crimson chemical

What crimson chemical does

Crimson Chemical is the branded blended-chemistry division of Chemical Distributors, Incorporated (CDI), a privately held corporation founded in 1953 and headquartered at 80 Metcalfe Street, Buffalo, NY. From a 96,000 sq ft facility — expanded by an additional 14,000 sq ft of warehousing and blending space completed in January 2020 — the company formulates, blends, and distributes commodity and specialty chemicals across 14 industry verticals including food and beverage, dairy, brewery, winery, oilfield, industrial wastewater, boiler, cooling tower, metal finishing, automotive, laundry, and reverse-osmosis membrane treatment. Core technical capabilities span acid and alkaline blending for both liquid and powder formulations, supported by on-site analytical and R&D laboratories and over 110 flocculant/coagulant variants for wastewater programs. The company also sells a full line of industrial chemical processing equipment (pumps, motors, heaters, filtration, laboratory gear, spill containment) through a separate equipment division with regional salespeople in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania and worldwide shipping capability.

The business operates three distinct revenue streams: (1) distribution of commodity and specialty chemicals (one-time product sales), (2) tolling and custom blending services under NDA where customers bring proprietary formulas for confidential blending, custom packaging, labeling, and paperwork, and (3) equipment hardware sales. Go-to-market is direct-sales-led through experienced industry veterans covering food/beverage, oilfield, water treatment, and metal finishing, supplemented by vertical-specific content sites (CrimBrew.com, Crimwine.com, Crimcheese.com) and the Crimson Halo cloud-based preventative maintenance/sanitation scheduling platform. Delivery is executed via an owned fleet of tractors, straight trucks, tankers, and heated trailers, reducing transport distance for Northeast US customers. The company is NACD-member, follows the Responsible Care Initiative, holds multiple USDA product authorizations, and has SQF-certified sales personnel — qualifications that are central to winning federally inspected food-and-beverage accounts.

Pricing is not publicly disclosed; quotes are produced per specification, and delivery volumes span pails, drums, totes, fiber drums, supersacks, and bulk for both liquids and dry products. The company serves a structurally diversified mix of mid-sized industrial accounts across multiple verticals with no named enterprise anchors, no public financial disclosures, no institutional investors, no funding history, and no M&A activity. Crimson Chemical is part of a family-led private business (Mark Russell, President; Kim Dwyer, VP; Rick Franclemont, GM) with a stable employee base of roughly 20 named contacts spanning sales, equipment, quality/regulatory, warehousing, facilities, customer service, and bookkeeping functions.

Name

crimson chemical

Legal name

Chemical Distributors, Incorporated

Website

https://crimsonchemical.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Crimson Chemical, the branded blended-chemistry division of Chemical Distributors, Incorporated, formulates and distributes commodity and specialty chemicals across 14 industrial verticals including food and beverage, oilfield, water treatment, brewery, and metal finishing, operating from a 96,000+ sq ft Buffalo, NY facility with an owned delivery fleet serving Northeast US customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Chemical Distribution: Distribution of commodity and specialty chemical products to industrial customers across multiple sectors.
2. Custom Blending Services: Tolling and custom blending services for customers bringing formulas for confidential blending to exacting specifications, allowing temporary capacity increases without adding employees or machinery.
3. Equipment Sales: Industrial chemical processing equipment including pumps, motors, heaters, safety gear, laboratory equipment, filtration systems, and related supplies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Crimson Chemical is the branded blended chemistry division of Chemical Distributors, Incorporated (CDI), supplying blended chemicals, commodity and specialty chemical products, and custom formulations across industrial verticals. The company operates liquid and powder blending capabilities with on-site analytical and R&D laboratories, offers custom blending with NDA-backed confidentiality, and provides related industrial chemical processing equipment and a cloud-based sanitation scheduling platform.

Product overview

Crimson Chemical is the branded blended chemistry division of Chemical Distributors, Incorporated (CDI), offering a comprehensive portfolio of specialty chemical products across 14 industry verticals. The core product line includes: Crimson TW (truck wash) and Crimson Green (cleaner/degreaser) for automotive; Crimson BW2101/BW2102/BW2103 series for boiler treatment; Crimson PAC and Crimson LC Blend for brewery cleaning; Crimson CT3101/CT3120 for cooling tower treatment; Crimson 003 and Crimson CIP 356 for food/beverage sanitation; Crimson Suppressor defoamer series for industrial applications; Crimson 635 anionic polymer for water treatment; and specialty oilfield chemicals including Guar Gum and drilling acids. The portfolio is complemented by the Crimson Halo cloud-based sanitation scheduling platform, custom blending services, equipment division, and oilfield lab services. CDI operates from a 96,000 sq ft facility in Buffalo, NY with over 60 years of experience in chemical distribution and manufacturing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Crimson Brew: Project expansion of CDI designed to provide breweries with chemicals and blends to facilitate beer-making operations.
• Crimwine
• Crimcheese
• Crimson Halo
• Crimson PAC

Products and services

• Crimson Chemical Product Line Branded blended chemistry product line spanning automotive, boiler, brewery, cooling tower, cleaning, food/beverage, laundry, RO chemicals, metal finishing, odor control, oilfield, wastewater treatment and winery industries, including commodity and specialty products used by industrial customers.
• Custom Blending Services Liquid and powder chemical blending with confidentiality agreements (NDAs), quality assurance, testing, formulation, and custom packaging/labeling services for customers seeking temporary capacity increases without adding employees or machinery.
• Equipment Division Full line of industrial chemical processing equipment including pumps, motors, pH meters, heaters, safety gear, filtration systems, laboratory equipment, and spill containment products, distributed via regional salespeople with worldwide shipping.
• Oilfield Lab Services On-site jar testing, sludge dewatering, solids precipitation, and laboratory services for oilfield drilling, completion, and production chemical applications.
• Crimson Halo Master Sanitation Program Cloud-based preventative maintenance scheduling program for food safety audits, sanitation, maintenance, and departmental verifications with multi-layer secured access and color-coded status tracking, customized for each processing location.
• Food and Beverage Chemical Products Specialty chemicals for dairy, beverage, meat and poultry processing, and food handling facilities, including chelated caustic cleaners (Crimson 003), chlorinated alkaline cleansers (Crimson CIP 356), acid foamers, sanitizers (Crimson PAA 5, Crimson Iodophor), and defoamers (Crimson Suppressor 3581).
• CrimBrew Brewery Chemical Line Specialized chemical blends for brewery operations including alkaline non-caustic cleaners (Crimson PAC), chlorinated alkaline cleaners (Crimson LC Blend), acid descalers (Crimson NP V), and sanitizers designed for brew kettles, conditioning tanks, fermenters, and keg cleaning.
• Boiler Water Treatment Chemicals Boiler chemistry products for scale and corrosion inhibition, condensate treatment, and oxygen scavenging including Crimson BW2101, BW2102, BW2103, BW2106, BW2108, BW5102, BW2110, BW2112, BW2114, BW2119 and BW5108, with multiple USDA-authorized formulations.
• Cooling Tower Treatment Chemicals Cooling tower chemistry including Crimson CT3101 and CT3120 for scale and corrosion protection in open recirculating systems with high hardness/alkalinity water handling capabilities, USDA authorized.
• Oilfield Chemical Products Oilfield chemicals including acids (Hydrochloric Acid), gelling agents (Guar Gum), biocides, breakers, clay stabilizers, crosslinkers, water treatment products, and Crimson Rig/Heavy Equipment Wash for Marcellus and Utica Shale operations.
• Industrial Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Wastewater treatment program offering over 110 anionic, cationic, and nonionic flocculants in dry and emulsion forms, coagulants (Crimson 3800, 3700, 6400), GRAS polymers, and on-site jar testing to customize treatment for discharge requirements.
• Metal Finishing Chemical Products Cleaning and waste treatment products for metal finishing including Crimson Organo Destruct, Crimson Chrome Reducer, Crimson Super Clean 34 pickling solution, and Crimson 635 anionic polymer for chrome reduction, zinc phosphate coating, and wastewater treatment.
• Crimwine Winery Chemical Line Project expansion providing wineries with chemicals and blends designed to facilitate wine-making operations including sanitation and cleaning products.
• Commercial Laundry Chemical Products Complete line of commercial laundry products including Crimson LS liquid laundry soap, hydrogen peroxide bleach, and Crimson NP-9 non-ionic surfactant with custom blending capability.
• RO/Membrane Treatment Chemicals Reverse osmosis chemistry including membrane cleaners, scale inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors, biocides (Kathon WT1.5, DBNPA 40%), and Crimson DeChlor dechlorinator for RO system maintenance and biofilm control.
• Automotive Cleaning Chemical Products Automotive cleaning products including Crimson TW truck wash, Crimson Green cleaner/degreaser, Crimson SS stainless steel brightener, Crimson Aluminum Brightener, and driveway cleaner, originally developed for the company's own freight carrier fleet.
• Food Grade Commodity Chemicals Complete line of food grade chemicals including ascorbic acid, citric acid, calcium chloride, phosphoric acid, lactic acid, and 40+ additional commodities available as industrial, Hi-purity, Food Grade and Kosher chemicals from a single supplier.

Segments11 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD)coreOthersCDI is a member of the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) and follows the Responsible Care Initiative, demonstrating commitment to responsible chemical distribution practices and industry standards.
• Responsible Care InitiativecoreOthersCDI follows the Responsible Care Initiative, a chemical industry association program focused on environmental, health, safety and security performance.
• Brewers AssociationminorOthersBrewers Association membership with logo displayed on Crimson Chemical website, indicating industry association and alignment with craft brewing community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hubbard-Hall: Hubbard-Hall is a privately-held specialty chemical manufacturer and distributor based in Connecticut serving metal finishing, water treatment, and industrial cleaning markets across the Northeast US, with custom blending and tolling services comparable to Crimson Chemical's core offering.
• Interstate Chemical: Interstate Chemical is a regional chemical distributor and blender serving industrial customers in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, with custom blending capabilities and a similar diversified vertical exposure to water treatment, food/beverage, and industrial cleaning markets.
• Solenis: Solenis is a global specialty chemicals manufacturer focused on water treatment, pulp/paper, and process chemistries - directly overlapping Crimson's water treatment, boiler, and cooling tower product lines with significantly greater scale and R&D resources.
• ChemTreat: ChemTreat is a US specialty chemicals provider focused on industrial water and wastewater treatment programs with field service and custom formulation capabilities, directly comparable to Crimson's wastewater treatment segment.
• KMG Chemicals: KMG Chemicals (now part of Cabot Corporation) was a specialty chemicals manufacturer focused on electronic chemicals, industrial wood preservatives, and pipeline products with custom blending operations comparable in scale and scope to Crimson Chemical.
• Superior Chemical: Superior Chemical is a regional industrial and janitorial chemical manufacturer and blender serving the Midwest US with custom blending, sanitation chemicals, and equipment distribution comparable to Crimson's cleaning and food/beverage segments.

Broad incumbents

• Univar Solutions: Univar Solutions is a large global chemical distributor offering commodity and specialty chemicals across food, industrial, and water treatment verticals with national infrastructure - the broad incumbent in chemical distribution space where Crimson competes.
• Brenntag: Brenntag is the world's largest chemical distribution company with global sourcing and a broad specialty/commodity chemicals portfolio serving food, water treatment, and industrial markets where Crimson Chemical operates.
• Ecolab: Ecolab is a global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions providing cleaning and sanitization chemicals to food/beverage, hospitality, and industrial customers - directly comparable to Crimson's sanitation and CIP cleaning product lines at much larger scale.

Regional players

• Quadra Chemicals: Quadra Chemicals is a Canadian specialty chemicals distributor and blender serving food, pharma, and industrial verticals with custom blending services - a comparable regional player operating in a different geography than Crimson Chemical.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 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 crimson chemical