Imola, a key industrial town between Bologna and the Adriatic Sea, is home to numerous companies of significant size and importance. One such enterprise is Filomarket srl, the leading Italian producer and marketer of supermarket shopping trolleys. Filomarket was founded by Ezio Tabanelli, whose intuition and dynamism generated years of rapid growth.
That expansion continues to this day and is founded on the success of every single product which sports the "yellow double f", the company's distinctive logo. In the early years his enthusiasm and determination drew his daughters Lorena and Marica into the business: with their undisputed entrepreneurial skills and drive, they helped him build up the company and went on to occupy key management positions. We met Mr. Tabanelli and asked him to provide us with more information about his enterprise.
Q: Tell us about Filomarket.
A: It was founded back in 1968. Originally there were three of us, but in 1976 I acquired sole ownership and that's when quality - and business - really began to take off. In the 80s sales doubled, and in the two-year period '94-'95 we saw an increase of 70%. Since then, total sales have grown steadily year by year and now stand at € 15 million. That expansion has made us the national leader and one of the world's most important producers in this industry. These results stem from continuous updating and renovation on the production side, allowing us to produce over 120,000 shopping trolleys a year; trolleys account for about 40% of output, while the remaining 60% includes a wide range of other catalogue-available products. Over time, the sales network was also re-organised. For example, recent changes to our foreign market operations have allowed us to double sales in just one year and we can now count on a highly motivated dealer network that enjoys direct support from the company. The sales network is now, to all intents and purposes, a global one. As regards the Italian market, we can rely on a tried-and-tested sales force that provides capillary coverage of the entire country, with fast-track sales and assistance services ensuring customer satisfaction remains high.
Q: Yet there's more to Filomarket than just good sales figures, isn't there?
A: Yes, certainly: over the years, in fact, we've focussed not so much on quantity as quality. We've launched and patented totally new products such as the Stratos wheel and the Teso handle. The Fuso trolley, a combination of plastic and wire, is further cause for pride and satisfaction. We've also successfully obtained ISO 9002 quality certification and each trolley is covered by a 5-year warranty.
Q: Design: how come you pay so much attention to what most producers consider to be a superfluous aspect?
A: Yes, up until now design has been rather underestimated, yet it promises to play a key role - especially at point of sale - in the struggle to win customer loyalty: innovative, ergonomic design provides visual impact and makes the product more "comfortable" and functional. We believe this aspect gives us a high competitive profile, and, what's more, we're proud to be promoting Italian design in this industry too.
Q: So full steam ahead with new products for the large distribution then?
A: Yes - but not only: we're also looking forward to the challenge of widening our horizons, by moving into home furnishing and non-food contract areas with targeted products that are still, well, top secret.
Q: Let's now discuss Filomarket's future with Roberto Rivi, the General Manager.
A: The keyword for the future has to be dynamism, with absolutely no resting on our laurels. We'll be focussing more and more attention on foreign markets, using solutions designed in close collaboration with local dealers. We'll also continue to strengthen our leadership on the Italian market. Constantly increasing output volumes will allow us to rationalise costs even further, thus allowing us to offer superb quality at competitive prices. Updating and diversification of production technology will be an ongoing process, as will research into new materials - with greater emphasis on environment-compatible products.
