KRONEN GmbH and Urschel Laboratories Inc. plan to work in close cooperation in the future. Both companies aim to use this partnership to strengthen their market positions, pool their expertise, increase sales and achieve sustainable growth. The two companies and their brands will remain completely independent, and they will continue to run their production facilities – Urschel in Chesterton, Ind., and KRONEN in Kehl, Germany, and Achern, Germany.

In operational terms, the cooperation mainly involves a sales partnership in specifically defined countries and regions. In the future, Urschel will sell KRONEN’s machines and processing lines, namely in Mexico, the U.S. and Asia – with the exception of Vietnam, where KRONEN’s sales activities will remain in the hands of its representatives. The sales cooperation will begin in the U.S. and Mexico in July. KRONEN’s sales activities in Asia will be handed over to Urschel in 2026. The partners will also team up to pursue a multitude of strategic objectives, with the aim of pooling their expertise and working together to develop further.

Food Technology Manufacturers Take on a Joint Market Position

The companies have decided to join forces to make optimal use of their potential and achieve sustainable growth. Urschel has sales networks in the U.S., Mexico and Asia, and the cooperation will allow KRONEN GmbH to benefit from them as well. Urschel also offers a showroom in its U.S. home market, where it will present KRONEN’s solutions in the future. KRONEN will continue to work with its existing sales partners in Vietnam and all other countries. KRONEN GmbH has a network of representatives in approximately 80 countries.

The cooperation will also provide synergistic effects for both partners, which will enable them to further develop skills and take their expertise to a new level. Urschel manufactures cutting and milling systems for high processing capacities, as well as knives. KRONEN’s machines and lines will complement Urschel’s product range, enabling Urschel to offer its customers in the U.S., Mexico and Asia complete solutions for all processing steps – from disinfection, preparation, peeling, cutting and mixing to washing, drying, conveying, weighing and packaging. KRONEN’s cutting machines that cover other customer requirements will also be added to Urschel’s sales portfolio.

“Our cooperation with Urschel and other partners, such as iWEIGH, puts us in an even better position to offer our customers large-scale lines and complete solutions from a single source,” declares Stephan Zillgith, managing director of KRONEN. “We want to work with Urschel to become the market leader for innovative, new solutions for the fresh-cut industry in Mexico, the U.S. and Asia.”

Investments Planned at KRONEN’s Sites in Germany

Urschel will receive a minority stake in KRONEN GmbH in return for its financial contribution. Urschel, which has been fully owned by its employees since 2016, plans to use its capital to expand its market position by investing in KRONEN’s Kehl and Achern locations.

“The partnership represents a milestone in KRONEN’s company history,” Zillgith states. “Such cooperations do not come about every day, and this partnership will strengthen our market position and profile. The increase in orders and sales, and the investments made by Urschel in our two production locations in Kehl and Achern, will allow us to develop more rapidly. As a result, we will not only be able to expand our production capacities and further strengthen our development of new solutions, but can also continue to be a future-proof employer.”

KRONEN will not receive any shares in Urschel. Zillgith, Eric Lefebvre and Johannes Günther will continue their roles on KRONEN GmbH’s management board.

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with KRONEN today,” says Alan Major, a member of Urschel’s board of directors. “Urschel is proud to be a 100% employee-owned company, and our corporate culture is an excellent match for KRONEN as a family company. We can also make the most of a multitude of synergies. The fact that we offer different, complementary solutions means that our product ranges and expertise complement each other perfectly. As a result, we can serve the needs of our customers even better. For us, the cooperation represents a sustainable investment in the future.”