74Tile International 2/2017

Ceramica Fondovalle is still reaping the rewards of the in-vestments it has made in a

In the spotlight

Ceramica Fondovalle and large-format panels

From left: Maurizio Baraldi and Federico Tusini

radical overhaul of its prod-uct range and brand image.In 2014, Fondovalle installed a

Continua+ production line so as to be properly equipped to enter the high value-added,

extra-large format segment. Since then, it has renovated its headquarters in Torre Mai-na, set up a new logistics and end-of-line processing hub in Ubersetto, inaugurated on 28 August, and is now finishing the remodelling of its Marano production facility, which is due for completion by the end of the year. Fondovalle has reported excellent eco-nomic results too, with a year-on-year rise in turnover of 23.9% in 2016, to a total of 30.1 million euros. So we start-ed our interview with Maurizio Baraldi, the company’s Chair-man, by asking him about the company’s sales perfor-mance in the first half of 2017.

Sahara Noir

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Tile International 2/201775

Tile International: You achieved an outstanding in-crease in revenues in 2016: have you managed to keep that momentum going this year?Maurizio Baraldi: “To be hon-est, the first half of 2017 has been difficult for us because the start-up of our Ubersetto facility was delayed for unbe-lievable bureaucratic rea-sons. According to our plans, all the end-of-line processing cycles for our large-format panels – cutting, edge-grind-ing, lapping, polishing and so on – were supposed to be up and running by April. Unbe-

lievably, this was all delayed because the electricity sup-plies were not connected…Despite this setback, however, we’ve still recorded sales in-creases in double figures and there’s still a chance we might be able to close the gap be-tween now and the end of the year, and come close to matching our 2016 perfor-mance.”Tile International: Which markets have you achieved your best results in?M. Baraldi: “Our increase in sales is pretty uniform across all our markets, except the ones where political and eco-

nomic instability has trig-gered a slowdown. What’s more, exports account for over 90% of our turnover.Our biggest presence is still in Europe, especially Germany and Austria, but we’ve also achieved promising results in Australia and the Far East. Things are going well in North America, where we’ve com-pleted a campaign to build up a client-base that’s more sensitive to the qualities of our new materials, and the situa-tion is looking good in Latin America too.Basically, as a direct result of presenting ourselves to the

market with such an innova-tive product as our large-for-mat panels, we’ve won more customers, which shows that people appreciate the path we’ve taken.” Tile International: And what about Italy?M. Baraldi: “Before we started producing large-format pan-els, our sales were definitely concentrated on export mar-kets, but now we’re shifting back into our home market again, which is strategic to us for obvious reasons, and we’re working on building up our sales here. Italy is an ad-vanced market that’s recep-

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76Tile International 2/2017

In the spotlight

tive to high-end and top-end products, so there’s a lot of growth potential for us among architects and designers. What’s more, marble special-ists are showing increasing in-terest in large-format panels, as they come to appreciate the qualities of ceramic pan-els compared with large for-mats made of natural materi-als. The extent of this development has prompted Federico Tusini, our Sales Di-rector, to implement a series of marketing initiatives specifi-cally aimed at this new type of customer.”Tile International: Is Fond-ovalle still producing ceramic tiles in traditional formats?M. Baraldi: “Absolutely. We now have two kilns at Mara-no, one for traditional prod-ucts and one for large-format

panels. The latter are then transferred to Ubersetto for end-of-line processing.A new warehouse in Uberset-to for large-format panels, with indoor storage space of 10,000 square metres, on a site with a total area of 25,000 square metres, is due for com-pletion by June 2018, and this will hugely facilitate our han-dling operations. We’ll also be setting up a new line in Uber-setto in 2018 for applying an additional base layer to our large-format panels in thick-nesses of 12 and 20 mm. This makes the panels suitable for machining by our marble specialist and processor cus-tomers, to produce kitchen worktops and other types of top.” Tile International: What is Fondovalle’s total output?

M. Baraldi: “Taking account of our traditional ceramics and our large-format panels, we’ve achieved a production rate of 9,000 sq.m per day, for a total of approximately 2.5 million sq.m per year. Basical-ly, by the end of 2016 we’d al-ready doubled our produc-tion capacity, in line with the targets we set ourselves.We’re now channelling our biggest efforts into quality, in-cluding the aesthetic quality of our products, and we’ve started producing panels measuring 1600x3200 mm, which we’re expecting to make a big impression with at Cersaie.We make these panels in three different thicknesses, to maximise their scope for use in interior design: so we have a 20 mm thickness for pro-

ducing tops of all types and for meeting the growing de-mand from marble special-ists, but we also have thick-nesses of 12 and 6.5 mm to suit the widest imaginable range of applications. As far as aesthetic finishes are con-cerned, I would like first of all to pay tribute to the immense ability shown by our in-house staff, who have created a string of finishes – as can be seen in the Dream, Wood, Komi, Action and Infinito col-lections – that have attracted extreme interest from both the Italian and international mar-ket. So the impeccable pro-fessionalism of our staff, com-bined with our state-of-the-art technology, is yielding truly first-class results.”Tile International: What new products are you presenting

Dream Woods

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Tile International 2/201777

at Cersaie 2017?M. Baraldi: “We’ve extended and completely redesigned our stand for Cersaie this year so that we can showcase our extra-large 1600x3200 mm panels to best effect, and this too is the work of our in-house

staff. As for the new products we have on display, I would urge everyone to come and see them in person and touch them with their own hands: our new collections re-flect the latest contemporary trends, so draw inspiration

from marble, wood, resin and decorative panels, produced in sizes 80x80, 120x120, 120x240 and 160x320 cm, de-pending on the collection in question.”Tile International: What sales and marketing strategies has

Federico Tusini been putting together since his appoint-ment as Sales Director at Ce-ramica Fondovalle in May 2017?M. Baraldi: “The best person to answer that is Federico himself, because he has an

Infinito 2.0

In the spotlight

Tile International 2/2017 78

in-depth knowledge of every-thing we’re organising for our different market areas.”Federico Tusini: “I’m right be-hind all the plans for Fond-ovalle that Maurizio has just outlined to you, and I was very excited about getting to work on them right from the start. I’m convinced that techno-logical innovation combined with the know-how of every-one who works on our prod-ucts, at all levels, are the stand-out strengths of Fond-ovalle. As a result of this, I feel a strong sense of responsibili-ty to achieve sales results for the company that are worthy of the investments it has made.We’re working on building an effective sales network that knows how to extend its reach beyond the traditional con-fines of the ceramic sector, by taking every opportunity to make the most of the furniture and interior finishings seg-ment. So obviously we’re no longer talking about floor and wall tiles alone, but shifting our thinking to embrace the concept of surfaces in gener-al, that you can make any-thing at all with. Every day, what’s more, I’m amazed to see our large-format panels used for entirely new applica-tions, and this merely confirms

the enormous potential of this product.”Tile International: Are there any technical aspects of the organisation and manage-ment of sales networks that you felt could be usefully im-ported into Fondovalle?F. Tusini: “I’ve focused on the organisational requirements specifically associated with large-format panels, because this obviously is, and was, the company’s priority.Primarily, this involves special training for sales personnel, because customers need to feel, and are entitled to feel, that they’ve got all the neces-sary support with all the tech-nical and logistical consider-ations associated with large-format panels, which are completely different from the considerations associat-ed with traditional ceramics.I decided to give a distinct identity to our products aimed at the countertop sec-tor by bringing them under the umbrella of the new sub-brand, “My Top Fondovalle”, which we’re launching at Cer-saie. This decision enabled us to target our marketing mate-rials and sales activities, and adapt them to the needs of prospects operating outside the ceramic sector.We’ve also just concluded an important agreement with

one of the leading worldwide players in the quarrying and machining of marble and natural stone, which has been involved in some of the most important works of ar-chitecture across five conti-nents, over the course of its history spanning over a cen-tury. The agreement enables My Top Fondovalle to be dis-tributed exclusively on various European markets through a sales network traditionally dedicated to natural stone.I’m convinced that new alli-ances of this type, which bring different experience and markets together, now play a strategically vital role in developing the full potential of these new, large-format ce-ramic panels.But let’s not lose sight of the fact that Fondovalle is not just a manufacturer of large for-mats. At Cersaie, we’re pre-senting a selection of prod-ucts in sizes 40x80, 80x80, 20x180, 20x120 and 120x120 with a thickness of 10 mm, be-cause our goal is to expand our share of the market for tra-ditional ceramic tiles, by di-versifying our formats and continuing to work hard on the stylistic distinction that has become one of Fond-ovalle’s hallmarks in recent years.”Tile International: What are the main objectives you’ve set yourself in the short to me-dium term?F. Tusini: “My short-term goal is to complete all the market-

ing activities we’ve devel-oped in support of the new products we’re due to launch.The company has deployed substantial resources in the marketing area too, so that we can raise our profile and equip our customers with ef-fective means of presenting our products, and, above all, give our product range strong emotional appeal as well as making it innovative.We’ve just launched Fond-ovalle into the world of social media by opening accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin, because we felt we really needed a presence on these channels. Recognising the significance of this change and succeeding in reaping the huge opportuni-ties it can offer, if properly used and integrated with more traditional forms of mar-keting and communication, is a cultural challenge that companies have to rise to know if they want to increase, or even merely retain, their competitive edge on glocal markets. In the medium term, our objective is to extend our coverage of markets with high potential for ceramic sales, and strengthen cus-tomer retention both on tradi-tional distribution channels and among marble special-ists and processors.Basically, we intend to make sure that Fondovalle evolves constantly and continuously, because it no longer pays to be ‘ordinary’.” 5

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