What Ivarson does

Ivarson Inc. is a privately held, family-owned industrial equipment company founded in 1963 by Len E. Ivarson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently led by his son Glenn Ivarson. The company serves as the exclusive North American distributor and solutions integrator for butter, cheese, margarine, shortening, and edible oil processing and packaging equipment, representing at least eight leading European manufacturers including Alpma, IMA Benhil, Simon Freres, Rothenburg, WAL, Paramelt, Bock & Sohn, Schaeffer & Flottmann, and Sonoco/Kadova. Its product portfolio spans the full production chain from raw material intake through final palletized packaging, including continuous and batch butter churns, scraped surface heat exchangers, dosing and wrapping machines, cartoners, case packers, cheese molds, and patented cheese wax systems.

Ivarson's revenue is generated through three streams: (1) sales of new industrial equipment (both proprietary Ivarson-branded machinery and distributed European OEM lines), (2) remanufactured equipment incorporating technology upgrades at lower capital cost, and (3) after-sales services including on-site technician support, spare parts inventory, technical phone support, equipment start-up, training programs, and equipment upgrades/rebuilds. The company holds two patented cheese wax formulations (Paradip Nowax and Paradip KS1/KS2) and develops proprietary equipment including the Ivarson 640 Block Cutting System, the Continuous Butter Churn, the Convector A-Unit and B-Unit scraped surface heat exchangers, the Bulk Packer, and the H2OMCON moisture control system. Pricing is quote-based on customized configurations for enterprise customers. The company operates as a direct enterprise field sales organization targeting dairy processors and edible oil manufacturers, with industry association ties to ABI, ADPI, IDFA, AOCS, and Wisconsin Cheese.

Name

Ivarson

Legal name

Ivarson Inc.

Website

https://ivarsoninc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ivarson Inc. is a family-owned Milwaukee-based industrial equipment company founded in 1963 that distributes and integrates butter, cheese, margarine, and edible oil processing and packaging equipment across North and South America, representing leading European manufacturers and offering proprietary machinery plus after-sales service.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Equipment Sales: Sale of new industrial food processing and packaging machinery including butter churns, wrapping machines, cartoners, case packers, cheese processing equipment, and complete production lines for butter, cheese, margarine, and edible oils.
2. Remanufactured Equipment: Expert remanufacturing of existing customer equipment returning it to new condition, incorporating latest technological upgrades at lower capital cost. Covers cup filling, butter/margarine packaging, mini portions, reworking, churning, transporting, and crystallizing equipment.
3. After-Sales Service and Spare Parts: Efficient after-sales service organization with high-quality service engineers for maintenance service and large selection of stocked spare parts. Includes on-site repairs, electrical and mechanical support, technical phone support, machine start-up assistance, and equipment maintenance plans.
4. Training Services: Individual training programs customized for customer needs including operator training, preventative maintenance, butter making, and equipment repair training programs.
5. Equipment Upgrades and Rebuilds: Refurbishment and enhancement of existing packaging equipment including both electrical and mechanical upgrades to increase equipment efficiency and prolong machine life.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ivarson Inc. manufactures, sells, and services industrial food processing and packaging machinery for the dairy (butter, cheese, margarine, spreads, shortening) and edible oil industries. The company delivers complete production line solutions from raw material intake through final palletized packaging, combining its own proprietary Ivarson-branded equipment with exclusive North American representation of leading European manufacturer lines. In addition to new equipment sales, Ivarson provides remanufactured equipment, after-sales service, spare parts, customized training, and equipment upgrades/rebuilds.

Product overview

Ivarson Inc. is a full-service solutions provider for butter, spreads, margarine, shortening, and cheese production and packaging equipment. The company distributes and supports equipment from multiple suppliers including IMA Benhil (MULTIPACK filling and wrapping machines), Simon Freres (CONTIMAB PROFLEX butter churns), Schaeffer & Flottmann (SFS packaging machines), Rothenburg (butter silos, reworkers, churns, trolleys), Sonoco/Crellin (Kadova cheese moulds), Paramelt (Paradip cheese waxes), Bock & Sohn (BPM, DKD, DKS, SAB packaging machines), and WAL (bulk packers, H2OMCON, BUMACON). Ivarson also manufactures proprietary equipment including the Ivarson 640 Cutter, Ivarson Bulk Packer, Cartoners, Case Packers, Chip Machines, Resting Tubes, Butter Churn, Convector A-Unit and B-Unit Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers, and Triplex Plunger Pumps. The portfolio covers the full production chain from raw material processing through final packaging, with equipment designed for dairy and edible oil industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ivarson 640 Block Cutting System High-output cheese block cutting system designed for feeding cutting, slicing and shred lines. Processes a 640-pound block in less than 4 minutes with consistent bar and loaf dimensions without trim, using quality materials and simplicity/sanitation-focused design.
• Ivarson Continuous Butter Churn Continuous butter churn for production of high-quality butter from ultra-creamy high-fat to low-fat butter with ingredient additions. Built in Wisconsin to meet strict USDA standards with stainless steel open frame and latest material advances to minimize maintenance.
• Ivarson Convector A-Unit (Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger) Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger for processing and crystallizing margarine, shortening, low fat spread and related yellow fat products. Features direct expansion cooling system with improved ammonia evaporation efficiency.
• Ivarson Convector B-Unit (Pin Worker) Pin Worker B-Unit for processing and crystallizing margarine, shortening, low fat spread, and yellow fat products. Features 90-degree off-set pin shaft design with four rows of rotating pins.
• Ivarson Bulk Packer High-speed precision bulk filling system for butter, margarine, and highly viscous products. Works with Ivarson's butter-making and transport system, handling 3 to 5 tons per hour.
• Ivarson Cartoners (IVC) IVC Cartoner for cartonning butter or margarine sticks in various pack arrangements. Features preformed carton blanks and gentle stick insertion with speeds up to 75 packs per minute.
• Ivarson Case Packers Semi-automatic case packers for soft or hard products such as butter, lard, margarine, and shortening, available in hard pack and soft pack variants with speeds up to 120 units per minute.
• Ivarson Chip Machines Stainless steel machines for processing margarine and butter into chip or sheet form, connecting directly to scraped surface heat exchangers or continuous butter churns.
• Ivarson Resting Tubes Provides proper product resting time for crystal structure and texture development prior to packaging. Includes water jacket for tempered water circulation.
• Ivarson Triplex Plunger Pumps High-pressure plunger pump units for pumping emulsions or oil blends for processing of margarine, shortening, low fat spread and related yellow fat products. Delivers up to 70 Bar discharge pressure.
• IMA Benhil MULTIPACK Series (filling and wrapping machines) Family of high-speed double- and single-cell dosing and wrapping machines for pasty-type products (butter, margarine, fresh cheese, soup paste, fruit paste, yeast, marzipan). Output up to 300 ppm (MULTIPACK 8600/8360), with dosing ranges from 5g mini portions to 1000g standard packs and CIP cleanable dosing systems.
• CARTOMAT 8562 Wrap-Around Cartoner Fully automatic wrap-around cartoner for packing sticks, bricks, or filled boxes with flexible configuration options. Maximum output of 100 cartons per minute.
• COPPARAPID 4000 Rotary Cup/Tub Filler Rotary filling and sealing machine for pasty products into pre-formed cups and tubs with recipe functionality and fast format change over.
• Benhil Microfix Facilitates handling of cooled butter and prepares packaging by reducing thawing time and optimizing butter consistency. Output 1400-3000 kg/hr.
• CONTIMAB PROFLEX Continuous Butter Churn Line Continuous butter churn line from Simon Freres with over 160 years of experience. Flexible, reliable butter churns producing 220 lb/hr to 28,660 lb/hr.
• Rothenburg Butter Silos Rothenburg butter silos with cambered shape for optimal hygiene. Available in sizes from 500kg to 10t with large diameter augers for gentle butter treatment.
• Rothenburg Reworkers (RBSX/RBSXS) Rothenburg RBSX and RBSXS reworking systems for processing frozen blocks of butter, cheese or margarine at -21°C. Capacity from 0.8t/h to 10t/h using kinetic energy only.
• Rothenburg Butter Churns (Batch) Non-continuous batch butter churn turning cream into butter. Standard sizes 150 or 250 liters per batch with continuously variable drive.
• Rothenburg Butter Trolleys Butter distribution vessels between churn and packing machines. Volume 1 Ton to 10 Tons with VFD controlled output and CIP cleaning.
• Kadova Cheese Moulds (Sonoco) Injection moulded cheese molds for pressed cheese production. Lightweight with smooth surface, allowing shorter pressing times and smoother releases. Available in Baby Gouda, Broodkaas, Comissie, Cylindrical, Edam, Gouda, Soft Cheese, and Tomme varieties.
• Schaeffer & Flottmann SFS 374 Wrap Around/Tray Packer Schaeffer & Flottmann wrap-around/tray packer for sticks, tubs, and 1lb solids. Packs up to 28 layers per minute with quick format flexibility.
• WAL Bulk Packer Fully automatic bulk butter-filling system with box erector, filling station with film wrapping, and box closing system. Capacity up to 4 tons per hour per filling head, expandable to 20 tons per hour.
• DKD / VDK Volumetric Dosing Stations Volumetric dosing stations for high-speed dosing of semi-liquid and firm products. DKD achieves 25,000 kg/h; VDK achieves 8,000 kg/h with ±0.1% weight accuracy.
• Bock & Sohn DKS 3000 Packaging Machine Fully automatic high-speed packaging machine for dosing, molding and wrapping into sticks and blocks. Capacity up to 13.5 t/h with wrapping range 1kg to 25kg.
• Bock & Sohn DKS 501p Bar Packaging Machine Fully automatic dosing, filling and packing machine for bars working on bottom folding principle. Capacity up to 5 t/h single line for 1kg and 2kg bars.
• Bock & Sohn SAB 3000 Semiautomatic Packing Machine Semiautomatic packing machine for blocks, bricks and slabs. Capacity up to 15 packets per minute with wrapping range 1kg to 25kg.
• Bock & Sohn BPM 3000 Slab Molding and Wrapping Machine Fully automatic molding and wrapping machine for slabs. Capacity up to 7.5 t/h with wrapping range 1kg to 5kg slabs.
• Paradip Cheese Wax Paramelt cheese wax formulated for coating cheese to protect from mold growth, weight loss, and transport damage. Available in colors including yellow, orange, black, white, blue, brown, red, purple, and green.
• Paradip Nowax Cheese Wax System Patented formulated cheese wax based on acetoglycerides as an alternative to conventional mineral wax. Allows gas permeability while retaining moisture in cheese for gas-forming cheeses. Can be applied directly after wet salting for maturing in final packaging.
• Remanufactured Equipment Expert remanufacturing of existing customer equipment returned to new condition, incorporating latest technological upgrades at lower capital cost. Covers cup filling, butter and margarine packaging, mini portions, reworking, churning, transporting, and crystallizing equipment.
• After-Sales Service and Spare Parts Efficient after-sales service organization with high-quality service engineers for maintenance service and large selection of stocked spare parts. Includes on-site repairs, electrical and mechanical support, technical phone support, machine start-up assistance, and equipment maintenance plans.
• Training Services Individual training programs customized for customer needs including operator training, preventative maintenance, butter making, and equipment repair training.
• Equipment Upgrades and Rebuilds Refurbishment and enhancement of existing packaging equipment including both electrical and mechanical upgrades to increase equipment efficiency and prolong machine life.

Quantifiable outcome

• Cutting lines can process up to 8000 pounds per hour
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• AlpmacoreTechnology or IntegrationNorth American partner for Alpma, the leader in cheese technology. Ivarson introduced Alpma cheese processing and packaging equipment from Germany in 1963. Together they offer cheese cutting lines with throughput of up to 8000 pounds per hour.
• IMA BenhilcoreTechnology or IntegrationIMA Benhil is a market leader with over 10,000 machines delivered worldwide. Benhil designs wrapping and cartoning machines for butter, margarine, fresh yeast, and soup paste. Ivarson worked closely with Benhil to develop filling and packaging machines specific to the US market.
• Simon FrerescoreTechnology or IntegrationSimon Freres, located in Cherbourg, France, is well-known in the dairy industry for CONTIMAB butter churns with over 160 years of experience. Introduced to the market in the 1960s, many churns installed in North America over the past 60 years are still in operation today.
• RothenburgcoreTechnology or IntegrationRothenburg GMBH has been serving the dairy industry worldwide since 1889. Offers butter silos, frozen butter reworkers, continuous mixers, and batch butter churns. Rothenburg revolutionized the dairy industry with vision, experience, and quality products.
• WALcoreTechnology or IntegrationWAL, founded in 1992, is an industry leader in butter bulk packaging systems, butter churn control systems, and moisture measurement and metering systems. WAL's fully automatic bulk butter filling system operates with a single operator.
• ParameltcoreTechnology or IntegrationParamelt has over a century of experience in cheese coatings. They develop Paradip, Paradip Nowax and Paracoat lines of cheese wax known worldwide for high and consistent quality.
• Bock & SohnmajorTechnology or IntegrationFor more than 90 years, Bock & Sohn has been developing and building equipment for packing edible fats in industrial sizes. They are a worldwide market leader for blocks, bars, plates, margarine, crystallized butter or fat packing equipment.
• Sonoco (Kadova Cheese Moulds)majorTechnology or IntegrationSonoco Crellin has been manufacturing quality Kadova cheese molds for over 55 years. Injection moulded cheese moulds are lightweight with smooth surface, allowing shorter pressing times and smoother releases. Suitable for all types of pressed cheese in manual or fully automated operations.
• Schaeffer & FlottmannmajorTechnology or IntegrationSchaeffer & Flottmann have been specializing in automation of packaging and product-sorting processes for over 70 years. Range includes secondary packaging machines covering erectors, packaging machines, closing and lidding modules, robot palletizers and handling systems, and bottle wrapping machines.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GEA Group: German global leader in food processing machinery with a large dedicated dairy equipment business (separators, homogenizers, butter churns, cheese vats) serving the same dairy processor customer base as Ivarson, but at substantially greater scale across all geographies.
• Tetra Pak: Worldwide dairy and food processing and packaging equipment provider; competes directly with Ivarson in butter/cheese processing lines and carton packaging while offering a much broader portfolio and global service network.
• Alfa Laval: Swedish industrial equipment maker with a food and dairy division covering heat exchangers, separators, and fat-processing equipment — overlapping with Ivarson's scraped surface heat exchangers and butter/cheese processing capabilities.
• SPX FLOW: Supplier of processing equipment and turnkey systems for the dairy, food, and beverage industries including pumps, mixers, heat exchangers, and separation technology directly comparable to Ivarson's processing and packaging line.
• Scherping Systems: US-based designer and manufacturer of cheese processing and handling equipment — a more direct niche overlap with Ivarson's cheese equipment portfolio, particularly for artisanal and mid-scale cheese makers.
• Feldmeier Equipment: Manufacturer of stainless steel processing equipment and sanitary tanks for dairy, food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries; comparable to Ivarson in dairy processing equipment at a similar specialized, smaller scale.
• Handtmann: German food processing and packaging technology company producing filling, portioning, and forming equipment for pasty products including butter, margarine, and cheese — directly competing with Ivarson's MULTIPACK and DKS filling/wrapping lines in the same product category.

Broad incumbents

• IMA Group: Italian parent company of IMA Benhil — one of Ivarson's core European OEM partners — and a much larger global packaging machinery group; comparable in product category (butter/margarine wrapping, cartoning) and a potential insourcing threat to Ivarson's distribution relationship.
• Marel: Iceland-based global food processing equipment provider (which absorbed Stork Food & Dairy Systems) with broad dairy and protein processing equipment coverage; competes with Ivarson in dairy plant equipment while serving a much wider end-market.
• JBT Corporation: US-listed food processing technology provider with protein, dairy liquid, and packaging solutions serving industrial food customers; overlaps with Ivarson's food/beverage processing equipment at larger scale and with a public-company capital base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ivarson-inc

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Ivarson