Kness Manufacturing Co.

What Kness Manufacturing Co. does

Kness Manufacturing Co. (operating under the brand Kness Pest Defense) is a family-owned manufacturer of mechanical pest control products founded in 1924 and headquartered in Albia, Iowa. The company designs and produces a portfolio of hardware-based traps across six categories—mousetraps, rat traps, ant traps, insect traps, bird traps, and small animal traps—alongside custom industrial trap protectors. Its flagship product, the Ketch-All Multiple Catch Mousetrap, was developed at the company's founding and remains a differentiated live-catch device that operates without bait or chemicals and automatically resets between catches.

The company's core technology consists of proprietary mechanical trap architectures built from galvanized steel, powder-coated steel, and ABS polypropylene, manufactured in-house using five plastic injection molding machines with a stated capacity of approximately 1,100 plastic assemblies per day. The product line spans spring-loaded snap traps (Snap-E, Big Snap-E), multi-catch live traps (Ketch-All, Pro-Ketch, Mini-Mouser, Tip-Trap), and glue-based traps (Stick-All), supplemented by specialty devices such as the Ants-No-More ant bait station, Kage-All live animal traps, and the Flies-No-More solar-powered bird deterrent. Sub-brands including "Kness Quality" and "Pro Grade" emphasize professional-grade durability, supported by a less-than-1% product return rate and hand-testing of every unit before packaging.

Kness generates revenue through wholesale hardware sales to retail distributors, direct sales to professional pest management companies via dedicated regional sales managers, and direct-to-consumer e-commerce. Distribution covers national chains including Ace Hardware, True Value, Theisen Supply, Big R, Bomgaars, Murdoch's, and Fleet Farm, along with hundreds of independent hardware and farm supply stores in all 50 US states and a separate international sales channel for pest control operators outside the US, including parts of Canada. Pricing is per-unit (pay-as-you-go) at varied retailer points of sale and is not publicly disclosed; revenue and ARR figures are not reported.

Name

Kness Manufacturing Co.

Legal name

Kness Mfg. Co., Inc.

Website

https://kness.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1924

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kness Manufacturing Co., founded in 1924 in Albia, Iowa, is a family-owned manufacturer of mechanical pest control traps—mousetraps, rat traps, glue traps, and live animal traps—sold to residential consumers, professional pest management operators, and agricultural customers across the US and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pest Control Products

akta.pro primary industry

Rodent Control Products (Baits, Traps, Stations) (CRAJAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Insect Traps & Lures (Sticky, Light, Pheromone) (CRAJAHAC), Insect Baits & Gel Baits (Ant, Roach, etc.) (CRAJAHAB), Mouse & Rat Control (Trapping/Baiting) (HSAMACAA)

Keywords

• Mechanical pest control
• Mousetraps and rodent traps
• Live-catch animal traps
• Insect and ant traps
• Professional pest control equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Albia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Pest Control Product Sales: Kness generates revenue through the manufacture and sale of mechanical pest control products including mousetraps, rat traps, ant traps, insect traps, bird traps, and small animal traps. Products are sold through distributors, retailers, and directly to pest control operators. The company offers both consumer/residential products and professional-grade equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kness Manufacturing Co. designs and manufactures mechanical pest control traps including snap mousetraps, multiple-catch live mousetraps, rat traps, ant bait stations, insect glue traps, bird traps, and live animal traps, plus custom-engineered steel trap protectors for industrial environments. The company sells its products to residential consumers via hardware and farm supply retailers and directly to professional pest management operators through dedicated B2B distributors across all 50 U.S. states and internationally.

Product overview

Kness Manufacturing Co. (operating as Kness Pest Defense) offers a comprehensive portfolio of mechanical pest control products organized into six main categories: Mousetraps, Rat Traps, Ant Traps, Insect Traps, Bird Traps, and Small Animal Traps. The product line includes multiple trap types across categories including snap traps (Snap-E®, Big Snap-E®), live-capture traps (Ketch-All®, Pro-Ketch®, Tip-Trap®, Kage-All®), and glue traps (Stick-All®). Key products include the Ketch-All® Multiple Catch Mousetrap (the original 'World's Best Mousetrap' developed in 1924), the Snap-E® Mousetrap line with accompanying covers and ProCover variants, and the Pro-Ketch® series for professional use. The company also offers add-on accessories including protective covers, custom industrial protectors for high-traffic environments, and specialized bait stations like Ants-No-More®. All products are hand-tested before packaging with a less than 1% return rate, and the company emphasizes pro-grade performance designed for both residential and commercial pest control applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kness Quality: Brand promise emphasizing product hand-testing, less than 1% return rate, and Pro Grade performance standards.
• Pro Grade

Products and services

• Ketch-All® Multiple-Catch Mousetrap The original live-catch multiple-catch mousetrap launched in 1924, referred to as 'The World's Best Mousetrap.' Uses small tunnel openings on either side to trigger the trap from a mouse's curiosity, automatically resets after every catch, and requires no bait, chemicals, or poisons. Designed for both residential DIY and commercial pest control use.
• Mini-Mouser® Multiple-Catch Mousetrap

Quantifiable outcome

• Less than 1% product return rate
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 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

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Victor (Woodstream): Woodstream's Victor brand is the most direct competitor in the mousetrap/snap-trap and rodent-control category, offering classic wooden snap traps, plastic snap traps, and live-catch traps across the same hardware-retail channels as Kness.
• Tomcat (Bell Laboratories): Bell Labs' Tomcat is a leading supplier of rodent-control snap traps, glue traps, and bait stations sold through farm-supply and hardware channels. It is one of the most recognized direct competitors in pro-grade rodent control.
• Havahart (Woodstream): Woodstream's Havahart brand competes directly with Kness's Kage-All live-capture small animal traps and bird traps, using similar galvanized wire, powder-coated steel construction sold through identical retail channels.
• d-Con (Reckitt Benckiser): d-Con is a household-name rodent control brand sold in mass and hardware retail; its bait-station and trap portfolio competes with Kness's mouse and rat SKUs in the DIY residential segment.
• Terro (Senoret Chemical Company): Terro is the leading consumer ant and insect bait brand. Its bait stations overlap directly with Kness's Ants-No-More Ant Bait Station product and compete for shelf space at hardware and farm-supply retailers.
• JT Eaton: JT Eaton manufactures a broad pest-control product line including traps, glue boards, and bait stations targeting professional PMPs and farm/feed channels — a direct match for Kness's PMP-focused distribution strategy.
• AP&G (Catchmaster): AP&G's Catchmaster brand is a top manufacturer of adhesive/glue traps for rodents and insects. It directly competes with Kness's Stick-All Glue Trap product line sold to PMPs and food-plant operators.
• Sterling International (Rescue!): Sterling International's Rescue! brand is a direct peer in insect trap devices (fly traps, wasp traps, yellowjacket traps). Kness's insect trap category (including the Flies-No-More Solar Trap bird/insect deterrent) overlaps with this product mix.

Broad incumbents

• Rentokil Initial (Rentokil / Terminix): Rentokil Initial is a global pest control services incumbent that sources large volumes of mechanical traps for its PMP fleet. It is a major downstream buyer and adjacent competitor influencing standards in commercial pest management.
• Orkin (Rollins): Orkin is one of the largest US pest control service providers and a major downstream customer for professional-grade trap suppliers. It competes for the same food-plant, restaurant, and warehouse accounts Kness's PMP channel serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/knesspestdefens
• Facebookfacebook.com/knessmfg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Kness Manufacturing Co.