Zernike Srl

What Zernike Srl does

Zernike Srl is an Italian private limited company (S.r.l.) founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Mauro Pascoli, Forlì-Cesena, Italy, where it designs and manufactures all of its professional equipment using predominantly Italian components. The company serves the Ho.Re.Ca. (Hotels, Restaurants, Catering) and GDO (Large-Scale Retail) sectors with a portfolio of 10 product lines spanning cooking, warewashing, food sanitization, drying, and maturation/ripening. Flagship products include FlashGRILL (a patented indirect-heating grill operating below the smoke point of animal fats), Multi Wash (an immersion washing system that holds the same water and detergent for up to 30 days), the Klima series (meat dry-aging, cheese/cured meat ripening, fish maturation, and compact preservation cabinets with patented dual-axis ventilation and active oxygenation), Ozonclean (cold plasma ozone generators for chemical-free room sanitization), Oxigenbox (ducted active oxygen systems for refrigerated cells), and Windry/FlashGRILL/Piadacooking.

The underlying technology relies on seven registered patents spanning cold plasma ozone generation, dual-axis ventilation, indirect heating, oxygenation, immersion washing chemistry, and automatic basket lifting. The technology stack is mechanical and chemical rather than digital: there is no IoT, no AI/ML, and no public API surface. Zernike holds overlapping regulatory approvals (EUO3TA, FDA 21 CFR 173.368, USDA FSIS 7120.1, Italian Ministry of Health protocol 24482/1996, EU Parliament Regulation 528/2012) for ozone-based food contact and sanitization products.

Zernike operates a direct sales model augmented by a partner/reseller network across 53 export countries, with trade show presence at SIGEP WORLD, Host Milan, and iMEAT as the primary demand generation channel. Revenue is generated through one-time hardware sales supplemented by recurring consumables (MW-Detergent for Multi Wash) and a recently introduced operating lease (locazione operativa) financing option with 60-month tenors. Customer base spans enterprise Ho.Re.Ca. operators (Four Seasons, Hilton Venice, Gefsinus) and SMBs (Italian restaurants, butcheries, fish markets, sporting goods retailers).

Name

Zernike Srl

Legal name

ZERNIKE s.r.l.

Website

https://zernike.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zernike Srl is an Italian manufacturer of professional Ho.Re.Ca. and GDO equipment, producing 10 patented product lines covering cooking, immersion washing, ozone sanitization, and meat/fish/cheese maturation, exported to 53 countries via direct sales and a partner network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Foodservice Equipment

NAICS

Soap and Cleaning Compound Manufacturing (32561), Soap and Other Detergent Manufacturing (325611)

SIC

Soap, Detergents, Cleang Preparations, Perfumes, Cosmetics (2840), Food And Kindred Products (2000), Specialty Cleaning, Polishing And Sanitation Preparations (2842)

akta.pro primary industry

Produce Wash & Food-Contact Surface Dish Cleaning Solutions (CRAJABAI)

Keywords

• Professional foodservice equipment
• Commercial kitchen machinery
• Meat aging cabinets
• Commercial warewashing systems
• Ozone sanitization equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

San Mauro Pascoli

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Equipment Sales: Sale of professional food equipment (cooking, washing, sanitization, aging/ripening, drying) to Ho.Re.Ca. and GDO businesses. Products are sold directly and through a partner network across 53 countries. Revenue is generated through one-time hardware purchases, with optional operating lease financing.
2. Consumables (Detergents & Accessories): Proprietary branded cleaning detergents (MW-Detergent for Multi Wash) and accessories are sold as recurring consumable revenue. Detergent consumption scales with machine usage (e.g., 2 boxes/month for MW2 model).
3. Operating Lease / Financing: Zernike offers the option to purchase equipment through 'locazione operativa' (operating lease), allowing customers to pay in convenient monthly installments over a defined period (e.g., 60 months at ~€72.90/month for Multi Wash EKO 1).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Zernike Srl manufactures and sells professional equipment for the Ho.Re.Ca. (Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés) and GDO (Large-Scale Retail) sectors. Its product portfolio spans cooking (FlashGRILL, Piadacooking), warewashing (Multi Wash), meat and fish aging/ripening (Klima Meat, Klima Aging, Klima Fish, Klima Box), drying (Windry), and ozone-based environmental sanitization and food preservation (Ozonclean, Oxigenbox). Products are 100% designed and manufactured in Italy with primarily Italian components, and exported to 53 countries.

Product overview

Zernike Srl is an Italian company specializing in professional equipment for Ho.Re.Ca (Hotels, Restaurants, Cafes) and GDO (Large-Scale Retail) sectors. The product portfolio comprises 10 distinct product lines: FlashGRILL (indirect-heating professional grill), Piadacooking (piadina cooking equipment), the Klima series (Klima Meat for meat dry-aging, Klima Aging for cured meat/cheese ripening, Klima Fish for seafood maturation, Klima Box for compact preservation), Windry (drying systems), Multi Wash (immersion utensil washing system, rebranded from GR-System), Ozonclean (ozone-based environmental sanitization), and Oxigenbox (refrigeration cell oxygenation for extended shelf life). Products span from cooking to washing, sanitization, drying, and food maturation processes, featuring patented technologies and distributed to 53 countries worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GR-System: Former brand name of what is now known as Multi Wash, the company's professional immersion washing system for kitchen utensils. The rebranding from GR-System to Multi Wash was described as comprehensive, not limited to just the name.
• Oxigenbox
• Ozonclean
• Klima Aging
• Klima Meat
• Klima Fish
• FlashGRILL
• Multi Wash
• Piadacooking
• Windry

Products and services

• FlashGRILL Evolution

Quantifiable outcome

• Halved washing time for gastronorm trays (Gefsinus Contract Catering Group)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CarlosbeefminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarlosbeef is listed as a collaboration partner on Zernike's website, alongside other partner references. The nature of the collaboration is not detailed in the available source material, though Carlosbeef is a meat industry business suggesting potential joint activities in the meat aging/ripening segment.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Meiko: German-headquartered commercial warewashing manufacturer with a global footprint across Ho.Re.Ca. and food service. Directly comparable to Zernike's Multi Wash product line in terms of customer base (professional kitchens), technology (industrial dishwashing), and competitive set in tenders for chain accounts.
• Del Ozone: US manufacturer of ozone sanitization systems for food processing, hospitality, and healthcare. Directly comparable to Zernike's Ozonclean and Oxigenbox product lines in ozone-based sanitization, target applications (food safety, room/cell decontamination), and regulatory positioning (FDA/USDA).
• Winterhalter: German commercial warewashing specialist serving Ho.Re.Ca. and large-scale kitchens with professional dishwashers and cleaning chemistry. Comparable to Zernike in commercial warewashing, recurring detergent/consumable revenue model, and Ho.Re.Ca./GDO customer overlap.
• Dry Ager (Company Ltd): German specialist manufacturer of dry-aging cabinets for meat. Directly comparable to Zernike's Klima Meat and Klima Aging product lines in product category (professional dry-aging equipment), target customer (butchers, restaurants, food service), and channel (specialty distributors).
• Roller Grill: French manufacturer of professional grills, griddles, and contact-cooking equipment for Ho.Re.Ca. Directly comparable to Zernike's FlashGRILL in target market (restaurants, hotels, butchers), product category (professional grills), and distribution via international dealers.

Broad incumbents

• Welbilt (formerly Manitowoc Foodservice): US-based manufacturer of commercial foodservice equipment (cooking, refrigeration, warewashing). Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping product categories and a substantial global dealer network, competing for the same Ho.Re.Ca./GDO capital budgets as Zernike.
• Electrolux Professional: Italian-Swedish manufacturer of professional kitchen, laundry, and food service equipment. Directly relevant as a broad incumbent competing across multiple of Zernike's product categories (cooking, warewashing, food preservation) for the same Ho.Re.Ca. and GDO accounts.
• Ali Group: Italian-headquartered parent company of numerous commercial kitchen and food service equipment brands (e.g., Hoshizaki-affiliated entities, OEM brands). Comparable as a broad incumbent whose portfolio overlaps several of Zernike's categories and which competes in many of the same 53 export markets.
• Hoshizaki: Japanese global manufacturer of commercial refrigeration, ice machines, and food service equipment. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose refrigeration/cell product area overlaps with Zernike's Klima Box, Oxigenbox, and Windry lines in Ho.Re.Ca. and food retail accounts.
• Rational AG: German global leader in combi-ovens and professional cooking systems for Ho.Re.Ca. and large kitchens. Comparable as a broad incumbent in professional kitchen equipment, competing for the same Ho.Re.Ca. capital budgets as Zernike's FlashGRILL and Klima lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Zernike Srl