Vollrath history

With the return of Jacob's eldest son Andrew Jackson - who is at times referred to as A.J. and other times as "Jake" - from Germany in 1876, the company began casting iron hollow ware.

The company was incorporated as the Jacob J. Vollrath Manufacturing Company in 1884.

Jacob took on the task of selling them door-to-door and incorporated a new business, the Jacob J. Vollrath Manufacturing Company, in 1886 to produce items for the kitchen.

Jacob's son, Carl A.W., originated and patented a speckled enamel in 1889.

Jacob passed away in May 1898 and the company was handed down to his children, including Andrew, who served as president of the company.

In 1900, the focus switched to cooking utensils and enamel cookware, which was the beginning of Vollrath’s journey to becoming an industry leader in commercial foodservice.

The wares were entered into the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, where they took top prize for "excellence in the production of Colored and Plain Stamped Steel and Cast Iron Enameled Wares," according to an ad the company placed in the Home Furnishing Review.

7, 1907, selling his interest to form what was then called The Porcelain Enameling Association of America, which would later come to be known as Polar Ware.

Construction on a new manufacturing facility began in 1910 in Sheboygan, with that 140,000-square-foot building served by a spur railroad operated by the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company.

Steam table pans and other equipment, which are now one of the cornerstones of its product offerings, were first sold in 1919.

By the late 1930's Vollrath began replacing some enamelware with stainless steel.

Walter J. Kohler, Jr. became The Vollrath Company's fifth president in 1947.

In 1970, Vollrath began molding medical plastics in Sheboygan, an operation that was eventually moved.

In 1974, Vollrath purchased the holloware and related assets of the Admiral Craft Corporation of New York.

Terry J. Kohler, the great-great grandson of Jacob J. Vollrath, became the seventh president of the company in 1976.

Construction of a 24,000 square foot addition to the south end of the original office building was begun in 1977.

In April 1983 Vollrath decentralized, which formed nine divisions of the company.

In 1984 Vollrath installed a new IBM 3038-EX computer - the first of the IBM EX series to be installed in Wisconsin, and the fourth “generation” of IBM computer equipment ordered by Vollrath.

In late 1989 Vollrath purchased the Leyse commercial aluminum cookware line which included a manufacturing facility in Kewaunee, WI.

In 1991 Vollrath acquired the smallwares and cart line from Bloomfield in Chicago, IL and a line of food warmers and accessories with the purchase of Idea/Medalie Division in Rogers, MN. Warmer production was moved to the Kewaunee manufacturing plant.

The Luitink Manufacturing Co. of Menomonee Falls and Oconomowoc, WI, was acquired in 1999.

Corsair Display Systems in Canandaigua, NY, was acquired in 2004 and still operates in its original facility.

Belot saw the company through the milestone achievements of reaching both the $100 million and $200 million annual sales mark before handing over the reins to COO Paul Bartelt in 2009.

In 2011, Traex® in Dane, WI, with plastics.

In 2012, Polar Ware Company in Kiel, WI, with products for food service and health care applications.

In 2015, Miguel Pujadas, S.A. in Santa Coloma, Spain, expanded Vollrath’s global manufacturing footprint of foodservice equipment.

In 2018, Carlson Products in Maize, KS, with standard and custom components, along with bakeware products such as pizza pans, stacking pans, sheet pans, grill pans and panini pans.