Ecolab
With $5 billion in global sales, Ecolab is the world’s leading provider of cleaning, food safety and health protection products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare and industrial markets.
Headquarters St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Founded St. Paul native Merritt J. Osborn founded Ecolab in 1923 as Economics Laboratory. Its name was changed to Ecolab in 1986.
Employees More than 23,000 associates worldwide
Patents Ecolab has been issued more than 4,000 patents worldwide, including the industry’s first patents for solid warewashing detergent, clean-in-place technology for beverage and food processing, and a no-rinse enzyme-based floor cleaner for grease removal in foodservice operations.
Global Reach
Direct operations in nearly 70 countries. In addition, 100 other countries are reached through distributors, licensees and export operations.
Business Units Institutional: Cleaning and santizing products, programs and services for the foodservice, hospitality, healthcare, retail, building services industries, including warewashing, on-premise laundry, housekeeping, water filtration and conditioning, food safety products, specialty kitchen and laundry products, and pool and spa management. Kay: Cleaning and sanitizing products, services and training programs for quickservice (QSR) restaurants, food retail markets, movie theaters and convenience stores. Pest Elimination: Service and technology for the detection, identification, elimination and prevention of pests in commercial facilities, as well as food safety auditing and training services. Food & Beverage: Cleaning and sanitizing products, equipment, systems and services for the agribusiness, beverage, brewery, pharmaceutical, dairy, meat, poultry and food processing industries. Healthcare: Products and services including healthcare personnel hand wash, surgical scrubs, cleaning and disinfection products used in processing surgical instruments, and hard surface disinfection. GCS Service: Service and parts for the repair and maintenance of commercial foodservice equipment. Textile Care: Cleaning and sanitizing products, programs and services, including water recycling energy solutions, and data management systems, for commercial laundries serving the work wear, linen and healthcare markets. Vehicle Care: Vehicle cleaning, protection and detailing products and services for full-service tunnel, quick-service in-bay, self-service and detail car wash operations and corporate-owned transportation fleets. Water Care Services: Industrial water treatment products and services for boilers, cooling water and waste treatment systems.
Recent Awards
- World’s Most Ethical Companies (Ethisphere Magazine)
Only 80 companies were chosen for this award (May 2007)
- 100 Best Corporate Citizens (CRO magazine)
Ecolab’s eighth appearance in eight years (January 2007)
- Forbes 2006 Honor Roll
Special recognition for companies appearing on Forbes “400 Best Big Companies in America” list every year since the list’s inception in 1999 (December 2006)
- America’s Most Shareholder Friendly Companies (Institutional Investor magazine)
Ecolab’s third appearance in as many years (March 2007)
- Black Pearl Award for Corporate Excellence in Food Safety and Quality (International Association of Food Protection)
Recognizing Ecolab’s achievements in corporate excellence in food safety and quality (August 2006)
- Great Places to Work (Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal)
Ecolab was acknowledged as one of the “Great Places to Work” for the headquarters locations (August 2006)
- 50 Best Companies to Sell For (Selling Power magazine)
For the second year in a row, Ecolab was ranked third “Best Manufacturing Company to Sell For” in the United States (November 2006)
- EPA Climate Leaders Award (Environmental Protection Agency)
An Ecolab plant manager at City of Industry, California, accepted an award recognizing Ecolab’s commitment to Climate Leaders from the EPA (February 2006)
- Mergent Dividend Achiever (Mergent Inc.)
Ecolab was recognized for an outstanding record of 10 or more years of consecutive dividend increases and declared a 2006 Mergent Dividend Achiever
- KLD’s Domini 400 Social Index (DSI)
Ecolab is listed on the Domini 400 Social index, a benchmark of the impact of social screening on financial returns and portfolio performance