What Kelco Supply Company does

Kelco Supply Company is a family-owned distributor of funeral, cemetery, and cremation supplies, founded in 1939 by Leo Hodroff as L.H. Kellogg Chemical Company while he studied Mortuary Science at the University of Minnesota. Headquartered in Big Lake, Minnesota, the company operates a Shopify-hosted e-commerce storefront offering 1,950+ products across 11 categories: Prep Room/Care Center (466 SKUs), Chapel (362), Cremation Urns (522), Service Items (209), Cemetery (161), Pet (128), OSHA/PPE (113), First Call (117), Crematory (70), catalogs/publications, and Kelco SWAG merchandise. The product mix spans third-party brands alongside a proprietary Kelco line of embalming fluids (Kelspecial 35, Kelfirm 30, Kelmedium 25, Lanobase series, cavity fluids, and specialty formulations) and an Infinity private-label urn catalog of 650+ SKUs.

The business runs a dual-channel model. Verified wholesale accounts — funeral homes, crematories, cemeteries, and pet crematories approved via business license and resale certificate — receive up to 50% off list pricing and access to the Kelco Bucks loyalty program with tier-based shipping savings and rebates. Individual consumers and bereaved families can browse and order as guests without logging in, with consumer pricing displayed publicly across a wide range from approximately $3 to $13,895. Distribution is via UPS, FedEx, and USPS with same-day shipping on orders received by 2:00 PM CST, reaching the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada. A 24/7 embalming technical support hotline, staffed by certified embalmer Art Tejada with 40+ years of experience, adds a service layer beyond commodity distribution.

Kelco has been BBB A+ accredited since February 6, 1976 with zero complaints filed and is operationally run by President & CEO Alicia Carr, who purchased the company from her family's estate in 2004 after her mother Nira Mesker (the 1990 private buyer from SCI) passed away. The firm maintains leadership involvement across 13 industry associations including NFDA, CANA, ICCFA, and the American Society of Embalmers, embedding it institutionally in the U.S. funeral profession. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the company is privately held with no venture or institutional ownership identified.

Name

Kelco Supply Company

Legal name

Kelco Supply Company

Website

https://kelcosupply.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1939

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kelco Supply Company is a family-owned distributor of funeral, cemetery, cremation, and memorial supplies, offering 1,950+ products across prep room, chapel, cremation, and pet categories to funeral professionals and consumers in the U.S. and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Big Lake

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, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Product Sales - Wholesale: Primary revenue stream from selling funeral, cemetery, and cremation supplies to verified wholesale accounts at discounted prices (up to 50% off). Accounts require business verification and approval.
2. Product Sales - Consumer: Direct-to-consumer sales of funeral and memorial products including cremation urns, remembrance items, and keepsake jewelry. Consumer pricing shown without login.
3. Kelco Bucks Loyalty Program: Rebate program where qualifying dollars accumulate through purchases, advancing customers to higher tiers for shipping savings and rebates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kelco Supply Company distributes funeral, cremation, cemetery, and prep-room products to licensed funeral professionals and to individual consumers, offering more than 1,950 SKUs across 11 categories including embalming fluids, instruments, PPE, first-call supplies, chapel items, cremation urns, cemetery equipment, and pet memorialization products. The company sells a proprietary line of Kelco brand embalming chemicals, runs a wholesale account program with discounts of up to 50%, and provides 24/7 technical embalming support.

Product overview

Kelco Supply Company is a funeral supply distributor offering a comprehensive portfolio of 1,950+ products across 11 major categories serving funeral professionals, cemeterians, medical examiners, and consumers. The core offering spans preparation room supplies (embalming fluids, instruments, PPE), cremation products (urns, containers, equipment), chapel/ceremony items, cemetery equipment, first-call response supplies, and memorial products. The company distributes private-label Kelco brand embalming chemicals alongside third-party products. Key brands include Infinity Urn Catalog (650+ urns), Infinity Pet line, and Kelco SWAG merchandise. Services include 24/7 embalming technical support, wholesale accounts with up to 50% discounts, and a loyalty program (Kelco Bucks). The company operates primarily as a B2B distributor with wholesale approval requirements, while also serving retail consumers through guest checkout.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Prep Room/Care Center Products A 466-SKU range of preparation room and care center supplies including embalming fluids, instruments, plastic undergarments, PPE, equipment, tables, restorative cosmetics, sundries, and disinfectants for funeral professionals.
• OSHA/PPE Products 113 SKUs of personal protective equipment and safety supplies including gloves, disposable and reusable garments, masks, eye protection, and safety monitoring equipment.
• First Call Products 117 SKUs of initial response and removal supplies including cots, cot covers, body bags, containment items, stretchers, transfer boards, utility cases, vehicle conversion equipment, and processional lighting.
• Chapel Products 362 SKUs of funeral chapel and service setting supplies including chapel settings, torchieres, reflectors, bulbs, lecterns, register stands, crowd control items, flags, easels, candles, folding chairs, tables, sound systems, sanctuary lamps, casket displays, and outdoor reception items.
• Service Items 209 SKUs of funeral service documentation and religious items including register books, service records, prayer cards, acknowledgment cards, bequest envelopes, boxed sets, laminating supplies, crucifixes, rosaries, flag cases, pallbearer gloves, Jewish elements, memorial elements, and crosses.
• Crematory Products 70 SKUs of cremation process supplies including bags, pouches, cremation containers, cremation equipment, replenishment items, safety compliance products, and body storage/cooling racks for crematory operators.
• Cemetery Products 161 SKUs of cemetery operations supplies including lowering devices, grounds equipment, tents, grave markers, remembrance lights, vases, flags, holders, committal stands, urn burial accessories, casket trucks, flower carts, outdoor comfort items, green burial products, and processional items.
• Cremation Urns 522-SKU collection of cremation urns including wood, metal, ceramic, synthetic, stone urns, alkaline hydrolysis vessels, eco-friendly/biodegradable options, infant/children urns, keepsake/sharing urns, companion urns, value urns, appliques, plush keepsakes, and burial vaults.
• Pet Products 128 SKUs of pet memorialization products including pet urns, pet keepsake jewelry, pet appliques, pet caskets, and pet remembrance tributes for pet crematories, veterinary clinics, and pet owners.
• Kelco SWAG 7 SKUs of company-branded merchandise including sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, mugs, can koozies, and wall clocks.
• Infinity Urn Catalog 147-page full-color publication featuring over 650 unique cremation urns with a value line of 150 urns priced under $100 wholesale, expanded eco-friendly options, and keepsake jewelry.
• Infinity Pet Catalog Pet memorialization catalog featuring pet cremation urns, keepsake jewelry, and memorialization items from the Infinity Pet by Kelco line.
• General Supply Catalog Comprehensive funeral supply catalog covering prep room, cremation, chapel, cemetery, funeral home, removal, and transportation supplies.
• Kelco Brand Embalming Fluids Proprietary line of embalming fluid products including Kelspecial 35, Kelfirm 30, Kelmedium 25, Kelfartisol 20, Keltone 15, Lanobase 18/23/28, Keljaundice 4, Kelpresol D3, Kelquestrol D3, Bistat C 30, Kelcavex 17/35, Kelviscera 35, Viscerol 30, and specialty formulations.
• 24/7 Embalming Support Round-the-clock technical support hotline staffed by a certified embalmer with 40+ years of experience for product application guidance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 50% discount on wholesale products
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Casket & Funeral Supply Association of AmericacoreOthers · 1 January 1913Founded in 1913 as the Casket Manufacturers' Association of America. Represents interests of member suppliers to licensed funeral homes and funeral directors.
• Cremation Association of North America (CANA)coreOthers · 1 January 1913International organization with over 1,500 members composed of cremationists, funeral directors, funeral home operators, cemeterians, industry suppliers and consultants.
• National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA)coreOthersLeading and largest association for the funeral service profession.
• International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral AssociationcoreOthersOnly international trade association representing all segments of the cemetery, funeral service, cremation and memorialization profession.
• American Society of EmbalmersminorOthersPromotes excellence in 21st century practice of mortuary arts and sciences. Has over 600 members from 45 states and 18 foreign countries.
• International Association of Pet Cemeteries & Crematories (IAOPCC)minorOthersNot-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing standards, ethics, and professionalism of pet cemeteries and crematories worldwide.
• Minnesota Funeral Directors AssociationcoreOthersStatewide resource connecting members with people, resources, ideas, solutions and best practices. Supports professional growth, ethics, and legislative representation for Minnesota funeral directors.
• National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association, Inc.minorOthersMembership association of professional funeral directors, morticians and embalmers dedicated to promoting common professional and business interests.
• New Jersey State Funeral Director's AssociationminorOthersProvides funeral service professionals with consistent government voice, guidance on regulations, and promotion of mortuary science education.
• Selected Independent Funeral HomesminorOthersInternational association of independent and locally owned funeral homes utilizing best practices in serving families.
• Better Business BureaucoreOthersKelco Supply Company has been a BBB Accredited Business since 02/06/1976 with A+ rating and zero complaints filed.
• Women's Business Enterprise National CouncilminorOthersFounded in 1997. Largest third-party certifier of businesses owned, controlled, and operated by women in the United States.
• Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary ScienceminorOthersHas been providing training for students entering funeral service for over seventy-five years.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Titan Caskets: Direct-to-consumer casket retailer offering transparent pricing online. Represents a different distribution model targeting consumers and smaller funeral homes, with adjacent overlap to Kelco's broader funeral supply business and its own growing consumer offering.
• Perfect Memorials: Direct-to-consumer online retailer of cremation urns, memorial products, and keepsakes. Competes with Kelco's consumer segment (cremation urns, pet products) through a more focused, digital-first proposition targeting end-consumers rather than funeral professionals.

Broad incumbents

• Matthews International (Memorialization segment): Large diversified provider of funeral products including caskets, cremation equipment, and memorial products. While broader in scope than Kelco, Matthews competes in overlapping categories (cremation, memorialization) with established scale and resources.
• Batesville (a Hillenbrand brand): One of the largest US casket and funeral product manufacturers, owned by Hillenbrand. While primarily a manufacturer rather than a multi-line distributor like Kelco, Batesville competes in adjacent product categories that funeral homes may procure from Kelco.

Direct peers

• Champion Chemical Company: Supplier of embalming chemicals and related prep-room products to funeral professionals. Overlaps with Kelco's private-label chemical line and prep-room category.
• Trinity Pet / Eternity Pet Memorials: Pet cremation and memorialization product supplier serving pet crematories and veterinary clinics. Directly comparable to Kelco's 128-SKU pet product line and dedicated Infinity Pet catalog in the pet memorialization vertical.
• The Dodge Company: Long-established US supplier of embalming fluids, restorative products, and prep-room supplies to funeral homes. Direct competitor in the same chemical and prep-room category that is a core Kelco offering.
• Frigid Fluid Company: Manufacturer of embalming chemicals and mortuary supplies serving funeral homes. Direct competitor in the same customer segment and prep-room product category.
• Pierce Companies / Pierce Chemical: Major US manufacturer and supplier of embalming chemicals and prep-room supplies, directly overlapping with Kelco's Kelco-brand chemical line and prep-room product category. Both serve funeral professionals with chemical inputs and related supplies.

Others

• National Casket & Funeral Supply Association member suppliers: Industry trade association representing casket manufacturers and funeral supply distributors. Not a direct competitor but rather an ecosystem participant that Kelco engages with through its 13 industry association memberships, providing context for peer dynamics in the wholesale funeral supply market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kelcosupplycompany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kelco-supply-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Kelco Supply Company