What Urnex Brands does

Urnex Brands, LLC is a US-based, privately-held manufacturer of cleaning and maintenance products for coffee and tea equipment, founded in 1936 and headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois with manufacturing operations in New York and regional warehouses in Asia and Europe. The company operates as a subsidiary of PurposeBuilt Brands, employs 51–100 people, and sells products in more than 70 countries under four owned brands: the core Urnex professional line (Cafiza, Grindz, Dezcal, Rinza, SuperGrindz), the eco-positioned Biocaf and Full Circle lines, and the alternative-formulation Puro line, distributed across powder, tablet, liquid, and capsule formats.

The company's core technology is formulation chemistry for coffee and tea soils and scale, executed by an in-house team of chemists and product technicians who engineer tablet shape, size, dissolution rate, and chemical composition for specific cleaning tasks. This expertise extends to custom product development: Urnex co-develops co-branded cleaning SKUs with more than 40 premier equipment manufacturers—Thermoplan, Schaerer, WMF, Bunn, Lavazza, OXO, Melitta, Diversey, and Baratza among them—embedding Urnex chemistry into the recommended maintenance workflows of those OEMs' machines.

Urnex earns revenue through one-time purchase sales (no subscription) of consumable cleaning products across two primary segments: commercial coffee establishments (coffee shops, restaurants, offices, roasters) and household consumers. Distribution is omnichannel, combining direct-to-consumer e-commerce on urnex.com, a global distributor and warehouse network across the US, Asia, and Europe, and OEM channel partnerships. Marketing is anchored by a global Ambassador Program of barista champions and content marketing through cleaning guides, blog, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and email newsletter, with the brand featured in major publications including the New York Times, Food and Wine, Serious Eats, Gear Patrol, and Epicurious.

Name

Urnex Brands

Legal name

Urnex Brands, LLC

Website

https://urnex.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1936

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Urnex Brands is a US-based, 1936-founded manufacturer of coffee and tea equipment cleaning products, selling tablets, powders, liquids, and capsules under Urnex, Biocaf, Puro, and Full Circle in 70+ countries to commercial coffee establishments and household consumers via OEM partnerships, global distribution, and direct e-commerce.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Elmsford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Cleaning Product Sales: Urnex develops, manufactures and sells products under brands including Urnex, Puro, Biocaf and Full Circle. Products are available in powder, tablet, liquid and capsule forms. Sold directly to commercial establishments (coffee shops, offices, restaurants) and household consumers through e-commerce and distribution partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Urnex Brands develops, manufactures, and sells specialized cleaning, descaling, and maintenance products for coffee and tea equipment under its own brands (Urnex, Cafiza, Grindz, Dezcal, Rinza) and sub-brands (Biocaf, Puro, Full Circle). Products are available in powder, tablet, liquid, and capsule forms for commercial coffee shops, offices, restaurants, and household consumers, and the company also develops custom cleaning formulations for more than 40 equipment manufacturers worldwide.

Product overview

Urnex Brands is a manufacturer of coffee and espresso equipment cleaning products, offering a comprehensive portfolio of cleaning, descaling, and maintenance solutions for both commercial and household coffee equipment. The product lineup includes tablets, powders, liquids, and capsules under multiple brands: Urnex (core professional products like Cafiza, Grindz, Dezcal, and Rinza), Biocaf (eco-friendly 100% biodegradable sub-brand), Puro (alternative cleaning formulations), and Full Circle (phosphate-free eco line). Products are designed for espresso machines, grinders, milk systems, drip coffee makers, single-serve brewers (K-Cup, Nespresso), roasters, and tea brewing equipment. Urnex also develops custom formulations for over 40 equipment manufacturers and offers specialized roaster cleaning products launched in 2019.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cafiza Powder

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ThermoplancoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment manufacturer partnership for custom cleaning product formulations. Thermoplan is a premier espresso machine manufacturer. Urnex develops specifically suited cleaning and descaling products for Thermoplan equipment including espresso machine cleaning tablets, milk system cleaning tablets, and descaler.
• SchaerercoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment manufacturer partnership. Schaerer is a Swiss professional coffee machine manufacturer. Urnex develops custom cleaning products for Schaerer equipment including Coffeepure Tablets, Milkpure Tablets, and Steam Wand & Milk System Cleaner.
• WMFcoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment manufacturer partnership. WMF (Wuerttembergische Metallwarenfabrik) is a German professional kitchen appliances manufacturer. Urnex develops Liquid Descaling Agent and Milk System Cleaning Tablets for WMF equipment.
• BunncoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment manufacturer partnership. Bunn is a prominent commercial coffee and beverage equipment manufacturer. Urnex develops co-branded cleaning tablets for Bunn equipment including Sure Immersion Cleaning Tablets and Tabz Coffee Equipment Cleaning Tablets.
• LavazzacoreTechnology or IntegrationEquipment manufacturer partnership. Lavazza is a major Italian coffee company. Urnex develops Coffee Machine Descaler for Lavazza equipment.
• BaratzaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGrinder manufacturer partnership. Baratza works with Urnex on educational content about grinder cleaning, featuring Urnex products in their 'Clean Grinder, Clean Cup' materials.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cafetto: Australia-based manufacturer of commercial coffee equipment cleaning products (espresso machine cleaners, grinder cleaners, descalers). Cafetto is the closest direct competitor to Urnex's Cafiza, Grindz, and Rinza product lines across professional café and roastery accounts globally.
• Puly Caff: Italian brand specializing in professional espresso machine cleaning powders and tablets. Puly Caff competes head-to-head with Urnex's Cafiza in European and global commercial accounts, with a comparable product format and price positioning.
• Caffenu: Manufacturer of cleaning capsules and kits for Nespresso, Keurig, and home espresso machines. Caffenu directly competes with Urnex's household K-Cup Cleaning & Descaling Kit and Nespresso Machine Cleaning & Descaling Kit product lines.
• Durgol: Swiss manufacturer of descaling products including espresso and coffee machine descalers. Durgol is a comparable single-application specialty cleaning brand competing directly with Urnex's Dezcal line in the descaling sub-category.

Broad incumbents

• Jura: Premium Swiss superautomatic espresso machine manufacturer that markets its own proprietary cleaning tablets, descaling products, and milk system cleaners. Jura competes with Urnex by vertically integrating cleaning into its equipment ecosystem.
• De'Longhi: Major Italian home espresso and coffee appliance manufacturer that sells co-branded descaling and cleaning products. De'Longhi competes with Urnex in the household cleaning segment via bundled and retail-channel offerings.
• Diversey: Global hygiene and cleaning solutions company with a broad foodservice cleaning portfolio including Suma Cafe Tabs. Diversey is simultaneously an Urnex OEM partner (Minor tier) and a broader competitor across commercial cleaning categories.
• Ecolab: Global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention with a significant foodservice and coffee equipment cleaning portfolio. Ecolab competes with Urnex for institutional and chain-account commercial contracts at scale.
• SC Johnson: Large consumer packaged goods company producing household specialty cleaning products. SC Johnson competes with Urnex in mass-market retail channels and could leverage scale advantages to expand into coffee equipment cleaning.
• Procter & Gamble: Diversified CPG giant with established cleaning brands (Mr. Clean, Cascade) competing in mass-market household cleaning categories where Urnex's household line also competes for shelf space and consumer wallet share.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/UrnexBrands
• Facebookfacebook.com/urnexbrands
• Instagraminstagram.com/urnexbrands
• Xx.com/urnexbrands
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urnex-brands-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urnex Brands