Koch Separation Solutions Acquires Leading Dairy Technology Provider RELCO

Acquisition positions KSS as comprehensive solutions provider to serve dairy, food and beverage industries with cutting edge technology and services

Koch Separation Solutions (KSS), a global leader in separation technology, today announced the acquisition of RELCO, a top provider of cutting-edge process technologies for the dairy and food industry. The acquisition allows KSS to better serve customers and leverage the synergistic capabilities of its various complementary technologies in the dairy, food, and beverage markets.

“The acquisition of RELCO marks an important step in KSS’s transformation to become an integrated solutions provider, delivering superior value to existing and new customers,” said Manny Singh, President of KSS. “We believe that separation challenges in the dairy, food, and other industries are complex and rarely solved with one technology. The acquisition of RELCO adds complementary evaporation and drying technologies to the existing membrane and ion exchange offering of KSS. This combined product offering, along with deep applications knowledge, will ensure a seamlessly integrated solution while delivering maximum value to our customers.”

KSS has a long history in providing innovative membrane products to the food and dairy industry, having pioneered the development of the sanitary spiral wound membranes commonly used today. KSS seeks to drive technological innovation to meet market needs through the vertical integration of KSS’ advanced membrane filtration and ion exchange capabilities with RELCO’s proven evaporation, spray-drying and crystallization processes.

The acquisition of RELCO expands KSS’ scope of capabilities, allowing for a meaningful partnership with customers through greater choice and flexibility in selecting separation technologies best suited for their unique operations. The addition of RELCO’s proven thermal technology enhances KSS’ overall solutions offering to better serve dairy as well as food and beverage customers in fruit-juice, biotechnology, starch and sugar, nutraceutical, and both plant- and animal-based protein applications.

“I founded this company almost four decades ago offering only sanitary welding services and came to realize the greater need for custom designed and engineered systems in the dairy market,” says Loren Corle, Founder and Owner of RELCO. “Since then, I have proudly watched RELCO grow and evolve its technologies to ensure that we are always the first call when customers are faced with a challenge. I am thrilled that KSS shares that same mentality and desire to work collaboratively with their customers to develop strong, long-lasting relationships.”

Mark Litchfield, President of RELCO, adds “To be acquired by a company as successful and respected as KSS is a vindication of our vision, the dedication of our teams, and the relationships we have developed. This acquisition will allow us to offer integrated and innovative membrane filtration and ion exchange systems with our solutions targeting value addition, energy efficiency, and waste minimalization. KSS offers ideal growth conditions for an innovative and quality-focused company like RELCO and we are excited to be a part of this expansion.”