Courageous changes

From Cosmografica Albertini to Albertini Packaging Group: following the leitmotif of a solid entrepreneurial story, Michal Sobieski, son of Emilio Albertini and now head of the family business, explains how to grow in the global market and tells of his business idea: dynamic, wide-ranging and with a human face.

For some years now the Albertini family has been renewing a strong expansion policy, with the aim of expanding the company’s core business in two strategic sectors: paper&board packaging for the pharmaceutical sector and label production. Important acquisitions and a structural reorganization have in fact led to the opening of a second plant in Robecco sul Naviglio and the creation of the Pharma & Label division, which today joins the historic Cosmetics Division dedicated to high-end products.
Emilio Albertini e, in piedi, Michal Sobieski

At the end of 2017 the “new course” was sealed by a change in company name - from Cosmografica Albertini to Albertini Packaging Group (APG) - symptomatic of a transformation that, in many ways, appears as a substantial “change of skin”.
We talked about it with the CEO Michal Sobieski, who explained to us how as a medium-sized family business, the company has completely changed, in terms of strategies, turnover, structure and offer. And all this in a short period of time.

What were the fundamental stages of your growth?
Undoubtedly the three acquisitions made in recent years have been decisive. In 2016 we took over Grafiche Servi based in Busto Arsizio (VA), and then NewGraf based in Melzo (MI): operations that have allowed us to tackle the pharmaceutical packaging market with appropriate skills and tools. In 2017 we then took over Trezzano s/Naviglio (MI) based Grafiche Rekord, a landmark in the field of labels and sleeves.
But not only that. Thanks to our experience in France, where since 2010 we have had a commercial branch with which we serve the high-end packaging market, in 2018 we set up APG Balkan in Belgrade, where we produce rigid coated boxes for luxury cosmetics and perfumery products.

What results did you attain?
With the acquisition of Grafiche Servi we  incorporated the know-how and the right mindset to tackle the pharmaceutical market, where we were just starting out. In addition to being able to count on a turnover of about two million euros, as well as professional operators and a good sales network with consolidated relationships, we have also  gained  the opportunity to offer some historic customers of the Cosmetic Division solutions that suit their needs for packaging nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products, technically achievable by our pharmaceutical division.
With the aim of further consolidating our presence in this sector, we bought up NewGraf (about four million euros in turnover), also committing ourselves to taking on the company’s twenty employees.
Our attention to human resources, in the case of Grafiche Servi, achieved a certain resonance in the local press and it has earned us the praise of the trade unions, positively surprised by a choice that, in reality, was completely consistent with our corporate strategy, definitely oriented towards growth.
Case production, the “legacy” of both Grafiche Servi and Newgraf, was then transferred in July 2017 to the new, recently renovated factory in Robecco sul Naviglio: 10 thousand covered sqm with state-of-the-art systems.

But besides cases, with Grafiche Rekord you have entered another market segment ...
The creation of our Label Division dates back to 2017, when we signed the agreement with what we identified as a  principal reality in the water and glue label, IML (In Mold Label) and self-adhesive labels as well as shrink and stretch sleeves market. And also with Grafiche Rekord’s we kept on all the staff.
The buy-up was indeed only completed in December 2018, after a long and troubled gestation, which however led us to rethink our internal organization. We decided to merge the Label Division and the Pharma Division into a single unit, in the new Robecco plant, having understood the synergies that could have been activated at industrial level, to the advantage of both activities. And this not only with regard to the pooling of  machinery, but also with the aim of uniforming performance and production standards, and thus build a shared corporate culture.
 
Why did you choose Serbia to carry out your internationalization project?
In Serbia we found a very favorable context in burocratic terms. The production of rigid coated boxes for high range cosmetics and perfumery, launched in April 2018, is giving excellent results: since we opened the Belgrade plant, we have practically doubled our rigid coated box turnover, which previously did not exceed 5% of the total.  Today we have structured and organized the production in order to print in Italy and do  the manual operations of die-cutting, box coating and interior laminating in APG Balkan.
We can thus maintain a high level of quality under advantageous conditions.
 
In short, it has been a rather demanding three years witnessed from all points of view, first and foremost in terms of investments.
The choices made were dictated by the forma mentis inscribed in our company’s DNA, that after more than half a century of history, has maintained a very strong family and ownership structure.
Other economic realities, perhaps even listed on the stock exchange, tend more towards seeking short-term returns. We have a diametrically opposed philosophy: we have always worked on broad-reaching  and necessarily longterm projects. We like to think that the company will exist and prosper for many, many years to come.
In terms of the latest acquisitions, we have considered having to “sacrifice” the balance sheet in order to allocate important resources to projects destined to yield in time. And I’m not just referring to buy-ups, or to the purchase and renovation of properties, but also, for example, to our investment to obtain ISO 15378 Certification (Primary packaging materials for medicinal products) for our Pharma & Label Division plant, where compliance with particular sanitary rules during production is a must: and today we are the only ones in Italy to have this certification, even for secondary packaging.
 
Has the propensity to invest in upgrading the plants played in your favor in this evolutionary process?
Absolutely. In the production of cosmetic cases we have always been very competitive and we have always  ploughed back our margins in the technological modernization and in plant optimization: a precise choice, not to be underrated, that has allowed us to acquire the resourcefulness needed to face the changes with the right mindset.
Thus, for the limited period of these three years, having available a state-of-the-art machinery yard, we decided to “reroute” a substantial part of the resources generated - over ten million euros - to expand our production range and our presence on the markets.
I would also like to mention that, these operations have largely been undertaken drawing on our own resources, to keep debt under control, which is now lower than what it was five years ago.
And now it’s time to reap the rewards of the efforts made ...
When we chose growth, we thought that in order not to be cut off from a globalized market, we would need to  achieve a turnover of between 20 and 30 million. The fact of having reached the current size undoubtedly ensures many competitive advantages, allowing us to draw the attention of larger users who previously did not take us into consideration. Moreover, the fact of being able to count on backup facilities, and on greater diversification of customers, guarantees us a good resilience.
Our having maintained a strong family imprint as a company stands as a strength, even in the broader context in which we operate today.
 
What about sustainability ...
For us it is a fundamental matter, both from an ethical point of view and at a marketing level. Indeed, the sustainability of packaging and production processes is a requirement very much felt by consumers and, in general, by all the players in our world.
For some time we have been working to minimize the environmental impact of our output, investing on several fronts: in the Pharma & Label division we have a geothermal heating/cooling system and all lights are LED. The production units of the Cosmetics Division will soon get the same treatment, where we intend to install solar panels. Moreover, our vehicle fleet is 70% made up of hybrids, but we aim to up this to 100%.
Furthermore, we are working to obtain third party certification that rigorously and transparently corroborates the overall balance of our emissions, which we want to reduce to zero. And to achieve this goal, we have started a planting project in Milan’s Parco Ticino, certified by a French body.