About us

Container handling has been our business since 1974. That makes 51 years of heavy responsibility.

ELME Spreader supports companies worldwide with container handling solutions that make their work easier and more profitable. Over a period of five decades, our customers have attached over 27,500 ELME spreaders to their lift trucks, reach stackers, straddle carriers and cranes. The trust we’ve earned has made ELME Spreader the world’s leading independent spreader manufacturer.

Celebrating 51 years in the business

ELME Spreader was founded in 1974 by Gösta Karlsson, a mechanical engineer from Ljungby, Småland, who dreamed of running a business of his own. Through hard work, commitment and persistence he’s managed to build one of the most renowned companies in the business. Today the once small startup has transformed into the world's leading independent spreader manufacturer, run by an ambitious team of >250 coworkers. At the age of 76, Gösta Karlsson is still very much active in the daily operations and strategic development of the company.

Manufacturing spreaders to a global market

The ELME Spreader product range includes truck spreaders, crane spreaders and spreaders for straddle carriers for the handling of containers, trailers and swop bodies. We also offer a wide range of attachments and special equipment together with our range of approved spare parts – ELME Genuine Parts.

Serving customers on seven continents

Our customers are located on seven different continents and include both internationally recognized OEM manufacturers as well as end users who use ELME spreaders as their standard working tool for their equipment. That’s what we call a worldwide presence.

100% made in Sweden

Every single ELME spreader is built at our plant in Älmhult. All the work is carried out here – from design and product development to manufacturing and testing. Only a few sub-contractors are used in the assembling of our products. A unique approach. The reason is simple. It lets us have 100% control over the production and the final quality of our products.

27,500 delivered spreaders

Since 1974, more than 27,500 ELME spreaders have been attached to lift trucks, reach stackers, straddle carriers and cranes all over the world. Today, the annual production exceeds 1,000 units and the product range has broadened to cover not only truck and crane spreaders, but also a wide range of special equipment and attachments.

Optimized production

From manual welding and other demanding hands-on operations to controlled machine centres and fully automated processes – the production at our plant in Älmhult is optimised to deliver top performance spreaders. All made possible by our dedicated and highly experienced staff of technicians, engineers and support personnel.

Instant customer support

ELME Spreader is all about providing our customers with top-class spreaders and a carefree ownership. That’s why instant support is just a phone call or email away. Want more information about one of our products? Have a general inquiry? Need to order a spare part?

Contact our customer support today and they’ll help you right away.

ELME Spreader AB 1974-2024

Discover the story behind how Gösta Karlsson, a farmer's son, entered the container handling business and founded ELME Spreader. Gain insights into the events, images, and anecdotes that tells the story of how ELME Spreader developed from a typical kitchen-table startup in Småland to being the world's leading independent spreader manufacturer.