H.B. Fuller Company is an American multinational adhesives manufacturing company headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. H.B. Fuller manufactures more than 20,000 products for a variety of applications, including those used in construction, engineering, electronics, hygiene products, and food packaging. Its products are made at 81 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries. As of 2024, it was the fourth-largest manufacturer of adhesives and sealants in the world, employed approximately 7,500 people, and had revenues of US$3.57 billion. Celeste Mastin is the company's chief executive officer.[2] In 2024, the company ranked No. 781 on the Fortune 1000.[3]
H.B. Fuller was founded in 1887 by Harvey Benjamin Fuller. It began as a one-man operation in St. Paul, Minnesota, becoming a supplier of adhesives with business throughout the United States by the 1890s. It was run by the Fuller family until 1941, when Elmer L. Andersen purchased a majority stake in the company and assumed leadership. Andersen expanded the company internationally and took it public in 1968. It became a member of the Fortune 500 in the 1980s. In the 1990s, reports surfaced that children in Latin America were inhaling vapors from H.B. Fuller solvent-based adhesives used in the manufacture of footwear. In response, H.B. Fuller changed its formulation and ceased sale of the adhesive to the general public. The company reorganized in the early 2000s to become a specialty chemical firm. It acquired companies and built plants in China and India in the 2010s.