Interview with Gianni & Amerigo Tagliapietra, CEO and Sales Director

This year, Labrenta celebrates 50 years of activity: what does this goal represent to you?

50 years are certainly an important and meaningufl milestone, even more if contestualized today, in a world where society runs fatser and so requires to keep up with it. A symbolic goal that takes in a delicate but changelling moment, as a demonstration of our tenacity. The strategy and actions taken to chieve the internationalization goals had to be measured against the dramatic events of the health emergency that characterized the year 2020, but our perseverance did not let us to give up, and we managed to reach the goal with great satisfaction, and this result is even more significant in consideration of the 50th event that takes place this year.

How are you experiencing the 50th milestone in this delicate period of emergency? And which actions have you taken to overcome it?

We accepted thre challenge imposed us by Covid-19 and we were able to promptly and consciusly react. Trusting in the market growth, we strongly wanted to invest in our project and even if there were slowdowns at first, the results eventually achieved proved us that we were right.

Regarding the management of the healthy emergency, in addition to the protocols promptly adopted within the company, we reacted by reconverting part of the production for the creation of Handlessdoor, a device to be applied on the door handle and which allows it to open it, safeguarding direct contact with the hands, thus reducing the possibility of contagion. Lastly, to keep employees' morale high, we leveraged on team building, promoting the Covid Challenge, a call to reflect on the needs created by this situation, and an invitation to propose their own themed ideas for health protection. Participation was high, and we are prud to have seen the team's energy in participating and the commitment shown by everyone.

This past yeat labrenta inaugurated new offices, both in Mexico and in the United States: how did Labrenta manage to implment this internationalization policy, despite the difficult period we are going through globally?

This is the third step in a broader group strategy launched in 2005 with the founding of Labrenta South America in Brazil. In 2019, the new production branch in Mexico where the world of tequila and mescal, as for other spirits, is evolving with a growing demand for increasingly personal and quality packaging. Eventually, the opening in the United States in New Jersey, a strategic position for business development, thanks to its proximity to New York, the International capital of design, and to the most important whiskey producing states such as Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kentucky and North Carolina. Our goal is to sharing experience and skills that lead and will lead to be the birth of complex projects with high quality standards, in order to satisfy the most demaning customers.

For us, it represents a strong signal: a company that in times of Covid-19 emergency still decides to make important investments. Italian enterpreneurship does not stop, it makes its way around the world with courage, determination and the solidity of a long-term project. The only regret we have was the impossibility of travelling and and not be able to welcome new partners and colleagues form international branches in the way we would have likes: unfortunately, no screen and technology can replace human contact.

Which are the innovations that Labrenta will be involved in this yeat and in those to follow?

50 years of history and work have given us the awareness of our skills and competencies that we first acquired, then matured and perfected over the years. A maturity that we want to best express with regard to innovation and sustainability. The materials issue, already extensively treated and particulary felt within the company, will engage us in the increasingly careful production of innovative and sustainable blends, also in view of what is globally required by the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. 

In addition to the declared commitment to the environmental impact of our processes and products, the commitment is aimed to create an extensive international network, to bring our experience and Made in Italy anywhere in the world.

What are the goals you would like to have achieved in 10 years?

We hope that the growth objectives with a view to sustainable developments and lower environmental impact of our activities and actions can guide and inspire us to become a leading company in the closures sector. But above all, we have the confidence to become a company tha transmit and teaches good practices, thanks to our know-how and our inclination towards technology, functionality, design and sustainability: a mix that we have always tried to implement and propose in our products offer.

Who would like like to thank in particular? And why?

We thank the founder, Enzo Giordano Tagliapietra, our father, without whom we would not be here today, and who has transmitted and rooted in us the the seed of a strong passion for the work, this work. Values that in the same way have evolved in professional but also personal growth. We thank the customers, suppliers, partners and all the emplyoees who have accompanied us on this journey. We won't forget the people who over the years have crossed our path, we express gratitude for those who surround us today while always maintaining great openess to the experience that the future will hold for us.

A thank you also goes to the most meticulous and demanding customers because with their requets they have helped us to grow and improve: the criticisms lead to a constructive vision of the work and are therefore part of our evolution.

What have you learned and then passed down to others?

G. This job allowed me to learn a lot and has taught me to create. Above all by creating, I learned that we must not stop in front of obstacles but always find ways to go further, having a mental openess aimed at contamination with everything that surrounds us. We can learn form every experience, and then decline that teaching in everyday life. I hope my emplyees may have perceived this teaching: never stop when faced with difficulties but fight to achieve your goals. 

A. This job allowed me to travel and learn about new places and different cultures. I was able to absorb values and experiences that were extraneous to my routine but which allowed me to better understand various dynamics and learn more in-depth technical aspects of the world of work, a continuous training in the filed.

I was able to learn new languages without the effort of having to do it, but with the ease and lightness of those who do it "for pleasure", to communicate with thewir interlocutors, wherever in the world they are.

I have always tried to convey to the slaes netwrok that I coordinate values such as respect for the customer and the passion for this job, which goes beyond any cultural and gender difference.