Company

Adding value – through strategic specialization.

We focus on specialty food and pharma ingredients and have been dedicated to identifying new, innovative applications for these since 1945. It’s a strategy that’s paid off. Headquartered in Ried im Innkreis, Austria, and with 23 subsidiaries, KUK is now one of Europe’s, Central Asia’s and East Africa’s most well-known provider in these sectors. Our aim is to act as a link between internationally renowned suppliers of select ingredients, and food and pharma manufacturers which adhere to the highest standards of quality. On site, in the local language, and supported by a team of solution experts

Philosophy

Adding value – with our unconventional approach.

KUK: three letters with a single goal. To be the link that adds value. Between ingredients experts, product developers and demanding end consumers. Whoever we target, we always keep the bigger picture in mind. We ask questions. We do our research. And we tailor our expertise to our customers’ exact needs – until we've found the perfect recipe. The more unique the task, the more innovative our approach – both unconventionally flexible and exceptionally future-oriented.

History

Adding value - with our pioneering vision

Listening, to hear what the market needs. Already there, when others are just starting out. The founders of KUK, Krist, Ulrich and Kössl, enlivened the post-war market with artificial honey, which met with enthusiastic acceptance. With the start of pectin production, the company laid the foundation for further successes.

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1950

A new visionary joins the team: Herbert Karsch leads the growth of the pectin business and sees the potential of distribution business – shifting the company’s focus from production to distribution at a strategically critical moment. The firm begins applying its expertise to trading ingredients for the food industry.

1984

Anton Kirchtag arrives on the scene. Over the next few years, he responds to the opening up of Eastern Europe by internationalizing the business – and is one step ahead of the emerging trend for large-scale distribution networks. Under his leadership, KUK stops thinking in terms of countries and starts thinking in terms of regions – that’s KUKalization.

1990

With 25 respected representationes, KUK is now one of Austria’s leading distributors. In 1993, the company enters the Hungarian market and establishes itself as an interregional company trading beyond Austria’s borders. Then, in 1994, it opens its first subsidiary: KUK-Bohemia in Prague. This is the starting point for rolling out lean, expert teams throughout the Eastern European market.

1995

Anton Kirchtag is among the first people to identify the new trend for “functional food”, and once again becomes a pioneer. He expands the company’s portfolio to include nutraceutical and pharmaceutical ingredients – an area in which KUK is now a leading distributor. By 2001, the company has subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Slovakia.

2007

By this point, KUK has a foothold in the four largest CEE markets – Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Russia – as well as Kazakhstan. Katrin Kirchtag joins the company in 2010 and leads KUK into the digital age, securing its future in Europe.

2014

KUK opens subsidiaries in Albania and Macedonia, plus test kitchens at all KUK locations.

2016

KUK reaches another milestone: new Application Centers in Győr, Hungary, and Kiev, Ukraine, allow the company to build on its existing expertise in specially equipped labs, and improve its services for customers and suppliers. New state-of-the-art equipment allows the firm to simulate more complex, technically challenging production processes and develop solutions that are an exact fit for customers’ needs. Research, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit are key elements of the company’s vision.

2019

KUK further strengthens it’s market position by opening new subsidiaries in Baltics, Georgia and Greece as well as a brand new application and training center in Győr, Hungary. With more than 900 m² the new facility offers an even more extensive range of state-of-the art equipment and sufficient space to meet, exchange ideas and develop tailor-made solutions.

2020

KUK increases it’s geographical footprint in the East with establishing a subsidiary in Kyrgyzstan and sets a singificant step towards Western Europe by opening a subsidiary in Belgium, covering the Benelux market.

2024

2024 marks the expansion of KUK's geographic presence into East Africa. With the opening of an office in Kenya and extending activities to Uganda and Tanzania, KUK is not just entering new countries but is also unlocking a continent full of new opportunities.

Team

Adding value – through contacts you can count on.

Our employees are the face of our company. And each and every one is 100% committed to using our flat, flexible hierarchies for your benefit – wherever you’re based, and in your local language. This is why cultural diversity is such an integral part of our corporate culture. It sparks creativity, encourages individuals to take the initiative, and opens our eyes to specific local needs, which in turn provide inspiration for innovative new products for other markets. What makes a KUKie stand out? Their capacity to think outside the box. An inability to turn down a challenge. And a readiness to take complete responsibility.

Jobs

Adding value – with a workplace like no other.

New markets, new opportunities … Not just for growing companies, but for new faces too. Perhaps you’d like to benefit too? Tell us why you’d like to join the KUK team – whether it’s in our back office, working closely with customers and suppliers, or as a food technician in their labs. Inspire us with your personal story and show us how passionate you are about creating innovative solutions. Make us want to find out more! Send your application to jobs@kuk.com.

For our customers

Adding value – through comprehensive support and advice.

Highly developed and demanding sectors such as the food and pharma industries rely heavily on product developers who are faced with enormous challenges. End products are becoming more complex. And product cycles are getting shorter. For developers, this means responding in a better way, faster. So the call for partners who can support them is getting louder. We’ve heard this call – and we’ve responded. Our comprehensive, one-stop consulting service gets to the bottom of companies’ needs and supports them through the entire process. It’s an added benefit that our long-standing customers know and appreciate.

For our suppliers

Adding value – as your local outsourcing partner.

New markets are opening up all over the world. This means the doors of many renowned companies are now open to first-class suppliers. These companies don’t just expect high-quality ingredients – they want exceptional on-site support too. For ingredients manufacturers with a diverse range of products, this represents both an opportunity and a challenge. What you need is a flexible, expert sales force that can deliver this support locally, working closely with you. And this is precisely how KUK sees its role as an outsourcing partner in Europe, Central Asia and East Africa. As the link between manufacturers and customers, our 95+ food technologists feel at home on both sides – in the research labs of our suppliers and the development labs of our customers. The value we add? A smooth transfer of knowledge between the two, allowing the very latest findings to be incorporated into the development of one-of-a-kind products. It’s just another reason why suppliers trust us to expand their business, using our extensive sales network. Because our many years of customer relationship management mean that doors really do stand wide open for us.

Test kitchens

Adding value – with our innovative test kitchens.

We get to know our suppliers’ high-quality ingredients in their own labs. But it’s in our test kitchens that our 95+ food technologists expand their knowledge, trial new recipes, and produce small-batch samples. It’s a service our customers embrace – because it means they can be certain of the excellent quality of the products before production starts. This model has already been rolled out in 21 countries, with the test lab and sample production adding yet more value for our suppliers and customers.

Suppliers

Adding value – through highly specialized suppliers.

Our suppliers are a key enabler of our ability to add value. In compliance with rigorous safety and quality standards, they develop new ingredients in their labs that in turn allow us to create high-quality, innovative products in collaboration with our customers. When a supplier decides to task us with their commercial representation in a specific region, they enjoy even more added value: access to more than 20,000 customers in Europe, Central Asia and East Africa. But such a decision is not taken lightly. It only follows close consultation with our food specialists in the supplier’s lab. The following suppliers now enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing their high-quality ingredients are in good hands. They benefit from our established networks, spanning multiple countries, with all the distribution and logistics handled by KUK.

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food ingredients

Adding value – with select food ingredients.

With a focus on specialty food ingredients, we offer a broad portfolio of high-quality products – plus more than 95 food technologists to serve up expert advice.

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Starches

modified & functional native starches, emulsifying and fat mimetic starches

Hydrocolloides

carrageenes, alginates, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, pectines, gelatine, agar agars, gum arabic, cellulose gum, MCC and its functional blends

Milk derived ingredients

caseinates, whey based ingredients, toppings, coffee creamers, coffee foamers, butter-fractions

Dairy cultures and media

milk and cheese cultures, rennets and media

Cocoa & Chocolate products

cocoa powder, -mass and -butter, industrial chocolates, coatings and filings, chocolate products for decoration and inclusions

Vegetable fats

fat powders and flakes, palm based fat specialties (CBE, CBS, CBR, CBI, shortenings) and other vegetable fats

Colours and taste

natural colours & colouring foodstuffs, caramel colours, vanillin, savoury & sweet flavours, seasonings, cheese based powders, yeast and yeast extracts, tea & coffee extracts

Egg products

crystallised and spraydried eggwhitepowder, eggyolk- and whole eggpowder

Fruits and vegetables

freeze- and airdried fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, meat and fish, fruit- and vegetable powder, fruit purees and juices, pulse flours, herbs & spices

Semifinished products

cereals and their mixes, cornflakes, soja nuts, -flakes, -grits, roasted bread crumbs, croutons, babyfood cereals, hydrolyzed flours

Sweeteners and Sugars

aspartam, acesulfam K, stevia, xylitol, lactitol, fructose, rare and pearl sugars, sucralose, icing sugar and fondant powder

Functional proteins (non-dairy)

plant based - soya protein, pea protein, sunflower protein, pulse protein, animal based - porkrind powder, collagen, meat protein, plasma protein

Emulsifiers

mono-diglycerides, datem, lactem, citrem, acetem, PGE, PGPR, SSL, lecithin

Antioxidants

tocopherols, ascorbyl palmitate, rosemary extract, green tea extract

Others

breadcrumbs for meat coating, (instant) rice & rice flours, liquid and dried malt extracts & flours, phosphates, enzymes, potassium sorbate, marzipan, glazing, polishing, varnishing and release agents for the sweet goods, betaine

Nutra- & Pharmaceuticals

Adding value – with select nutra- and pharmaceuticals.

With a focus on specialty nutraceutical and pharmaceutical ingredients, we offer a broad portfolio of high-quality products – plus more than 95 technologists to serve up expert advice.

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Excipients (solid)

lactose for granulation, lactose for direct compression, film coating formulations for tablets, disintegrants, lubricants (stearic acid, magnesium stearate, glycerol dibehenate), pharmaceutical starches, Pharma grade isomalt, calcium carbonates, pharmaceutical gelatines, xanthan

Excipients (liquid)

polysorbates, sorbitan esters, macrogol stearates, medium chain triglycerides, emulsifiers and thickeners for topical applications, vaccine adjuvants

Dietary fibres

inulin, liquid oligofructose, pea fiber, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), resistant starches

VITAMINS AND MINERALS

Vitamin K2, Vitamin D3, highly bioavailable zinc- complex, vitamin-mineral pre-blends, different calcium and magnesium salts

Probiotics

probiotic cultures, blends and finished products

JOINT HEALTH

glucosamine, chondroitin, native (undenatured) collagen type II, rooster comb extract rich in hyaluronic acid, hydrolyzed collagen / collagen peptides

BONE HEALTH

Vitamin K2, Vitamin D3, Calcified Atlantic Seaweed, different calcium and magnesium salts, hydrolyzed collagen / collagen peptides

CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH

Naturally concentrated omega-3 oils, omega-3 fatty acids in oil and powder format, Vitamin K2

IMMUNE HEALTH

Lactoferrin, colostrum, Vitamin D, larch-tree extract/ arabinogalactans

SPORTS NUTRITION

L-carnitine, conjugated linoleic acid, ZMA mineral support complex, hydrolyzed collagen / collagen peptides, whey protein, caseinates, plant- based proteins

BEAUTY FROM WITHIN

Phyto-ceramides, coriander seed oil for sensitive skin, rooster comb extract rich in hyaluronic acid, hydrolyzed collagen / collagen peptides, caviar extract

Contact

Adding value – with a responsive team.

Have we sparked your interest? Do you have a question and want a quick answer? Simply get in touch with your local KUK office or feel free to contact our headquarters. The value we add? We always reply within 24 hours. And when one of our associates contacts you, you can take them at their word.

Locations

Adding value – on the ground, in the local language.

We offer the flexibility of a small firm and the reliability of an established company. That’s how we’ve successfully built up a presence in 33 countries. Working with KUK means talking with a real person who understands your business. We provide on-site support, are available within a short period of time –with the dedication and ambition to solve each and every problem. No issue is too small to be resolved in an innovative way. The value we add? Proximity to you and extensive consultation upfront.

Headquarters

KUK-Handels GmbH
Auleiten 4
4910 Ried im Innkreis
Phone +43 77 52 858 05
Fax +43 77 52 858 05 – 20

Albania

KUK-Albania sh.p.k.
Autostrada Tirane-Durres KM7
1051 Kashar-Tirane
Phone +355 4 4803429
Fax +355 4 4803429

Austria

KUK-Austria GmbH
Auleiten 4
4910 Ried im Innkreis
Phone +43 77 52 858 05
Fax +43 77 52 858 05 – 20

Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg

KUK-Benelux bv
Philipssite 5/ bus 1
3001 Leuven
Phone +32 16 79 21 55
Fax

Bulgaria

KUK-Bulgaria Ltd.
Georgi Benev Str. 3
4027 Plovdiv
Phone +359 32 946 760
Fax +359 32 967 558

Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

KUK-Adriatic d.o.o.
Rudeska 160B
10000 Zagreb
Phone +385 1 3866 014
Fax +385 1 3886 164

Czech Republic

KUK-Bohemia, spol. s r.o.
Vinohradská 90
130 00 Praha 3
Phone +420 271 730 262
Fax +420 272 191 616

Georgia

KUK-Georgia LLC
Kamani St. 10, Floor 1, Apt. 101
0186 T'bilisi
Phone +995 32 290 7669
Fax +995 32 290 7669

Germany

KUK-Deutschland GmbH
Falltorstrasse 8
76669 Bad Schönborn
Phone +49 7253 93 49 08 - 0
Fax +49 7253 93 49 08 - 9

Greece

KUK Hellas I.K.E.
183, Siggrou Ave. & Sardeon 1,
17121 Nea Smyrni, Athens
Phone +30 210 933 96 12
Fax +30 210 933 96 43

Hungary

KUK-Hungaria Kft.
Wesselényi utca 8.
9024 Györ
Phone +36 96 511 780
Fax +36 96 511 789

Kazakhstan

TOO KUK-Kazakhstan
Sagadat Nurmagambetov, 206
050026 Almaty
Phone +7 701 220 08 61
Fax +7 701 220 08 61

Kenia

KUK - East Africa Ltd.
Office 32, KOFISI 13th Floor, Landmark Plaza building, P.O. Box
51090 Nairobi
Phone 0708735855
Fax -

Kyrgyzstan

KUK-KG Ltd.
9 office, 54 A, Maldybaieva
720020 Bishkek
Phone +996 552 088 884
Fax -

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia

KUK-Baltics UAB
Žalgirio str. 88
09303 Vilnius
Phone +370 5 277 89 45
Fax

North Macedonia

KUK-Macedonia d.o.o.e.l.
bul. Ilinden 105/3-4
1000 Skopje
Phone +389 2 311 80 82
Fax +389 2 312 01 48

Poland

KUK-Polska Sp. z o.o.
ul. Wierzbięcice 49/5
61-547 Poznań
Phone +48 61 639 77 02
Fax

Romania, Moldova

KUK-Romania S.R.L.
Str. Pipera Tunari 61
077190 Voluntari, Jud. Ilfov
Phone +40 2131 044 65
Fax +40 2131 044 69

Russia

KUK-Russia Ltd.
3rd Khoroshevskaya str.18, build.2
123298 Moscow
Phone +7 495 225 45 81
Fax

Serbia, Montenegro

KUK-Srbija d.o.o.
Bulevar Arsenija Čarnojevića 66
11 070 Beograd
Phone +381 11 3089 950
Fax +381 11 3089 970

Slovakia

KUK-Slovakia, s.r.o.
Zvolenská 32
821 09 Bratislava
Phone +421 905 609 643
Fax +421 2 5810 3412

Slovenia

KUK d.o.o. - Slovenia
Vojkova cesta 2
1000 Ljubljana
Phone +386 1 436 42 92
Fax +386 1 436 42 93

Ukraine

KUK-Ukraine Ltd.
Krasylivska str. 11
03040 Kiew
Phone +380 44 459 31 55
Fax +380 44 459 31 56