Polti, or the great return. The company, founded by Franco Polti in 1978 when he brought the peaceful revolution of hygiene, steam, to Italy and abroad, overcoming the difficulties of the market and Asian competition, it has started growing again, it has started investing in innovation and events again, and it is starting to produce in Italy again. And, once again, he returns to being a champion of export and sport, the great love of the founder, starting from cycling where he had collected successes and trophies for decades. At a time when all over the world the difficulties and uncertainties of politics and economy are putting multinationals in crisis, it emerges a very Italian trend, that of the confirmed internationalization of SMEs and in particular of medium-sized ones like Polti.
Vaporella is back on track
Since 1978, Polti has revolutionized cleaning and hygiene with its products present in over 50 countries with 200 patents. After the crisis pause, it is back on track with exports to Europe, also adding an expansion of sales in North Africa and Latin America. The goal is to soon bring exports above 70 percent. The turbo, in fact, There are two turbos: a pink summit with a female president and CEO, that is the dynamics daughter by Franco, Francesca (in the picture, ed), born in 1977, graduated from Bocconi, engaged in many splendid initiatives, capable of transmitting optimism even in a period, like the current one, so complicated. The second turbo, as a research of the Sun 24 Hours on “The 10 trends of the post-Covid home”, is that families have more than doubled their use of hygiene and prevention practices, products and tools. “With our new lines Vaporetto and Vaporella – confirms Francesca Polti – we maintain the first places on the markets in Italy, France and Spain. In the professional line, which has always been a source of pride for the company, we have created for the Sani System series, the Mv Polti steam cleaner and the Cimex Eradicator, all made in Italy”. It should be emphasized that they are the only patented devices for the immediate elimination of bed bug eggs from the first application.
Reshoring from 2025
“From 2025 we will bring the production of the Vaporella Next line back to Italy, and this undoubtedly represents a unique case in the sector small appliances”. In fact, the manufacturing of small appliances was the first to migrate to Asia since the 80s due to the large difference in production costs. “But thanks to a rationalization and streamlining of our entire supply chain – Polti emphasizes – we will soon bring back the production of Vaporella Next. In fact, with the increasing costs of transport from Asia, manufacturing in Italy or China is proving to be substantially identical. But we must invest in eco-sustainability programs because this is what will increasingly make the difference compared to China. Of course, Not everything can be produced again in Europe but certainly everything that has a cost parity with the Chinese ones, yes. But in the name of a productivity that our country must increase by accelerating the times at all levels, which are too long today. Bringing manufacturing back to Italy, bringing it back to Europe, yes, I believe in it deeply because this can mitigate the great global risks, I believe in what Draghi recently recommended and like him I declare myself decidedly pro-European”.
The numbers and results are increasing
In Italy moreover the Como industry maintains the design and production of high-end appliances, but what is happening and will happen even more on the maritime container routes infested by wars, pirates and climate disasters, will give further impetus to a progressive reshoring. As for the numbers, after the rise in turnover in 2023 to 60 million euros (they were 44 in 2022), a closing of 2024 is expected at +10.15 percent and an increase in profitability with the Mol, the gross operating margin, at 2,5 million euros”.
It should be noted that even in the most difficult moments of the company, no one was ever fired… What are the secrets of achieving such important goals in such a short time? “We wanted to attract and retain talent, and alongside the employees who are still working since the beginning of the company, we have valorised many young people. Our rule is no prejudice, no barriers to entry, neither gender nor age. Here, with us, the women are in top positions. In fact, I am a true fanatic of diversity because it is diversity that creates value”.
Steam against bed bugs
In addition to this cultural and real openness of a true European entrepreneur, what is Polti particularly proud of? “We do not only work to guarantee hygiene, in recent years we have in fact developed technologies that take care of the home in a deeper and more effective way, of the building, of the people as happened for example for a problem that has become very serious, especially in France but also in Italy, that of bed bugs that no device could eradicate. And so we patented a process that with superheated and very dry steam kills the eggs of these insects, thus solving the problem at the source, preventing that very rapid reproduction of bed bugs that was impossible to fight. And always remaining faithful to what has always been the strong point of our technology: Hygiene and care without chemicals, saving water and energy and properly respecting the environment and people”. All of this, from the results to the innovative entrepreneurial style, has long created, as the foreign press has also underlined, an excellent corporate climate, with 95 percent of employees declaring a “great attachment” to Polti.
From Como to Calabria and back
“But there is another return that I would like to remember – underlines Polti – we are of Calabrian origin and I am very proud of this but my father's blue eyes reveal his northern roots, and in fact my paternal grandfather was from Lombardy, from the Lake Como area, and he moved to Calabria for love. My father returned to the north to find work because down there everything is and was very difficult”. Francesca, involved in many activities (she is also vice president of Confindustria Como), has worked in recent years with great determination to relaunch the brand known throughout the world with innovations but also with exemplary fidelity to the founder's history. “My father was a forerunner in everything, in addition to being the first to apply steam in household cleaning but also because he was the first, in the early 90s, to create espresso machines for Ese pods that I have now reintroduced in collaboration with Aroma Polti, my brother Stefano, who supplies us with beans, capsules and Ese pods. This is to distance ourselves from the mono-specialist company model, diversifying our offering”.
Another recognition of the father's values and passions was the decision to return to the world of sport starting from cycling: the first step of great importance and excellent visibility was the decision to become the official supplier and sponsor of the Giro d'Italia 2024.
