The vast majority of companies that exist today and are well known to consumers are no more than a hundred years old (usually only a few dozen). However, the history of business also knows real dinosaurs who appeared before the Renaissance and are still doing well today.
The vast majority of such companies operate in the construction, alcohol production and hotel business. Less common are industrial production, paper production, and foodstuffs. There are also quite exotic examples, such as the production of church utensils.
Among the oldest companies we could also mention all kinds of religious and governmental organizations, as well as educational institutions. However, in this article we will limit ourselves to brands that are relevant to the business world.
It is interesting that among the companies that are about 1,500 years old (!) there are most of them from Japan. Most likely, here we encounter a classic example of the Japanese mentality, where entire generations are working hard for the prosperity of their chosen business with the tenacity of ants. Thus, Kongō Gumi, which has been working in construction since 578, is considered to be the oldest industrial company in the world. Sadly, it no longer exists. Kongō Gumi was ruined by the collapse of the Japanese real estate market in 2007.
This is what Kongō Gumi workers looked like at the beginning of the century
Japan is also home to the world's oldest hotel. It is Nisiyama Onsen Keiunkan, founded back in 705 near a hot spring in Yamanashi Prefecture. Interestingly, one of the oldest Japanese companies, Genda Shigyo, founded in 771, originally specialized in the production of paper bags. In Europe, the production of similar products was established only centuries later, and mass production of paper did not begin until 1326 by Richard de Bas in France.
The second place in the number of "ancient" brands is confidently occupied by Germany. However, the oldest company in Western Europe is Austrian - Stiftskeller St. Peter, first mentioned in 803 and considered the oldest continuously operating restaurant. As for Germany, the oldest company in the country, Staffelter Hof, appeared in 862. It is still engaged in wine production today.
Stiftskeller St. Peter restaurant today
According to a report published in 2008 by the Bank of Korea, there are 5,586 companies in the world today that are older than 200 years. Of these, 3,146 are in Japan, 837 in Germany, 222 in the Netherlands (the oldest is Brand Brewery, 1340) and 196 in France (Château de Goulaine, 1000).
Today, Brand Brewery is just one of the brands owned by Heineken
It should be noted that no one knows the exact date of the founding of the companies of those years. Usually we are talking only about the date of the first mention in any sources. So, in fact, their age may be even greater than is commonly believed.
As for the U.S., a country which today plays such an important role in the business world, the oldest company is considered Seaside Inn (formerly Seaside Inn & Cottages), founded "very recently" - in 1667 and is still in the hotel business.
One of the Seaside Inn hotels
However, there is some confusion about the New World. For example, sometimes the oldest company in North America is called the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), founded in 1670 in Toronto, Canada. For a long time it specialized in the extraction of furs. Today, however, when it is no longer possible to harvest fur-bearing animals on the same scale, the company has retrained. It is now a retailer with a chain of supermarkets selling everything.