Krepel

Production of interior doors

In 1732, an Austrian named Gröbel was given supervision over a copper mill. He built a waterfall next to it to supply the mill with a source of energy. His son took over the business in 1808, by which time the company’s name had mutated into Krepel. Since then, the company has always remained in the family. Bernhard Krepel, who runs the business and is a joint owner together with his sister, belongs to the eighth generation. Krepel is specialised in the production of interior doors and luxury wood gift packaging.

Interior doors

There are six manufacturers of interior doors in the Netherlands. With an annual production of 130,000 doors, Krepel is one of the larger producers. What makes the business unique is their constant drive to innovate. The business has therefore moved up the ranks: they no longer only produce interior doors, but also install window frames and interior doors with hinges and locks for construction projects. As a result, they come into further contact with their end users. Moreover, the business regularly launches new models in the market. Krepel continues to develop into a construction partner that is actively involved in shaping the interior of a building. With the increasing industrialisation of the construction sector, interior doors and stiles are increasingly produced ready-made in the factory to be quickly installed on site. Other possibilities that are being researched are removable doors and door refurbishment.

Luxury gift packaging

In Klarenbeek, 50 employees are responsible for the production of interior doors. The second site of the business has been located in Poland since 1996. Krepel has a production site there for luxury gift packaging. Each week, 125 employees produce over 20,000 custom-made packaging items. This packaging finds its way to customers in Europe and beyond. The packaging is often used for packaging luxury items such as jewellery, cigars and luxury wines and spirits. In this high-end market, Krepel is the market leader in Europe. In fact, the word ‘packaging’ does not do it justice. The products fulfill much more than simply a packaging function. By investing a lot of effort in the design and a high-quality finish, the brand value of the packaged product is confirmed and increased. It is therefore an integral part of the total product.

The future

Krepel expects to grow in both segments. For the interior doors, the focus lies on automation to accommodate the future anticipated lack of technical personnel. For the packaging segment, the company has reached adequate coverage in Europe and is looking beyond Europe for additional growth.