Kleen Purgatis is the professional branch of the Budich Group in Germany. The whole group has separate business units for consumer, OEM and professional products. Kleen Purgatis deals here with the professional cleaning product side. The company is almost 140 years old and still in family hands. They have two modern manufacturing units in Germany and about 450 people with a high percentage in R&D and QM.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
KLEEN PURGATIS: Everything in professional floor and surface cleaning covering all areas in FM cleaning solutions and adding a range of high modern sophisticated solutions too for kitchen, catering, laundry, dishwashing, disinfection, food areas, industry and unit cleaning. We have strong footholds in the catering and healthcare area, but picking also up in the hotel and office cleaning industry.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
KLEEN PURGATIS: In 2020 we started to launch the first fully Ecolabel and more sustainable tablet cleaning range (Quin Tab). This is picking up speed right now and we will introduce and launch here more solutions within 2021 and 2022. Tablets are the future of tomorrow cleaning, as they solve many problems and challenges, offer full dilution and cost control and as they are the purest concentrated product type cut down drastically packaging waste. Quin Tab professional cleaning tablets are just a start, as is the new game changing fryer boil out tablet Granit F Tab.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
KLEEN PURGATIS: It is easier to describe what we do not cover, that is actually only the car washing chemical business and the pure food sector cleaning, but the last is on our agenda, a few products here are already in our range, but we will add know how and solutions here.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
KLEEN PURGATIS: We are active as one of the few German top class manufacturers worldwide with a reach almost in all of Europe, eastern Europe, USA, Asia, Middle East, Scandinavia. All this markets, especially Asia is picking up in terms of Quality products and made in Germany. We are present in more than 30 markets of the world. Romania is on our plan to move in, we are right now in discussions with potential partners. Only activity right now is in the catering area with the company Maxigel. Germany is in many markets still ahead in its quality approach, but other markets are strongly on the move.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
KLEEN PURGATIS: It is simple in cleaning – the trend is: Easier, Faster, Ecolabel with better performance, more sustainable, better logistical solutions. People look more and more into performance / application costs than just a product price; this is where we win. Keep in mind the chemical in a cleaning job makes only about 3 % max, the costs are on the staff/working side with up to 85 %.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
KLEEN PURGATIS: Quin Tab (Ecolabel), Granit Tab F (Professional fryer boil out tab), Gastro Kleen (First food contact surface cleaner without RINSE), Professional high concentrated Ecolabel product range liquid (Blue Star Ocean, Premium No 2, Premium No 4). We still have some surprises for 2021.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
KLEEN PURGATIS: 2021 will still be challenging, we hope due to the pandemic which has an impact also on our segment of the market, that we can hold the turnover stable, if segments of the general market open again, turnover will pick up (Hotels, Restaurants, Stores and so on) again fast, a lot has to be basic cleaned after month beeing closed and stocks of cleaning products are empty often right now. I guess starting from end of April / May the market will slowly recover again. Any other estimates would be a pure guess.