Producer
GRILLO-Werke
German zinc and chemical company (HQ Duisburg, family-owned); founded in 1842 by Wilhelm Grillo — making Grillo-Werke older than the telephone (1876), the light bulb (1879), and the automobile (1885). Produces battery-grade zinc powder under the BatteryZinc® brand for alkaline battery anodes; claims to be the only full-range European battery zinc powder supplier with particle sizes from 20-600 μm and guaranteed purity >99.995%. Also produces zinc oxide (for tires, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals), sulfuric acid, and specialty chemicals. The same German family company that made zinc before electricity was discovered makes the zinc powder in every Duracell and Varta battery sold in Europe today.
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Battery-Grade Zinc Powder (BatteryZinc)
40%Zinc Oxide (Tires, Cosmetics, Pharma)
35%Sulfuric Acid & Specialty Chemicals
25%
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Did you know2023
Grillo-Werke AG was founded in Duisburg, Germany in 1842 by Wilhelm Grillo — making it one of the oldest continuously operating industrial companies in Germany, predating the telephone (1876), the light bulb (1879), the automobile (1885), and the airplane (1903) by decades. The same German family company that made zinc products before electricity was commercially distributed now makes the battery-grade zinc powder in virtually every alkaline battery sold in Europe. Grillo also produces zinc oxide (used in tire manufacturing for improved rubber adhesion, cosmetics as UV blocker, and pharmaceutical antiseptics) and sulfuric acid — three entirely different industrial commodity streams from one 180-year-old family company in Duisburg.
Grillo-Werke AG ↗Origin2023
GRILLO-Werke AG was founded in 1842 by Wilhelm Grillo in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia — at the time a rising industrial center on the Rhine. The founding predates many technologies now considered fundamental to modern life: the telephone (1876), the light bulb (1879), the internal combustion engine (1876-1886), and commercial electricity distribution (1882). Wilhelm Grillo started with zinc smelting and processing at a time when zinc was primarily valued for galvanizing (rust protection on iron), brass production, and zinc oxide pigments — batteries as we know them did not yet exist. The company has remained family-owned and Duisburg-based for 180+ years through two world wars, German reunification, and the transformation of zinc from a bulk galvanizing metal to a precision battery material requiring >99.995% purity. GRILLO's transition from 19th-century galvanizing zinc to 21st-century battery-grade zinc powder represents an unbroken manufacturing lineage spanning the entire industrial era.
GRILLO-Werke AG ↗