FRoSTA

What FRoSTA does

FRoSTA AG is a European frozen food manufacturer headquartered in Bremerhaven, Germany, operating four production facilities across Germany (Bremerhaven, Bobenheim-Roxheim, Lommatzsch) and Poland (Bydgoszcz). The company employs 1,849 people across eight countries as of December 2025 and was founded in 1961. Its product portfolio spans frozen fish, ready meals, vegetables, fruit, and herbs under the core FRoSTA brand, the Tiko sub-brand for Eastern Europe, the Elbtal vegetable brand, and a co-pack/private label manufacturing segment serving European retail and wholesale customers. Additional distribution channels include foodservice supply and heimdienst home delivery.

Core technology centers on proprietary quick-freezing processes that achieve field-to-freezer processing in approximately two hours for vegetables, preserving nutritional value and taste. The company's Reinheitsgebot (Purity Promise), in effect since January 2003, eliminates all artificial additives including flavor enhancers, colors, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and flavors from all branded products. Since September 2015, all products display the origin country of every ingredient via on-pack declarations and the online Zutatentracker. Production is governed by ISO 50001 energy management certification across all plants, MSC-certified sustainable fish sourcing, and German LkSG supply chain due diligence compliance. A 50-meter glass production viewing area at the Bremerhaven plant supports transparency since March 2015.

FRoSTA generates revenue through three primary streams: (1) branded product sales through retail supermarkets in Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, and Eastern Europe; (2) co-pack/private label manufacturing for European retail and wholesale customers; and (3) foodservice and heimdienst direct-to-customer supply. In FY2016 the company reported consolidated revenue of EUR 466 million, split approximately evenly between brand (EUR 227.2M, +12.4%) and co-pack (EUR 238.9M), with EUR 31.1M EBIT and EUR 21.6M net income. FRoSTA AG is publicly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Entry Standard, with the Ahlers family (CEO Felix Ahlers and Supervisory Board Chairman Dirk Ahlers) controlling approximately 35.8% of shares and the remaining ~64.2% in free float across 6,812,598 shares outstanding.

Name

FRoSTA

Legal name

FRoSTA Aktiengesellschaft

Website

https://frosta-ag.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

FRoSTA AG is a European frozen food manufacturer producing branded and private-label fish, ready meals, vegetables, and fruit across four plants in Germany and Poland, serving retail, foodservice, and wholesale customers in nine countries under a no-additive purity promise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bremerhaven

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Brand Product Sales (FRoSTA): Sale of FRoSTA-branded frozen products including fish, vegetables, prepared meals, fruit, and herbs through retail/supermarkets in Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, and Eastern Europe. This is the company's primary branded revenue stream.
2. Co-pack / Private Label Manufacturing: Development and manufacturing of high-quality customer brands for European retail and wholesale, including branded products under customer specifications (Tiko, Elbtal, and other private label).
3. Foodservice & Heimdienst (Home Delivery): Supply of frozen products to foodservice customers, large-scale consumers, industrial customers, and direct home delivery service (heimdienst) across Europe.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FRoSTA AG manufactures and sells branded and private-label frozen foods — including fish, ready meals, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and soups — through retail supermarkets, foodservice distributors, home delivery, and co-packing/private label channels. Production occurs at four facilities in Germany and Poland, with a strict Reinheitsgebot (Purity Promise) eliminating artificial additives from all branded products.

Product overview

FRoSTA AG is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of innovative, high-quality frozen foods. The company operates under a platform model with multiple product lines: the core FRoSTA brand (fish products since 1976, ready meals, vegetables, and fruits) featuring the company's strict 'Reinheitsgebot' purity mandate; the Tiko sub-brand for Eastern European markets; and the Elbtal vegetable brand. Additionally, the company operates a private-label contract manufacturing segment (Co-pack) serving European retail and wholesale customers, alongside dedicated Foodservice and Home Delivery business channels. The company has four production facilities in Germany (Bremerhaven, Bobenheim-Roxheim, Lommatzsch) and Poland (Bydgoszcz).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tiko: Fish and prepared meals brand
• Elbtal
• Copack

Products and services

• FRoSTA Brand Frozen Fish Products Frozen fish products including fish fingers, breaded fish, oven-baked fish, and pan-fry fish products produced at the Bremerhaven plant and Bydgoszcz (Poland) facility, including MSC-certified Alaska pollock fillets. Sold to retail consumers under the FRoSTA brand.
• FRoSTA Brand Frozen Ready Meals Complete frozen meals and dish classics (Nasi Goreng, Paella, chicken dishes, chili dishes) sold under the FRoSTA brand, all adhering to the Reinheitsgebot purity mandate avoiding additives, colors, flavors, stabilizers, and emulsifiers since January 2003.
• FRoSTA Brand Frozen Vegetables Frozen vegetables including peas, carrots, beans, cabbage, herbs, butter vegetables, cream vegetables, and spinach grown on fields surrounding the Bobenheim-Roxheim and Lommatzsch production facilities. Processed within two hours from harvest to freezing to preserve nutritional value.
• FRoSTA Brand Frozen Fruits Frozen fruit mixes manufactured at the Bremerhaven plant, offering various fruit combinations for retail consumers under the FRoSTA brand.
• FRoSTA Vegan Chili con Quinoa Vegan frozen product (Texan-Mexican style Chili con Quinoa) launched in May 2017 as part of FRoSTA's expanded plant-based product range, made with selected ingredients for nutritional value without animal components.
• Tiko Brand (Fish and Ready Meals) Sub-brand of FRoSTA AG for fish and ready meal products targeting the Eastern European market, distributed from the Bydgoszcz (Poland) production facility.
• Elbtal Brand (Vegetables) Vegetable sub-brand of FRoSTA AG, with products processed at the Lommatzsch and Bobenheim-Roxheim production facilities in Germany and distributed by wholly-owned subsidiary Elbtal Tiefkühlkost Vertriebs GmbH.
• FRoSTA Private Label / Co-Pack Manufacturing Custom private label production service for European retail chains and wholesale customers, developing and manufacturing high-quality customer brands under customer specifications including soups for the Eastern European market. Operated via subsidiaries Copack Tiefkühlkost-Produktions GmbH (Germany) and Copack France S.A.R.L.
• FRoSTA Foodservice Distribution B2B foodservice and catering distribution channel supplying frozen food products to restaurants, hotels, and institutional catering customers across Europe. Operated through subsidiary FRoSTA Foodservice GmbH; the segment showed 19% growth in 2016.
• FRoSTA Home Delivery (Heimdienst) Home delivery service distributing frozen food products directly to consumers and small business customers across Europe, generating 5.9% growth in 2016.

Quantifiable outcome

• Brand revenue growth of 20.7% across all countries in 2016
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 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

One partnership is on record.

• Columbus Spedition GmbHminorOthersLogistics partner providing transportation and shipping services for FRoSTA products. FRoSTA holds 33.33% equity stake in Columbus Spedition. Transactions include shipping services and transportation costs.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Nomad Foods: Owner of Iglo, Birds Eye, and Findus brands across Europe; the largest direct competitor to FRoSTA in branded frozen fish, vegetables, and ready meals sold through European grocery retail.
• Ardo: Belgian frozen vegetables, herbs, and fruit producer supplying European retail and foodservice; comparable to FRoSTA in frozen vegetable processing and quick-freezing capability.
• McCain Foods: Global leader in frozen potato products and prepared frozen foods, serving European retail and foodservice; comparable to FRoSTA in multi-channel frozen food manufacturing with strong private-label capability.
• Bofrost: German/European direct-to-consumer frozen food home delivery specialist; directly comparable to FRoSTA's heimdienst (home delivery) revenue stream and overlapping product range.
• Hügli: Swiss-based producer of convenience and frozen foods (soups, sauces, ready meals) for private label and branded channels; comparable to FRoSTA's co-pack and prepared meals segments.
• Bonduelle: French-headquartered frozen and canned vegetable producer with strong European retail presence; directly comparable to FRoSTA's Elbtal vegetable operations and Bremerhaven fruit mix products.
• Greenyard: Belgian frozen and prepared vegetable/fruit supplier to European retailers and food industry; directly comparable in product mix, private label offering, and customer base to FRoSTA.

Broad incumbents

• Tyson Foods: US protein major with frozen prepared foods, breaded chicken, and seafood products; broader incumbent in frozen protein and prepared meals with overlapping product categories to FRoSTA.
• Conagra Brands: Large North American packaged food company with a significant frozen meals portfolio (Birds Eye in North America, Healthy Choice); broader incumbent operating in the same category as FRoSTA's ready meals business.
• Dr. Oetker: German family-owned food conglomerate with frozen pizza and convenience food divisions (Ristorante, Gustavo Gusto); competes for the same German retail shelf space as FRoSTA in the frozen category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/frosta_de
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/FRoSTAde
• Facebookfacebook.com/frosta.de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/frosta-ag
• Instagraminstagram.com/frosta_de

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries12 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 FRoSTA