Albert Frey

What Albert Frey does

Albert Frey AG is a German Mittelstand manufacturer of custom process plants for the brewing, beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries, headquartered in Wald im Allgäu with continuous operations since approximately 1908. The company designs, engineers, and commissions bespoke process systems including CIP (clean-in-place) installations, filtration, flash pasteurization, water treatment, distillation, KEG filling lines, and the patented Eisbär Ausfrieranlage freezing unit for alcohol and aroma concentration. Its product architecture is a platform-plus-modules model: core process plant hardware is bundled with the proprietary ALFlex automation suite (ALFlex Maschine, Prozess, Tools, Robotik, and Schaltschränke) and a specialized pump portfolio, supported by an aftermarket service franchise spanning plant service, remote maintenance, software service, and training.

The company earns revenue primarily through one-time project sales of custom-engineered plants, supplemented by professional services for engineering, project management, and process optimization, plus hardware sales of branded pumps and recurring service contracts. Pricing is bespoke and quoted per project; no public pricing exists. The go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales — primarily serving breweries, mineral water producers, food processors, and pharmaceutical companies across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with references including Hofbräuhaus. The company employs 51-100 staff, is structured as a privately held Aktiengesellschaft with a six-person Vorstand (management board) led by Chairperson Johannes Gotzler, and is a member of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) since September 2022.

Name

Albert Frey

Legal name

Albert Frey AG

Website

https://albertfrey.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1908

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Albert Frey AG is a German Mittelstand manufacturer of custom process plants, automation systems, and pumps for the brewing, beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries, headquartered in Wald im Allgäu and operating across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Process Plant Engineering

NAICS

Food Product Machinery Manufacturing (333241), Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Special Industry Machinery, Nec (3559)

akta.pro primary industry

Instrumentation, Controls & Automation (DCS/PLC/SCADA, SIS, Metering) (EUAEAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Process & Batch Control Software (Recipe Management, ISA-88) (IMAGABAH)

Keywords

• Process plant engineering
• Brewing equipment manufacturing
• CIP systems
• KEG filling systems
• Industrial pumps

Headquarters

HQ city

Wald

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Process Plant Sales: Design, engineering, and construction of customized process plants for brewing, beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Revenue generated from new installations and modernization of existing systems.
2. Engineering and Consulting Services: Technical consulting, project management from planning through commissioning and acceptance, process optimization services.
3. Pump Sales: Sale of specialized pumps for food, beverage, pharmaceutical and industrial applications, including their own branded pumps.
4. Service and Support: Plant service, pump service, valve service, remote maintenance, software service, and training programs for installed equipment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Albert Frey AG is a German manufacturer of custom-engineered process plants for the brewing, beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The core offering consists of Prozessanlagen (process plants including CIP systems, KEG filling systems, filtration, pasteurisation, water treatment, and the patented Eisbär freezing unit), the proprietary ALFlex Automation Suite for machine and process control, and specialised pumps for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications. Each system is individually designed and built to customer specifications, with engineering, commissioning, and after-sales service bundled into the project delivery.

Product overview

Albert Frey AG is an innovative manufacturer of special machines with over 115 years of company history. The company operates a platform-plus-modules architecture centred on custom-built process plants for the brewing, beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The core product portfolio comprises Process Plants (including CIP systems, KEG systems, filtration, flash pasteurisation, water treatment, and the patented Eisbäär freezing unit), the ALFlex Automation Suite (encompassing machine control, process control, and tools for trending, reporting, recipe management, container tracking, and traceability), and specialised Pumps for various industrial applications. These hardware offerings are complemented by Technology Services including process control, laboratory analytics, energy optimisation concepts, and project implementation support. The company also provides comprehensive after-sales services covering plant, pump, and valve maintenance, remote servicing, software support, and training. The portfolio is distinguished by its custom engineering approach, with each system individually tailored to customer requirements from the planning stage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Process Plants (Prozessanlagen) Custom-built process plant systems tailored to brewing, beverage, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The product line encompasses CIP systems, wort aeration (Würzebelüftung), yeast cultivation (Hefereinzucht), distillery technology (Brennereitechnik), tank farms (Tanklager), filtration, the patented Eisbär freezing unit (Ausfrieranlage), mixing plants (Ausmischanlage), KZE systems, water treatment (Wasseraufbereitung), filling technology (Abfülltechnik), and AfG (non-alcoholic) process plants. Each installation is individually planned and engineered to customer specifications.
• KEG Systems (KEG-Anlagen) KEG filling and handling systems for the beverage industry. The product line leverages extensive planning and conception expertise in KEG filling plants, providing breweries and beverage producers with custom-engineered KEG handling solutions.
• ALFlex Automation Suite Proprietary automation software and control platform for brewing and beverage equipment. The suite comprises ALFlex Maschine (machine control), ALFlex Prozess (process control), ALFlex Tools (Trend, Report, Rezept, Gebinde, Trace modules), ALFlex Service, and ALFlex Robotik — providing flexible and intuitive operation of plants, with the company's software positioned closer to the hardware than competitive offerings.
• Pumps (Pumpen) Specialised pumps for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications. The portfolio includes Food and Beverage pumps, Pharma pumps, Industrial pumps, and Sonderpumpen (custom special pumps). The company's pump engineering originally began with applications in breweries and mineral water springs.
• Engineering and Technology Services Engineering and technical services including process control (troubleshooting, filtration controls, microbiological step controls, weak point analysis), laboratory analytics (microbiological step controls, turbidity-based shelf life testing, alcohol-free beer development), energy optimisation consulting (10–80% savings, pump system efficiency, energy recovery, holistic plant optimisation), external project support (specification, planning, implementation, commissioning, acceptance, tender preparation, supplier coordination), and implementation of new product ideas (technology development, new plants, modifications, partial systems).
• After-Sales Service Portfolio Comprehensive after-sales services covering plant service (Anlagenservice), pump service (Pumpenservice), valve service (Ventilservice), remote maintenance (Fernwartung), software service (Softwareservice), and training programmes (Schulung) for installed equipment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy savings of 10-70% achievable depending on plant type and processes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group)moderateOthers · 1 September 2022Albert Frey AG is a member of EHEDG, the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group. EHEDG promotes hygiene in food processing and develops guidelines and testing methods for hygienic equipment design. Membership demonstrates Albert Frey's commitment to hygiene standards in their process plant designs for food, beverage, and pharmaceutical applications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Krones AG: Krones is the global leader in brewery and beverage process and packaging equipment. Albert Frey competes in the same brewing plant and CIP system space but at a much smaller scale, often serving regional and craft brewers where Krones is too large.
• Ziemann Holvrieka: Ziemann Holvrieka specializes in brewery tanks, process vessels, and turnkey brewhouse installations. As a direct brewery equipment competitor, it addresses the same customer pain points of capacity, hygiene, and process efficiency as Albert Frey.

Broad incumbents

• SPX FLOW: SPX FLOW designs process equipment for food, beverage, and industrial applications including pumps, mixers, and heat exchangers. Its beverage and brewing product lines overlap with Albert Frey's pumps and process plant business.
• Pentair: Pentair's food and beverage segment provides pumps, filtration, and water treatment used by breweries and beverage producers. Its fluid handling and water treatment portfolio directly overlaps with Albert Frey's pump and water treatment systems.
• Alfa Laval: Alfa Laval provides heat transfer, separation, and fluid handling technology used in brewing, beverage, food, and pharma processing. Its pumps, heat exchangers, and process modules compete with several of Albert Frey's product lines.
• GEA Group: GEA supplies separation, homogenization, and process technology across food, beverage, and pharma. Its brewery and beverage processing portfolio overlaps with Albert Frey's process plant offerings, though GEA serves a far broader industrial base.
• Tetra Pak: Tetra Pak is a major supplier of processing and packaging solutions for the dairy, beverage, and food industries. Its process equipment and plant engineering capabilities overlap with Albert Frey's brewing and beverage plants, but at global scale.

Emerging players

• Probrew: Probrew supplies brewhouse and process technology for craft and mid-sized breweries in Germany. As a smaller, craft-focused engineering firm, it is an emerging competitor to Albert Frey in the German Mittelstadt brewery market.
• HRS Heat Exchangers: HRS designs heat exchanger and pasteurization systems for the brewing, beverage, and food industries. Its flash pasteurization and CIP-adjacent technology intersects with Albert Frey's process plant and pasteurization modules.

Others

• Endress+Hauser: Endress+Hauser is a leading supplier of industrial process measurement instrumentation, sensors, and automation solutions used extensively in breweries and beverage plants. It is an enabling technology provider whose instruments often sit alongside Albert Frey's process plants.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Albert Frey