An anniversary that has the flavour of a rebirth. Conceria Incas (INiziative Conciarie ASsociate) in Castelfranco di Sotto celebrates 50 years in business, and renews its green message and its avant-garde approach to technological innovation and research into eco-sustainable production solutions. “The company is projected into the future with its feet firmly anchored in a very solid tradition”. This was explained by Piero Rosati, who manages the company together with Filippo Rovini, Nicolò and Iacopo Ceccatelli, and Annalisa Rosati.
50 years of research and innovation
“We are looking ahead,” continues Rosati, “with the strength of a history that has always sought to be ahead of the times on a path towards environmental and social sustainability, producing high value leathers that are exported to over 30 countries. This path has always been part of our DNA. It started when the green philosophy was not yet fashionable. Incas seeks to give objective and meaningful feedback to the concept of sustainability”.
History
INCAS was founded in 1972, as part of a larger company aggregation that came to number up to 14 tanneries. In 1979, a new factory was built with a “very modern” concept for the time. In other words, a space capable of accommodating the entire processing cycle, a purification plant next to the factory and a new consortium plant in the municipality of the settlement (the first in the area to adopt biological purification). A futuristic tannery where Incas began production in 1982, “being the first to equip itself with chrome and liming baths recovery”. And, also, of “a totally automated wet department, updated over time with continuous digital evolution”.
20,000 square metres and 200 employees
In 2002, a further expansion took place with the construction of a new building adjacent to the property, which enabled Incas to reach its current size. Around 20,000 square metres of floor space, almost 200 employees, 40 drums and a production capacity of 1,400,000 feet of finished leather per month. Production is divided between three brands, which correspond to three company divisions: Incas, Italtan and Il Veliero. Common destinations: footwear, leather goods and clothing.
Certifications and awards
Incas has received many certifications over time in the fields of environmental, social and economic sustainability. It was the first tannery in Italy to obtain the ICEC sustainability certificate. And the first in Europe to obtain the EMAS registration in 2007. The company has also been certified ISO 9001 for quality management since 2000, and ISO 14001 for environmental management since 2006. In 2008, it was the first tannery to be able to display the “100% made in Italy” certification, which guarantees that the entire production cycle is carried out in its own plants in Italy, starting from the raw hide.
Life I’m Tan
Incas recently launched the EU-funded Life I’m Tan project to produce a vegetable-based leather with a low environmental impact, which at the end of the cycle can be recovered as organic fertiliser. “We have invested in an eco-sustainable organic vegetable tanning line, Leather 40075, fully certified, which is having great success, in line with the market’s need for sustainability,” Rosati says.
The economic situation
“We are confident in a strong recovery of our sector, which must return to pre-Covid levels,” concludes Rosati, “because we believe that it represents excellence in the world production system. Unfortunately, the winds of war are blowing around the world, especially in our sector, which saw the Eastern European market as a strong engine for recovery. We hope that the situation can be resolved as soon as possible, first and foremost for those directly involved”.
In the photo, the Incas stand at Lineapelle 99
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