Production and sales underway: Rational successfully expanding in China

Production and sales underway: Rational successfully expanding in China

Rational, the world market leader in thermal food preparation, is launching a "Made in China” combi oven: the iCombi One was developed in China, is produced in China, is exclusively oriented towards Chinese cuisine, and is only sold on the Chinese mainland. By combining 20 years of experience in China and 50 years of combi oven expertise, the company is making a clear commitment to this future market. The iCombi Pro, the intelligent combi oven, will continue to be manufactured in Landsberg am Lech.

Rational CEO Dr. Peter Stadelmann explains: "We want to continue expanding in China and reach even more customers through our expanded portfolio. Combi oven technology is still largely unknown in China, but it is accepted, which is why we have such potential to tap new markets here."

Stadelmann calls the company's presence in China indicative of the market's importance: "By opening our factory in 2024, we committed to maintaining a long-term presence with in-country research and manufacturing. Since 2025, we have been investing more and more in training and developing qualified production and sales staff."

The Rational combi oven, which is available in six- and ten-rack unit sizes, is robust and built to last, underscoring the company's focus on maximizing customer benefit. Customers can also access a comprehensive network of trained service professionals as well as free application support.

As with the iCombi Pro, the iCombi One will be distributed through the established channels in China; additional sales structures and a training centre are also forthcoming.

The company is convinced that the iCombi One will become a model of success. After all, it takes up less than 1 m² of space and has Chinese cuisine's most important applications - roasting, grilling, steaming, baking, and many more - down to a science. It replaces numerous appliances such as duck ovens, grills, convection ovens, steamers, and even woks, and is particularly suited to kitchens with a high degree of standardization, such as casual Chinese-cuisine restaurants serving between 30 and 130 meals per day. For an even wider variety of applications and unit sizes, the company offers the iCombi Pro with built-in cooking intelligence, precise temperature control, and functions like PowerSteam for typical Chinese steaming applications.

Stadelmann is quick to emphasise that nothing will change at the company's German production facility in Landsberg am Lech: "Internationally, the iCombi Pro remains our most important product with excellent growth potential. In fact, the facility is currently being expanded to include a large service parts warehouse, with additional expansion measures in the planning stages."

In addition to a wide range of communications across the usual Chinese online channels, Rational will be presenting the iCombi One to the greater public for the first time at Hotelex in Shanghai from 30 March to 2 April 2026.

Contact:

Rational Aktiengesellschaft

Stefan Arnold / Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +49 (0)8191 327-2209
Fax +49 (0)8191 327-72 2209

E-mail: ir@rational-online.com
rational-online.com

Editorial note:

Rational is the global market and technology leader for innovative cooking systems in commercial food preparation. Its customer base ranges from restaurants and hotels through company canteens, hospitals, schools, universities, military facilities, prisons, and retirement homes, down to fast food restaurants, party services, supermarkets, bakeries and snack outlets, butchers’ shops, service stations, and delivery services, including ghost kitchens, as they are known.

According to company estimates, the global market potential for combi ovens is 4.8 million customers, of whom around 75 percent are still using traditional cooking equipment. The iCombi, the iVario and the iHexagon, which are intelligent cooking systems, can replace all this equipment, enabling customers to improve the quality of their food and to save money. In addition, Rational offers a large range of services for customers, such as accessories, care products, spare parts, training, and technical services.

The unique customer benefit philosophy delivers results such as market leadership, growth, profitability, and stability, which manifest in the following key figures for the year 2025: global market share of 50 percent, sales revenues of 1,260 million euros, EBIT of 333 million euros, EBIT margin of 26 percent, equity ratio of 80 percent.