JBT Marel Corporation (JBT)

JBT Marel Corporation — formerly John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT) — is an American food processing equipment and technology company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and listed on the NYSE under the ticker JBTM. Its roots trace to 1884, when orchardist John Bean founded the Bean Spray Pump Company in Los Gatos, California. Through more than 140 years of mergers, divestitures, and organic development, the company evolved from farm equipment into a global supplier of food processing, preservation, and packaging machinery. In January 2025 JBT completed the $4.4 billion acquisition of Marel — itself the owner of what was formerly Stork Food Systems — creating the world’s most comprehensive food processing equipment group with approximately $3.8 billion in annual revenue and 12,000 employees across 50+ facilities in 30+ countries.

JBT is also the owner of Avure Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high pressure processing (HPP) systems for cold pasteurisation of food and beverages, acquired in 2017.

Company profile

Historical origins: John Bean to FMC (1884–2008)

Bean Spray Pump Company (1884)

The company was founded in 1884 by John Bean, a California orchardist who invented a piston pump capable of continuously spraying insecticide on fruit trees — solving a practical problem in orchard management. The Bean Spray Pump Company grew into a manufacturer of agricultural and food processing machinery.

Food Machinery Corporation and FMC (1928–2008)

In 1928, the Bean Spray Pump Company merged with Anderson-Barngrover Co. and Sprague-Sells to form the Food Machinery Corporation (FMC). FMC became a major industrial conglomerate, diversifying into defence, chemicals, and industrial equipment through the mid-twentieth century. In 1948 the name became Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation; in 1961 it became FMC Corporation.

A key innovation of this period was the introduction in 1961 of the continuous hydrostatic cooker — a major advance in food preservation technology that enabled continuous thermal sterilisation of canned foods, replacing batch retort processes. FMC also developed automated guided vehicles (AGVs), designing the first wire-guided AGV in 1981, and built the Jetway passenger boarding bridge business, with over 7,000 units installed at 140+ airports globally.

Spinoff as JBT Corporation (2008)

On 30 April 2008, FMC Technologies spun off its non-energy business units as an independent publicly traded company: John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT). FMC Technologies shareholders received 0.216 JBT shares for each FMC Technologies share held; JBT paid approximately $175 million in cash dividend to FMC Technologies upon separation. JBT was listed on the NYSE and initially comprised two operating divisions: JBT FoodTech and JBT AeroTech.

Divisions

JBT FoodTech

The FoodTech division supplied food and beverage processing equipment across protein, liquid foods, and packaging. Core product lines included:

• Continuous sterilisation systems — the hydrostatic cooker and related retort technologies
• Portioning, battering, and frying systems for poultry and meat
• Liquid food processing — pasteurisation, aseptic filling, UHT systems
• Inspection and quality control — X-ray, checkweighing

Post-Marel, the FoodTech division expanded to include all Marel product lines (poultry, meat, fish, pet food processing) as well as Avure HPP systems.

JBT AeroTech (divested 2023)

The AeroTech division manufactured airport ground support equipment and passenger boarding infrastructure under the Jetway brand. Products included passenger boarding bridges, cargo loaders, aircraft deicers, aircraft tow tractors, pre-conditioned air (PCA) units, and 400 Hz ground power units. In August 2023, JBT divested the AeroTech division to Oshkosh Corporation; it now operates as Oshkosh AeroTech. The divestiture allowed JBT to focus exclusively on food processing technology ahead of the Marel transaction.

Acquisitions timeline

JBT pursued a systematic acquisition strategy from 2014 onwards to broaden its food technology portfolio:

Avure Technologies — HPP (2017)

In 2017 JBT acquired Avure Technologies for $57 million, adding high pressure processing (HPP) to its portfolio. Avure, headquartered in Erlanger, Kentucky with manufacturing in Middletown, Ohio, is one of the leading global manufacturers of industrial HPP equipment. HPP — also called pascalisation — is a cold pasteurisation technology that applies isostatic pressure of 400–600 MPa to packaged food, inactivating pathogens without heat, thereby preserving vitamins, flavour, and fresh texture.

The flagship Avure product in the JBT portfolio is the AV-10 system, an industrial-scale HPP vessel with an annual processing capacity of 10–15 million pounds depending on hold time. Target markets include poultry, meat, seafood, prepared foods, and beverages. With the Avure acquisition, JBT became one of the few food equipment companies to offer both conventional thermal processing systems and non-thermal HPP alternatives within a single portfolio — a combination that became more strategically significant after the Marel acquisition, given Marel’s strength in protein processing where HPP is an important post-packaging intervention.

Marel acquisition (2024–2025)

The acquisition of Marel was the defining strategic transaction in JBT’s history as an independent company. Marel, which itself had acquired Stork Food Systems in 2008 for €415 million, was by 2023 the world’s largest protein processing equipment manufacturer with revenues of €1.72 billion.

Timeline:

Financial structure: The deal was valued at approximately $4.4 billion in total consideration, structured as approximately 65% JBT stock and 35% cash (~€950 million). Former Marel shareholders received approximately 38% ownership in the combined JBT Marel Corporation.

Strategic rationale: The combination created a company with full-line capabilities across all protein processing categories (poultry, meat, fish, pet food, plant-based), liquid foods, and packaging — covering the entire food processing chain from primary processing through portioning, preservation, packaging, and traceability. Expected cost synergies of $150 million within three years of closing were identified, alongside revenue synergies from cross-selling Marel’s processing equipment to JBT’s liquid food and beverage customers and vice versa.

Stork lineage within JBT Marel

The acquisition of Marel brings within JBT Marel a direct line to Stork N.V., the Dutch industrial conglomerate that sold its food machinery division to Marel in 2008. Stork Food Systems contributed:

• The P40 poultry evisceration system and subsequent generations of poultry processing lines
• Stork Townsend sausage and meat processing equipment (itself the former Townsend Engineering, acquired by Stork in 2006)
• The Oss manufacturing facility
• The Marel Stork Poultry Processing brand, which continues as a product identity within JBT Marel

The career of Theo Bruinsma — who moved from Stork Townsend to the Marel board and subsequently became chairman of GMV — illustrates the continuity of Dutch food machinery expertise through this ownership chain.

Financial development

Current structure (2025)

As JBT Marel Corporation, the combined group operates as a focused food technology company:

• Manufacturing: 50+ facilities across 30+ countries
• Employees: ~12,200
• Revenue: ~$3.8 billion (2025 guidance)
• Adjusted EBITDA margin: ~15–16%
• Technology segments: Poultry, meat, fish, pet food, liquid foods, beverages, packaging, HPP (Avure), traceability software
• Listed: NYSE: JBTM; Nasdaq Iceland: JBTM

Leadership:
– CEO: Brian A. Deck (JBT legacy)
– President: Árni Sigurðsson (Marel legacy, former CEO of Marel)
– CFO: Matthew J. Meister