Gierlinger Holding

What Gierlinger Holding does

Gierlinger Holding GmbH is a privately held Austrian food manufacturer founded in 2000 by master butcher Johann Gierlinger with Gerald Aichinger, headquartered in Ottensheim, Austria. The company produces and distributes premium convenience food products — including Wiener schnitzel, cordon bleu, finger foods, breaded chicken and turkey, premium bacon, contact-roasted meats, sausages, ribs, and raw meat with wet seasoning — exclusively for B2B foodservice customers across restaurants, system catering operators, and wholesale distributors in 25 European countries. Operations span three production facilities: the Ottensheim headquarters and the Wiener Schnitzel Manufaktur in Andorf, Austria, plus additional plants in Hungary and Romania. The company maintains IFS, BRCGS, QS, and Halal certifications and has been awarded the Superbrands certificate five times.

The product portfolio is organized into four core lines (breaded, premium bacon, non-breaded contact-roasted, and meat-and-sausage products), with recent additions including a 2025 crispy Panko-coated schnitzel in three portion sizes. Distinctive process and product technologies include Panko breadcrumb coating, a co-developed S-Fry Speed Fryer that roughly triples schnitzel throughput (16 schnitzels in 3–4 minutes vs. 4–5 in 7 minutes for standard fryers), and a Weber Grill co-branded bacon product. The business model is exclusively B2B with quote-based pricing through a direct field sales team supported by wholesale distribution; commercial expansion is driven through repeated participation in international trade fairs (Internorga, Anuga, TuttoFood, Sirha, Intergastra) with live cooking demonstrations. A small factory outlet in Andorf provides limited direct-to-consumer exposure.

Ownership and governance remain concentrated with the founders, with Dipl.-Ing. Peter Schulze serving as legal managing director. Headcount is reported in the 1,001–5,000 range, distributed across the three production sites and headquarters functions including production, quality assurance, IT, finance, HR, R&D, and sales. The company is actively hiring across multiple departments and shows no disruption signals such as restructuring, ownership change, or operational contraction.

Name

Gierlinger Holding

Legal name

Gierlinger Holding GmbH

Website

https://gierlinger-holding.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Gierlinger Holding GmbH is a privately held Austrian B2B food manufacturer producing premium convenience products — schnitzel, breaded meats, premium bacon, sausages, and ribs — for restaurants, system catering operators, and wholesale distributors across 25 European countries from three production sites in Austria, Hungary, and Romania.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Convenience Food Manufacturing (Meat & Sausage Products)

NAICS

Food Manufacturing (311), Other Snack Food Manufacturing (311919), Meat and Meat Product Merchant Wholesalers (424470)

SIC

Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Food And Kindred Products (2000), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Prepared Meat & Seafood Entrées with Sides (Complete Meals) (AFANAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Snacking & Single-Serve Protein Meals (Bowls, Bites, Packs) (AFANAFAH)

Keywords

• Premium convenience food
• Breaded meat products
• Foodservice manufacturing
• Meat and sausage products
• Premium bacon products

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottensheim

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Product Sales (B2B): Sale of premium convenience food products to business customers including restaurants, catering companies, system catering operators, and wholesale distributors. Products include breaded items, premium bacon, unbreaded products, and meat specialties. Exclusively B2B focused with no direct consumer sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Gierlinger Holding manufactures and distributes premium convenience food products — including breaded items (Wiener schnitzel, Cordon bleu, nuggets, fried chicken), premium bacon, contact-roasted chicken and turkey, sausages, ribs, crackling, and minced meat products — exclusively to foodservice customers (restaurants, system catering operators, and wholesale distributors) across 25 European countries from production sites in Austria, Hungary, and Romania.

Product overview

Gierlinger Holding is a B2B food service company specializing in premium convenience foods. The product portfolio centers on four core product lines: (1) Breaded Products including Wiener schnitzel, Cordon bleu, nuggets, and fingerfood across chicken, turkey, pork, veal, and vegetable categories; (2) Premium Bacon with crispy, raw, and cooked varieties in multiple formats; (3) Non-Breaded/Contact-Roasted Products featuring chicken and turkey in cubes, strips, fillets, and medallions; and (4) Meat and Sausage Products including Bernese sausages, BBQ sausages, crackling, minced meat products, and ribs. Recent innovations include schnitzel in crispy panko breading (white breadcrumb coating) and specialty products like Weber Grill Bacon. The company operates as a single unified product portfolio rather than a modular platform architecture, serving the foodservice industry with restaurant, catering, and wholesale channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wiener Schnitzel Manufaktur: A state-of-the-art production business located in Andorf, Austria, producing Wiener Schnitzel and schnitzel products. Also operates a factory outlet retail store open on the first and third Friday of each month.

Products and services

• Breaded Products Premium convenience breaded products including Wiener schnitzel, Cordon bleu, nuggets, Piccata Milanese, fingerfood, formed meat products, inner fillets, fried chicken, and Pariser schnitzel, available in chicken, turkey, pork, veal, and vegetable varieties. Made without additives using traditional recipes with consistent breading and authentic flavor, designed for foodservice kitchens.
• Premium Bacon Premium bacon products in three varieties — Crispy bacon (slices, cubes, ABS bits, lardons), Raw bacon (slab bacon, slices, parchment-paper slices, cubes), and Cooked bacon (whole, slices, cubes) — made from regionally sourced raw materials for breakfast, burger toppings, and snack applications in foodservice.
• Non-Breaded (Contact-Roasted) Products Contact-roasted and contact-fried chicken and turkey products in cubes, strips, slices, fillets, and medallions, offering juicy texture with roasting aromas and individual cooking degrees from tender to crispy for foodservice kitchens.
• Meat and Sausage Products Diverse meat and sausage range for foodservice, including Bernese sausages (30/50/80/100g), BBQ sausages, crackling (roasted/salted, pork lard spread), minced meat products (patties, meatballs, cevapcici), raw meat with wet seasoning, and ribs (spare ribs, loin ribs) in multiple preparations.
• Schnitzel in Crispy Panko Breading New schnitzel product featuring a crispy white-breadcrumb (panko) coating instead of standard breading, available with pork or chicken escalopes and sold raw in 120g, 160g, and 200g sizes for restaurants, catering, and food service.
• Weber Grill Bacon Specialty bacon product co-developed with Weber Grill — tender bacon smoked over beechwood at 3mm thickness, packaged in small-format units that fit low-shelf-height chiller cabinets for grill, burger, salad, and topping applications.
• Ribs Pork rib products for foodservice including spare ribs and loin ribs in multiple preparations: square-cut meaty spareribs, standard spareribs, HWSR, HWMR, and Sous-vide pre-cooked variants in Bratl and Mexico flavors.
• Bernese Sausage Traditional Bernese sausages for foodservice offered in four portion sizes (30g, 50g, 80g, 100g) for portion-controlled menu use.

Quantifiable outcome

• Products prepared 4x faster with Speed Fryer (16 schnitzels in 3-4 minutes vs 4-5 in 7 minutes)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 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

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Weber GrillcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGierlinger partnered with Weber Grill to develop and market Weber Grill Bacon - tender bacon smoked over beechwood at 3mm thickness, designed for perfect crispiness on grills. Available in small packaging that fits in low shelf height cooler cabinets. Product positioned for burgers, salads, vegetables, asparagus, and figs applications.
• S-FrycoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with S-Fry to develop the Speed Fryer - a highly efficient deep fryer optimized for Gierlinger products. The fryer enables preparation of 16 schnitzels in 3-4 minutes compared to 4-5 schnitzels in 7 minutes with standard fryers. Operating at 160°C with natural fat flow for optimal results. 15 months of joint development. Gierlinger uses Speed Fryer at trade fairs for live demonstrations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Tönnies: German family-owned meat company with extensive B2B foodservice and retail supply across Europe. Comparable in private mid-market scale, B2B orientation, and meat-based product breadth, though with a stronger commodity-processing tilt.
• Westfleisch: German farmer-owned meat cooperative producing pork, beef, and prepared meat products for retail and foodservice across Europe. Comparable in B2B model, multi-protein portfolio, and private mid-market positioning within the DACH region.
• Heidemark: German poultry processor producing fresh chicken and turkey products for retail and foodservice. Comparable in protein category (poultry), B2B foodservice customer base, and DACH regional focus, with a complementary rather than fully overlapping product mix.
• Bell Food Group: Swiss-listed B2B meat and convenience food manufacturer with a broad European footprint. Highly comparable to Gierlinger in product mix (schnitzel, sausages, ready-to-eat meats) and B2B foodservice focus, with larger scale and public-market visibility.
• Vion Food Group: Dutch-headquartered, one of Europe's largest meat processors with a strong presence in pork, beef, and prepared meats for foodservice and retail. Directly comparable B2B go-to-market, multi-country European production footprint, and prepared-meat convenience strategy.
• Zur-Mühlen Gruppe: German B2B manufacturer of sausage, schnitzel, and convenience meat products serving foodservice and retail. Closely comparable to Gierlinger's schnitzel-and-sausage core, German-speaking market overlap, and contract-manufacturing B2B model.
• Wiltmann: German manufacturer specializing in schnitzel, sausage, and prepared meat products. Directly comparable in narrow product focus (schnitzel/sausage) and B2B foodservice distribution, though smaller scale and more domestically oriented than Gierlinger.
• Plukon Food Group: European poultry and convenience food processor with production in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Poland, and elsewhere. Directly comparable in producing prepared chicken and turkey products (fillets, schnitzel-style breaded items) for B2B foodservice customers across Europe.

Broad incumbents

• OSI Group: US-headquartered global B2B food manufacturer with significant European operations supplying value-added proteins to foodservice chains. Comparable B2B contract-manufacturing model and prepared-meat focus, but at a much larger global scale and with deeper QSR chain exposure.
• Danish Crown: Danish farmer-owned cooperative and one of the largest pork and beef producers globally with significant prepared-foods operations. Broader and more commodity-heavy than Gierlinger, but overlapping in European B2B meat supply and prepared-meat categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gierlinger-holding-gmbh

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Gierlinger Holding