Fenjal

Fenjal is a body-care and bathing brand of Swiss origin, built around a signature cream bath oil first sold in 1962 [6]. It was created by Hans Grether, then head of the Basel pharmaceutical wholesaler Doetsch Grether & Cie., and the brand stayed within that company for more than half a century. Since 2016 it has belonged to the German manufacturer fit GmbH, part of the BlueSun Group [7].

The brand is active. Its products are distributed in close to 40 countries, with a particular presence in German-speaking markets, and it ran a fresh advertising campaign with a named ambassador as recently as 2024.

The story Fenjal tells of its own beginning starts with a business trip. According to the brand's accounts, Hans Grether brought a nourishing oil bath back from the United States in the early 1960s; the formula at the time tended to let the oil separate from the water and lacked a pleasant scent. As a trained pharmacist running Doetsch Grether & Cie. since 1947, he had his laboratory rework it so the oil would blend fully into bath water and carry a fragrance [10]. The result launched in Switzerland in 1962 under the name Fenjal Creme Ölbad. Doetsch Grether describes it as "the first product in the world to blend an oil with a bath product" [8].

Most sources place the launch in 1962. A heritage note attached to the brand recorded the year as 1956, but the brand's own sites, Wikipedia, the 2016 acquisition press release and the German brand encyclopedia brandslex all give 1962 as the registration and launch year [6]; the earlier 1899 date belongs to the parent company, not to Fenjal itself.

The parent firm predates the brand by decades. Richard Doetsch and Oscar Grether opened a pharmacy in Basel in 1899, and the business grew into a pharmaceutical and cosmetics wholesaler before Fenjal existed. After the 1962 launch, the brand expanded abroad the following year, with distribution in Germany and Austria handled by Johnson & Johnson [10].

In 2022 Fenjal marked its 60th anniversary with a limited gold edition of its cream oil bath, shower cream and body lotion. In 2024 the German actress Heike Makatsch was announced as ambassador for the "EINFACH ICH SEIN" ("Simply Being Myself") campaign, alongside a breast-cancer charity initiative that pledged a donation from a limited pink-edition line to Brustkrebs Deutschland e.V. [4].

Fenjal belonged to Doetsch Grether AG of Basel from its launch until 1 June 2016, when the German company fit GmbH, based in Hirschfelde near Zittau, acquired the brand [6][7]. A heritage note still listed Doetsch Grether as the current owner, but that is out of date: the company was the original parent, while fit GmbH (BlueSun Group) has held the brand since 2016 [5]. After the sale, the entire Fenjal production line was dismantled in Muttenz, Switzerland, and rebuilt at Hirschfelde, and the brand has since carried a "Made in Germany" designation [9].

The brand's identity remains tied to Switzerland as its country of origin, even though its operational and legal headquarters have been in Germany since the acquisition.

Fenjal presents itself as more than ordinary body care. Its Swiss site uses the line "Mehr als Körperpflege - Balsam für Haut und Seele" ("More than body care - balm for skin and soul"), framing the products around spa-inspired bathing rituals and everyday self-care. The brand leans on continuity, describing its long-running CLASSIC fragrance as "a constant mysterious companion" with appeal across generations. The brand is positioned as "the classic of Europe's body care brands" and aimed at "self-confident women who love their womanliness and value themselves," combining affordability with a feminine, indulgent register [9]. Press coverage has noted a marketing focus on an audience aged 50 and over.

The range centres on the original Creme Ölbad CLASSIC and extends to shower creams, body lotions and milks, deodorants, soap, facial care and fragrances, organised into lines such as CLASSIC, INTENSIV, SENSITIV and Better Skin. A sub-line, miss fenjal, offers floral perfumes. The brand lists jojoba oil, peach extract, hyaluronic acid and bakuchiol — described as a retinol alternative — among its ingredients, and states that all its products are made with vegan ingredients [2].

In 2024 the consumer-testing magazine ÖKO-TEST gave Fenjal's Shower Mousse CLASSIC a rating of "gut" ("good") [12].

Fenjal is an active brand. It is distributed in close to 40 countries under fit GmbH, with manufacturing in Hirschfelde, Germany [7]. Its most recent documented activity is the September 2024 launch of the "EINFACH ICH SEIN" campaign with Heike Makatsch and the accompanying breast-cancer charity initiative.