Kärcher turns over three billion euro for the first time
Double-digit growth in 2021
In 2021, Kärcher exceeded the turnover threshold of three billion euro within one business year for the first time in the company's history. With a total turnover of €3.092 billion, the cleaning specialist has been able to break last year's record by 13.6%. This success is evenly distributed across all regions and product groups. Adjusted for currency, Kärcher grew by a full 25% during the two years that have been shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
More employees and increased demand for Kärcher products
The number of employees has also increased significantly over the past year thanks to over 900 new additions; 14,000 members of staff now work for the family-owned company in 150 businesses and 78 countries.
Since the pandemic began, private customers' demand for pressure washers, steam cleaners and garden tools from Kärcher has increased; lockdown measures, more people working from home, and generally stricter hygiene requirements have all contributed to this trend. In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for devices for professional use also increased substantially, restoring the strategic balance between the two Kärcher business units. Globally, investments in machinery – from vacuum cleaners to steam cleaners and floor cleaning machines – rose in industry and the hospitality sector, in particular.
The scrubber-driers were joined by smaller models, here the battery-powered BR 30/1.
The central product innovation in the end customer segment in 2021 was a high-pressure cleaner series with app connection via Bluetooth interface (Smart Control Range).
Significant investment in our future
While the operational business side of the company continues to take things as they come as it navigates the pandemic and its uncertainties, huge strides are being made in terms of strategic investment: "In 2021, we invested €125 million in our sites, our systems and, above all, our staff – always with customer benefits in mind. In this way, we are shaping Kärcher's future and laying the foundations for continued commercial success," explains Hartmut Jenner. "We made great progress over the past year, having grown significantly more strongly than the cleaning market."
Picture: Kärcher plant Bühlertal
Sustainability has many forms
Thanks to its sustainability strategy, which has become an intrinsic element of the company, Kärcher achieved a milestone last year – production at all its factories is now CO2-free. Providing free cleaning services to preserve historic monuments is also part of this strategy. In 2021, for instance, the company's in-house cleaning experts set to work on Cologne Cathedral; in collaboration with the artist Klaus Dauven, they also created an enormous work of reverse graffiti art on the wall of the Vouglans dam in France. As well as the ongoing project working on the obelisks in Place de la Concorde, Paris, we are also planning to work on the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro.
More than 15 green filter systems for wastewater treatment have been put into operation with the help of Kärcher. The picture shows the 15th plant in Jordan.
In Vouglans, France, a huge reverse graffiti has been created on a dam wall in the midst of beautiful nature in collaboration with the artist Klaus Dauven.
Kärcher was awarded the prestigious German Sustainability Award for its exemplary use of resources. Photographer: Dariusz Misztal
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