What Bobard Brothers does

Bobard Frères is a fifth-generation, family-owned French manufacturer (SAS, share capital €300,000) founded in 1863 in Beaune, Burgundy, operating two integrated product lines: wine-making equipment (faucets, valves, fittings, plungers, pumps, cooling flags, and barrel-handling tools) with 163 years of heritage, and custom stainless steel conveyor systems for packaging lines with 50 years of experience. The company designs and fabricates in-house using integrated CAD/3D design, a machining and welding workshop, and assembly capabilities, with proprietary features such as the DARB™ ejection system, brushless distribution tables (up to 24,000 units/hour), and the historic 1920 air bleeding pump for manual barrel racking.

The business serves wine producers, Champagne houses, and broader agro-food clients (mustard, cheese, spirits) through direct enterprise field sales supported by a physical showroom in Beaune, downloadable product catalogues, a website, and social channels. Revenue is generated primarily through custom hardware sales (conveyor systems and wine equipment) and professional services (on-site installation, electrical compliance per NFC 1500, after-sales repair and maintenance covering both Bobard and competing brands). Pricing is project-based via direct quote, with standard terms of one-third at order, one-third during execution, and one-third on delivery.

The company is led by Bernard Bobard (Dirigeant) and Michel Bobard (Responsable Administratif), with operations spanning Beaune and shipping to metropolitan France and Europe. Customers include Louis Latour, Bouchard Père et Fils, Hospices de Beaune, Perrier (Champagne equipment partner), and numerous Burgundy and Champagne houses, with strategic technology partnerships covering SEW-USOCOME motors, Festo pneumatics, Intralox belts, and a Champagne-based automation and supervision integrator.

Name

Bobard Brothers

Legal name

BOBARD Frères SAS

Website

https://bobard-freres.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1863

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bobard Frères is a fifth-generation, family-owned French manufacturer founded in 1863 in Beaune, producing custom stainless steel wine-making equipment and material-handling conveyor systems for wine producers, Champagne houses, and agro-food professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Material Handling Equipment

akta.pro primary industry

Packaging & Production Breweries (Limited/No On-site Service) (THAFALAB)

Keywords

• Wine-making equipment
• Material handling conveyors
• Stainless steel fabrication
• Packaging line solutions
• Agro-food machinery

Headquarters

HQ city

Beaune

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Conveyor Systems Sales: Design, manufacture, and sale of custom stainless steel conveyor systems for wine, Champagne, and agro-food industries, including straight conveyors, curved conveyors, accumulation tables, elevators, and specialized transfer equipment.
2. Wine Equipment Sales: Sale of standardized and custom wine-making equipment including fountains, valves, pumps, plungers, hoses, raccords, flags, drums, corkers/decompressors, and tubing in stainless steel, bronze, brass, or PVC.
3. Custom Installation Services: On-site installation, adjustment, and testing of conveyor lines by company mechanic-assembler teams, including electrical installation and network integration.
4. After-Sales Service and Maintenance: Repair, modification, spare parts supply, and electrical compliance services for wine equipment (multiple brands) and conveyor systems, with diagnostic and improvement services for existing installations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bobard Frères designs, manufactures, and installs custom stainless steel wine-making equipment (faucets, valves, fittings, pumps, plungers, cooling flags) and material handling conveyor systems (distribution tables, ejection conveyors, accumulation tables, depalletizers, elevators, curved/straight conveyors) for wine, Champagne, and agro-food professionals. The company provides end-to-end services including on-site installation by its own mechanic-assembler teams, custom piping and welding, electrical compliance (NFC 1500), and after-sales service covering both Bobard and competitor brands.

Product overview

Bobard Frères is a family-owned manufacturer offering two main product lines: wine-making equipment (matériel vinicole) with over 160 years of experience, and material handling conveyors with 50 years of experience, serving wine and food industry professionals. The wine equipment portfolio includes faucets (fontaines), valves (robinets), fittings (raccords), plungers (plongeurs), pumps (pompes), cooling flags (drapeaux), agitation tools (dodines), and specialized tools like tire-bonde and tire-broquereau. The conveyor line comprises distribution tables, ejection conveyors (with DARB system, guillotine, and pneumatic pusher variants), accumulation tables, depalletizers, retention tables, elevators/descenders (including Omega elevators), curved and straight conveyors for single and grouped products, marking conveyors, weight control systems, and indexing tables. Services include custom piping and welding (stainless steel 304/316, PVC), electrical compliance (NFC 1500), and comprehensive after-sales support. All products are manufactured in-house at their Beaune workshop.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fontaines (Wine Racking Faucets) Stainless steel 316 polished faucets (fontaines d'aspiration, à entonner, droites, à boyau) for connecting to barrels and enabling gentle manual wine racking and transfer, designed for viticulturists and wine cellars.
• Robinet 2 becs (Two-Spout Valve) All-stainless steel two-spout valve for gentle barrel racking with smooth cone or female union fitting, used by wine professionals during vinification.
• Raccords (Union Fittings)
• Pompes (Pumps)
• Raccord Femelle / Mâle / 3 parties (Fittings) Female union, male ligature, and three-piece fittings in bronze or stainless steel, available in multiple diameters and dimensions.
• Tire-cuve (Suction Strainer) Stainless steel mobile suction strainer (crépine) for extracting clear juices during vinification, compatible with all tank types.
• Drapeau de refroidissement (Cooling Flag) Electropolished stainless steel cooling flag for temperature control during vinification.
• Dodine (Agitator) All-stainless steel agitator for optimal lees stirring in barrels.
• Tire-Broquereau / Tire-Bonde (Barrel Tools) Stainless steel tools for easily removing the broquereau and barrel bungs without damage, including a sliding sleeve mechanism on the Tire-Bonde.
• Plongeurs Inox / PVC (Plungers) Rigid plungers in stainless steel or PVC with or without sight glass, manufactured in-house for racking needs.
• Tuyaux souples (Flexible Hoses) Flexible hoses for fluid transfer and cleaning, available in multiple diameters (DN 16 to 120).
• Convoyeur droit (Straight Conveyor)
• Convoyeur courbe (Curved Conveyor) All-stainless steel curved conveyors for single products (on modular belt series 2400 or curved pallet chains) and grouped products (5-100 cm on modular belt series 2400 for 5-180° curves).
• Table de répartition – Répartiteur pneumatique (Pneumatic Distribution Table)
• Table de répartition – Répartiteur moteur brushless (Brushless Distribution Table)
• Convoyeur d'éjection – système DARB™ (DARB Ejection Conveyor)
• Convoyeur d'éjection – tapis modulaire et guillotine (Pneumatic Guillotine Ejection Conveyor)
• Table d'accumulation (Accumulation Table)
• Dépalettiseur semi-automatique (Semi-Automatic Depalletizer)
• Ascenseur / Descenseur (Elevator/Descender)
• Contrôle pondéral (Weight Control Conveyor)
• Passerelle et plateforme de travail (Industrial Walkways and Work Platforms)
• Tuyauterie et soudure (Custom Piping and Welding Services)
• Électricité (Electrical Compliance Services)
• Service après-vente (After-Sales Service)
• On-Site Conveyor Installation Service

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy savings of ~30% with IE4 brushless Movigear motorization compared to standard solutions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 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

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PerriercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBobard Frères works in close collaboration with Perrier (based in Le Cheylard, Ardèche), a family company manufacturing monoblocs, rinsers, fillers, Champagne methods, and micro-dosers. This partnership enables Bobard to offer complete turnkey conditioning lines with complementary equipment to Champagne producers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Krones: German global leader in beverage packaging and process technology, including conveyors, fillers, and line integration. Comparable on the industrial conveyor / packaging line side, serving some of the same wine and Champagne accounts at larger scale.
• Boccard: French industrial integrator for food, beverage, and life-science process and packaging lines. Operates in a similar custom stainless-steel fabrication / process equipment space as Bobard at much larger scale across multiple food segments.
• KHS: German manufacturer of filling and packaging systems for beverages, including conveyors and line integration. Competes with Bobard on beverage-bottling conveyor business in larger installations for wine, Champagne, and agro-food customers.
• Sidel: Global French-headquartered provider of complete beverage packaging lines (bottling, conveying, palletizing). Overlaps with Bobard's conveyor business as a much larger incumbent; competes in larger-scale Champagne and wine bottling installations.

Direct peers

• Della Toffola Group: Italian manufacturer of wine-making equipment, beverage processing and bottling lines. Directly comparable to Bobard's dual product portfolio of stainless-steel wine process equipment and packaging conveyors, with similar vertical specialization in wine and beverages.
• Willmes: German manufacturer of wine and juice processing equipment including presses, pumps, and filtration systems. Comparable niche specialty in stainless steel wine process equipment and wine-press/pump technology similar to Bobard's historic core product line.
• Bucher Vaslin: French manufacturer of wine-making and packaging equipment headquartered in the Loire. Closest direct competitor to Bobard — both supply wineries with presses, pumps, valves, and bottling-line equipment, serving the same French/European customer base of wine producers.
• Pellenc (Pera-Pellenc): French group with a wine-making equipment and process line business (Pera), serving wineries with reception, fermentation, and packaging equipment. Comparable to Bobard on product scope (wine process + bottling equipment) and on French/Mediterranean customer base.

Emerging players

• Eno-Plan (Vintech) / Enoitalia equipment peers: Italian maker of small-to-mid scale wine-making and bottling equipment serving similar small/mid winery segment as Bobard. Competes in stainless steel pumps, valves, fillers, and modest conveyor solutions for craft and mid-tier wineries.
• CDA (Charpak-Delphine / CDA Group): French manufacturer of packaging equipment (filling, labeling, conveying) for agro-food, beverage and cosmetics. Comparable on the small-to-mid scale conveyor and packaging line business that Bobard serves with wine and agro-food customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC55fwaKF7H4GxIjuwtQ_0ig
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bobard-freres
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Bobard Brothers