The main competition for Italian coffee grinder manufacturers, Krups International is an extremely successful corporation based in the Westphalia region of Germany, in the town of Solingen. Founded in 1864 by Robert Krups, the company achieved its first success as a maker of small precision scales. World War II devastated the company, but the Krups family retained control and switched the emphasis to smaller machines for the household. In 1956, this German family enterprise went after the growing market for coffee brewers. The passion for coffee, fanned by the large population of American and other occupiers, swept the country, and Krups was ready to ride the wave! In no time, Krups had sold one million coffee grinders to small households. In 1983, the company launched its first line of espresso machines!

Today, Krups employs over three thousand people and takes in over 500 million euros each year. Of late, it has focused heavily on product design, focusing on sleek and clean lines with black plastic and gray steel colors. The company has even engaged high profile industrial artists like Konstantin Grcic to create new looks for its products.

Since its discovery of coffee machinery, Krups has gone on to expand its production line to include dozens of different home appliances, usually for the kitchen. Its coffee grinders, brewers and espresso machines, however, remain central to the operation. Krups is now an international business, with offices and outlets on several continents. In the United States, Krups products are easily ordered online, and several major retailers provide retail shelf purchases.

Coffee lovers will treasure the grinders and brewers made by Krups. They are great example of engineering progress. New products are always offered to the public at a good price and with state-of-the-art technology, and improvements are always innovative and ahead of the curve! Krups machines always look great, and one of the delightful things about these machines is that they bring an industrial sleekness fit for a Starbucks to the home kitchen.

In the United States, the coffee grinders offered by Krups begin with four models. They include two conical burr grinders, the GVXI, the GVX2, and two blade grinders, the GX4100 and the F203. As is typical of grinders, the blade machines are less expensive because they are less effective than the burr grinders. The burr grinders each have 17 separate settings to control the fineness of the grind, while the blade grinders rely on pulsing and the judgment of the operator to adjust fineness. Bean container capacity goes from 8 ounces for the burrs to 3 ounces for the blades. While the F203 has the most powerful engine of the four machines, at 160 watts, that is a dubious honor; too much power during grinding causes the beans to heat, which causes cooking and alters the flavor of the roast, almost always for the worse. The burrs each operate at 100 watts, while the GX4100 takes 140. The blade systems do possess a good quality of flexibility because they can be used for grinding spices and other seeds, a feature not part of the conical burrs grinders. The GVX2 has safety features superior to the GVX1, which adds to its price.