Frings

What Frings does

Frings is an owner-managed German industrial technology company founded in 1878, headquartered in Rheinbach, that designs, manufactures, and services fermentation and bioprocess equipment. Its product portfolio centers on proprietary process technologies for industrial-scale fermentation, including ACETATOR vinegar fermenters, PROREACT bioreactors (laboratory, pilot, production, gas fermentation, and corrosive media variants), CLEARFLOW crossflow membrane filtration systems, FRIBORATOR aeration turbines, FOAMEX foam centrifuges, ALKOSENS alcohol measurement probes, ACETOCONTROL/ACETOMAT Siemens S7-based automation systems, and consumable nutrients under the ACETOZYM brand. The company also developed the submersible aerator in 1970, with more than 12,000 units sold globally, and supplies complete environmental/wastewater treatment plants using PROREACT T and high-performance reactor designs.

The company serves five verticals: vinegar production (its core and historically dominant market), biotechnology (industrial-scale bioreactors for fermented products), food and beverage (fermented foods, yeast, brewery wastewater), chemical (gas-liquid reaction and separation for small/medium plants), and environmental technology (municipal/industrial wastewater and sludge treatment). Customers range from specialty vinegar manufacturers to large industrial producers and municipalities, with requirements spanning laboratory-scale development through production volumes of several hundred thousand liters.

Frings operates a B2B enterprise field-sales model with no public pricing. It sells direct from Rheinbach and through wholly-owned subsidiaries in Grand Rapids (USA), Mexico City, Piracicaba (Brazil), and Xuzhou (China), supplemented by a sales partner network covering roughly 20 additional countries. Revenue is generated from custom-quoted hardware sales, a recurring nutrient/consumables line (over 100 years of production), maintenance and spare-parts services, process consulting, and laboratory/scale-up support — with multi-year industrial equipment contracts anchoring the model.

Name

Frings

Legal name

Heinrich Frings GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://frings.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1878

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Frings is a German industrial technology company founded in 1878 that designs, manufactures, and services fermenters, bioreactors, membrane filtration systems, aeration equipment, and automation for vinegar, biotechnology, food/beverage, chemical, and environmental customers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Fermentation Equipment

NAICS

Food Product Machinery Manufacturing (333241), Automatic Environmental Control Manufacturing for Residential, Commercial, and Appliance Use (334512)

SIC

General Industrial Machinery & Equipment (3560), Industrial & Commercial Fans & Blowers & Air Purifing Equip (3564)

akta.pro primary industry

Biological Formulation, Fermentation & Scale-Up Manufacturing (AFABAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biofuel Plant EPC, O&M & Process Technology Providers (EUAAAHAK), Fermented/Probiotic Beverage Co-Packing (Kombucha, Kefir, Culture Drinks) (AFAFAIAG)

Keywords

• Industrial fermentation equipment
• Bioreactor manufacturing
• Membrane filtration systems
• Vinegar production technology
• Aeration turbines

Headquarters

HQ city

Rheinbach

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial Fermentation Equipment Sales: Sale of fermenters, bioreactors, filtration systems, aeration equipment, and automation systems for vinegar production, biotechnology, food/beverage, chemical, and environmental applications. Includes production plants, laboratory plants, and pilot-scale equipment.
2. Nutrient Production: Production and sale of high-quality nutrients for fermentation processes, including ACETOZYM nutrients, BIOZYME, and nutrient salts. Frings has been producing fermentation nutrients for over 100 years.
3. Maintenance and Service: Planned maintenance services, spare parts supply, remote maintenance support, and third-party equipment service. Conducted at customer site, Frings technical center in Rheinbach, or via remote support.
4. Consulting and Process Optimization: Technical consulting services including plant and process optimization, technology testing, concept studies, investment cost estimation, cost optimization through automation, and operator training.
5. Laboratory Services and Scale-up Support: Laboratory services and technical center test facilities for process development and scale-up support from laboratory to industrial production.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Frings designs, manufactures, and services industrial fermentation equipment — including fermenters (ACETATOR), bioreactors (PROREACT), membrane filters (CLEARFLOW), aeration turbines (FRIBORATOR), foam centrifuges (FOAMEX), submersible aerators, automation systems, and fermentation nutrients (ACETOZYM) — for vinegar, biotechnology, food and beverage, chemical, and wastewater treatment customers worldwide. The company also provides scale-up, consulting, and maintenance services.

Product overview

Frings is an international specialist for fermentation technology offering a comprehensive portfolio of process equipment and systems across five industry segments: vinegar technology, biotechnology, food/beverage technology, chemical technology, and environmental technology. The product portfolio centers on bioreactors/fermenters (ACETATOR for vinegar, PROREACT for bioprocess applications), membrane filtration (CLEARFLOW), aeration systems (FRIBORATOR turbines, Submersible Aerators), foam control (FOAMEX), and process automation (ACETOCONTROL, ACETOMAT, ALKOSENS). Supporting equipment includes laboratory analysis instruments (NIR devices), nutrient products (ACETOZYM), and custom special plant engineering. The company provides complete turnkey systems for industrial fermentation, wastewater treatment, and bioprocess applications, from laboratory scale through production-scale facilities with working volumes from a few liters to several hundred thousand liters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACETATOR: Fermenter systems for vinegar production including production plants, plants for special vinegars, and laboratory plants
• CLEARFLOW
• PROREACT
• ALCOSENS
• FOAMEX
• FRIBORATOR
• ACETOZYM
• ACETOCONTROL
• ACETOMAT

Products and services

• ACETATOR Fermenter Systems Industrial vinegar fermenters with high-performance aerators for rapid acetic acid fermentation; available in production-scale, specialty-vinegar, and laboratory configurations. Used by industrial vinegar producers worldwide.
• CLEARFLOW Membrane Filtration Systems Crossflow membrane filtration systems for vinegar and bioprocess separation; available in CLEARFLOW P hygienic design for industrial use and CLEARFLOW C for special small-quantity filtration.
• PROREACT Bioreactors Bioreactor lineup including PROREACT P (laboratory/pilot), PROREACT B (production), Seed Train systems, reactors for higher pressures, gas fermentations, and corrosive media. Sold to biotechnology manufacturers.
• Submersible Aerators (TA, TAK, TRG) Submersible aeration units for aerobic wastewater treatment; available in TA, TAK, and TRG variants for different capacity and application requirements. Sold to municipal and industrial wastewater operators.
• PROREACT T Environmental Plants Environmental plant systems for biological wastewater treatment, including mixing/equalizing basins, SBR systems, high-performance reactors, and sludge stabilization units.
• PROREACT C Gas-Liquid Reactors Gas-liquid reactors for chemical engineering applications focused on gas-liquid reaction technology, gas/liquid separation, solid/liquid separation, and miniplant-based system design.
• ACETOCONTROL S7i LOGIC / ACETOMAT S7 LOGIC Automation Systems Automation control systems for vinegar fermentation and bioprocess plants using Siemens S7 logic controllers; enable cost optimization through automation and operator training support.
• ALKOSENS Alcohol Probe Alcohol measurement probe for continuous monitoring of ethanol concentrations during fermentation and vinegar production processes.
• FRIBORATOR Aeration Turbines Aeration turbines (Begasungsturbinen) for gas-liquid mass transfer in fermenters, bioreactors, and wastewater treatment; available in B, TRG, P, and self-priming C configurations.
• FOAMEX Foam Centrifuges Mechanical foam centrifuges for controlling foam formed during aeration in fermentation and wastewater treatment processes.
• ACETOZYM Fermentation Nutrients Proprietary nutrient formulations for vinegar fermentation, including ACETOZYM nutrients, BIOZYME, and nutrient salts; produced with intensive biological and physico-chemical quality control.
• Custom Bioprocess Apparatus and Special Plants Custom-designed bioprocess apparatus and plants for specialized chemical and biotechnology applications, including miniplant technology-based system design scaled from laboratory to production.
• Maintenance, Spare Parts, and Service After-sales services including planned maintenance, spare parts, remote maintenance, and service for third-party equipment, delivered on-site, at Frings' Rheinbach technical center, or remotely.
• Process Consulting and Laboratory/Scale-up Services Technical consulting services including plant and process optimization, technology testing, concept studies, investment cost estimation, cost optimization through automation, operator training, and laboratory services with scale-up support from laboratory to industrial production.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 12,000 submersible aerators sold globally since 1970
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FRINGS AMERICA INCcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWholly-owned subsidiary serving North American markets (USA) from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Provides localized sales, support, and service for Frings products in the region.
• FRINGS S.A. de C.V.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSubsidiary serving Mexico and Latin American markets from Mexico City. Provides regional sales and customer support.
• FRINGS DO BRASILcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSubsidiary (Engenharia e Comercio Ltda) serving Brazilian markets from Piracicaba, São Paulo. Provides local sales and engineering support.
• Frings (Xuzhou) Food Machinery & Technology Co., LtdcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSubsidiary serving Chinese markets from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Provides localized manufacturing, sales, and support for Chinese customers.
• Heinrich Frings AustraliaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Australian market, represented by Helen Sanders. Covers Australia with PO Box in Kensington NSW.
• Frings FranceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for French market, represented by Francois-Xavier Denneulin from Cournonterral.
• INDUSTRIA S.A.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Greek market located in Athens.
• Emmel AssociatesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Great Britain and Ireland, represented by Joe O'Rourke.
• Sai Industria doominorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro, represented by Milica Djuric from Belgrade.
• Leybold Co. Ltd.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Japanese market located in Tokyo.
• Biolabor Ltd.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador markets, represented by Silke Stimming from Bogotá.
• DAEIL INTERNATIONAL INCminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Korean market located in Seoul, represented by JB Lee, YJ Kim, and HC Shin.
• A. J. B. Far EastminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Thailand market, represented by F. Bremer from Pathum Thani.
• Systemach Industrial EnterpriseminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Philippines market, represented by Pol Alfonso from Makati City.
• Beverage Technologies S.L.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Portugal and Spain markets, located in El Casar de Talamanca, Spain.
• J.C.NiemannminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Guatemala market, represented by J.C. Niemann from Guatemala City.
• Peter Mayer C.A.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Venezuela market, represented by Ing Martin Mayer from Caracas.
• Meta Muhendislik Tic. San. Ltd. Sti.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales partner for Turkey and Turkic States, represented by Tamer Otuzlu from Izmir.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• GEA Group: GEA is a major industrial equipment manufacturer serving food, beverage, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries with separation, homogenization, fermentation, and process technology. It overlaps with Frings across food/beverage fermentation and downstream filtration, and competes on turnkey plant capability.
• Bühler Group: Bühler is a Swiss industrial process equipment supplier serving food, feed, and mobility industries, including fermentation and biotechnology processing equipment. It is comparable to Frings as a European-rooted specialist supplier of fermentation and process technology to industrial food and beverage customers.
• Sulzer Ltd.
• Andritz AG:
• Alfa Laval:

Direct peers

• Sartorius AG: Sartorius is a leading global supplier of bioreactors and bioprocess equipment for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. It directly competes with Frings' PROREACT bioreactor line in industrial biotech and shares the same customer base of fermentation process developers.
• Xylem Inc.
• Eppendorf SE:
• Pall Corporation (Danaher):

Emerging players

• Aquatech International:

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/frings-germany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 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 Frings