Technology & Management Science at the University of Bradford in England until 1988. Then I then spent two years as part of the team organising conferences for young people for Initiatives of Change, an international non-profit organisation that campaigns for a just, peaceful and sustainable world, in order to connect them with each other on a permanent basis. I also wrote for this organisation’s magazine.

From 1990 to 1991 I worked for a bank, entering data on the computer. I came to Nuremberg from England in the summer of 1991 and started working in a small computer company to improve my German language skills. After six months, I found out from my agent at the job centre that Dr. Harnisch Publications was looking for an editor with a technical background, writing skills, experience with people and travel. But English language skills were particularly important. This was my chance! I started working for Dr Harnisch Publications in February 1992 (and married Heike, my job centre agent in the same year).

I started out working for the trade magazine Food Marketing & Technology. I was allowed to select text and image material and edit texts into tidier English, followed by customer contacts and trade fair visits. After six months, I was responsible for creating the magazine and was able to decide for myself which articles to publish. At the same time, I expanded my DTP skills and so I was not only responsible for the content, but also for the layout of the magazine. In June 1992, I travelled to the USA for the first time for the publishing house. This was followed by several trips to the United States. Each visit enriched me and showed me something new – which still happens today!

 

What changes have you observed since then?

Dr Harnisch Publications was established in 1919 with the world’s first export magazine, Overseas Post. A lot has changed since then. In the 1990s, the publishing house specialised in the food and beverage sector. There were also trade journals for other sectors, such as process technology, construction elements, the woodworking industry, the food trade and the advertising materials sector. Since then, a number of new trade magazines have been created that have enjoyed immediate success in their respective niches. Over the past 10 years, we have increasingly focussed on digital distribution, newsletters and special editions for the specialist audience.

 

 

What were the particular challenges?

The technologies we work with at the publishing house are constantly changing. You always have to adapt. In the beginning, we used telex and manual montage paste-up. Then, fax machines were added and only later e-mails, which made work much easier and more efficient for us. You have to stay constantly up-to-date. Work is becoming more and more digital and therefore faster.

 

What has been one of your highlights?

Travelling around the world, such as being invited to Dubai to give a lecture or to South Korea to take part in a special food project as a guest of the government. I had a special experience in the north-west of Spain, where I visited a carrageenan factory. Carrageenan comes from seaweed from the cold water at the end of the continent. Lost in thought, I looked at the vast sea and waved across the Atlantic. Two years later, I took part in a blueberry harvest in eastern Canada, looked out over the vast ocean again and waved back.

 

 

What lows have you experienced?

One low point was on a trip to the south of France when I was given a traditional fish soup to eat as a guest. The next day I had red spots all over my body. It was on this occasion that I discovered my allergy to seafood.

 

What trends have you observed?

In publishing, everything is becoming faster and more accurate, the quality is getting better and better. You used to have to pay extra for a colour page, which didn’t happen that often because you were supposed to save money. That has changed. The trend is also moving away from print and towards digital publishing. However, there is still a need for printed magazines, as specialised articles simply live longer in the industry.

 

 

What new magazines have been added since then?

We founded drinkworld Technology & Marketing in 1997 because we had many customers, over 50 % of whom were active in the beverage industry. It didn’t make sense to publish just one magazine for the food sector – as it would involve too much wastage in advertising scatter. We developed the latest magazine 5 years ago for the production of pet food. PetFood PRO has struck a particular chord and developed into an internationally recognised magazine. Pet food has become better and better, especially where pets have become real family members. And that worldwide! The global pandemic has made many people more aware of this.

 

How do you manage to balance out a stressful working day?

After my first trip to the USA, I married my agent from the job centre, who I had known since we met earlier at one of the conferences I had helped to organise, and we have four children together. I am very happy to have my family behind me and to be able to support my children, who are now grown up, as much as possible. As a football fanatic, I helped train my children at the club. We now play together in a recreational team.

 

 

What do you wish for the future?

I am grateful to have experienced so much and at how everything has developed. I hope that it continues like this and that more and more people get involved in what I have started at the publishing house. For me, sustainability means passing on what you have learnt and experienced in a positive way.

 

“Mr Healey is our ‘face to the world!’”
“On his food adventures, he is not just an editor-in-chief, but also a connoisseur”
Benno Keller, Publishing Director