Juan Carmona
Armando Huerta.Guareña (Badajoz) - There were sectors that have suffered a lot in Pandemia.To you, manufacturers of personal toilet and cleaning products, have done well.Their sales were fired.
- During the pandemic we grew in sales around 18%.Sales of personal toilet products, especially what has to do with hand washing, grew a lot.And in the part of clothing care products there was a growth at the beginning of the pandemic that later stabilized.
– Y en el caso de Inquiba venían ya creciendo en los últimos años...- Yes. In fact, in our case it has not had so much to do with the pandemic, although there was a rebound, as with the growth dynamics that we already brought years ago.
– ¿Cuánto han crecido? ¿Cuáles son los números?- We have lived a very important sales growth in recent years.In 2016 we were at 56 million euros in sales and we have closed 2021 with 160 million.We have practically tripled in five years.2021 has gone very well in sales (we have grown almost 20% compared to the previous year), but at the level of result we have greatly affected the prices of raw materials, energy and transport, which have skyrocketed.
– ¿No han podido repercutir esos mayores costes?- No. We are very basic raw material transformers and during 2021 we could not transfer these price increases to our customers, or they to the consumer, in the way we would have needed.
– ¿No aprovecharon para vender gel hidroalcohólico durante la pandemia? Es un negocio y, al tiempo, una necesidad social...- We could not manufacture hydroalcoholic gels because we did not have the homologated facilities to pack flammable products.We received many requests and it was a frustration not to be able to attend them because there really was a health need to answer.
– ¿Y ya pueden fabricar?- Yes. In the course of 2021 we have made the necessary investments to standardize the facilities and process lines in order to manufacture hydroalcoholic gel.So next time we will be prepared.
– ¿Qué cifras de producción manejan? ¿qué capacidad de producción tienen en esta fábrica de Guareña?- In 2021, about 255,000 transformed tons, but we have factory capacity to perfectly transform up to 350,000 tons per year.
– Detergentes y suavizantes es lo que más producen...-Yes. They represent 85% -90% of the total production.There are 12,000 tons transformed from softener;about 110,000 tons of detergent;12,000, of personal hygiene products, and 7,000, of other products.
– Están con los grandes de la distribución...- We are very focused on the Iberian Peninsula market and, indeed, we virtually manufactured for the main distribution operators at Iberia level: Carrefour, IFA, Savoramás, Eroski, Mercadona.With Mercadona, specifically, we started a collaboration in 2017 as manufacturers specializing in detergents and softeners that has promoted our growth in recent years.
– ¿Cómo quiere Inquiba que se la reconozca en el mercado?- We want to be recognized as the best specialists in those products that we have decided to manufacture.Today, thanks to our customers, we are number one in the manufacture of detergents and softeners in Spain.
– ¿Marca blanca? ¿marca privada? ¿cómo lo llaman?
- We have a clearly industrial vocation and we are oriented to design and manufacture products for third parties.They are not white marks.We don't like that name.We manufacture that some cases lead the market with qualities equal to or greater than other manufacturers brands.
– Ahora, a principios de año, van a lanzar al mercado un nuevo producto: las cápsulas líquidas de detergente...- Yes. With ICAP, which is a minority participated society by Avante and Business Corporation, which are institutional partners.After two years of innovation work in products and processes, on which we have achieved some patents, it will go on the market in the first months of this year.
- And with ICAP, there are already three companies that make up the group, right?
- That's it.One is inquiba, which is oriented to the manufacture of clothing and home cleaning products.Especially, detergents and softeners.The second company is Ibell, specialized in hygiene products and personal care (bath gels, shampoos, sink, Body Milk).And the third is ICAP that, as you said, manufactures liquid capsules mainly of detergent.
– ¿Y qué expectativas hay depositadas en Icap?- We are very focused on the Iberian Peninsula market because logistics limitations condition the competitiveness of our cleaning products in other markets.Keep in mind that softeners and detergents are volume products.They are 2-4 liters, they carry a lot of water, and the logistics clearly penalize the export of these products to other countries.That is why we have always been very dumping in the Iberia market.However, with ICAP and IBELL products we do not have these logistics limitations and we aspire to develop a more international project.
– Con esta nueva empresa pretenden impulsar entonces la exportación...- That's it.Capsules are technologically more advanced products, with only 4% -5% water and high concentration, and can travel very well, with what we can address other markets without complexes.And we believe, on the other hand, that in addition, later, in the future, we can bring our technology to other countries.
– ¿Cómo “nuestra tecnología”?- We ourselves have designed an important part of the entire industrial process.It is something that differentiates us.The normal thing is that you acquire the industrial equipment and develop the capsules from a standardization given by the team manufacturers.We, the last two years, have been working on our own developments and are convinced that our technology is exportable because it does not currently exist.We have designed and patented some technological solutions that will give us a clear differentiation with other competitors.It is not imminent, but we do not aspire to export products, also our industrial model.
– ¿Es un formato, el de la cápsula, que preven que eclosione?- The capsule market is growing and does so at a pace of two digits in Europe, Asia and North America.It is not a new product, it has been in the market for years and has good acceptance.It is a very comfortable product that has the advantage of monodosis use and that, at the circular economy level, is more friendly.On the other hand, it has a cost for washing higher than the conventional detergent.
– ¿Cuál es la apuesta de Inquiba por la innovación tecnológica e industrial?- In the last five years we have invested 35 million in improving our industrial assets and we are in a policy of continuous reinvestment.Our R&D team is working on a very interesting innovative project that consists of a dispenser in which a concentrated product is supplied - for example, friegasuelos - that will allow the mixing with water directly at the point of sale.The consumer only has to carry its container.
– Una especie de venta a granel.- Exactly.The product is manufactured with water at the point of sale.We look for an ecological product in which you save bottles and save the transport of liters of water.
– Suena a sensibilidad medioambiental...- Sustainability, together with innovation, quality and technology, is one of our basic principles.
– Envasan con plástico, ¿qué hace Inquiba en clave de sostenibilidad?- We have a sustainability plan where there are more than 40 measures aimed at objectives such as reduction in water consumption.This project that develops the R&D area we call it "less water, more efficiency."It aims to develop concentrated formulations that reduce the use of water up to 50% in liquid detergents and 95% in capsules.We reduce packaging - less cardboard and less plastic - and also reduce energy consumption because we improve in efficiency.
– Esencial la eficiencia energética.- It is another of the objectives of the Plan: to consume renewable energies through self -consumption or PPA (Power Purchase Agreement), that is, agreements with renewable companies that sell your energy package.Another measurement to reduce the consumption of PET and polyethylene, incorporating percentages of recycling that can be 100% in PET and 50% in polyethylene.And, then we also look for the goal of zero waste discharges.We have been investing for a long time to generate less discharge and improve its quality.They are concrete measures aimed at improving sustainability.
– Innovación, sostenibilidad, eficiencia. Detrás siempre hay personas...- The important thing is people.Irons are bought with money.The change than we are most proud of is the level of professionalization and specialization that we have achieved in recent years.We have an excellent human team that has managed to adapt to the needs of the client and the consumer.They are the true protagonists of this project.
– ¡Qué importante es que empresas como Inquiba permanezcan en pueblos del tamaño de Guareña para fijar población y dar oportunidades a los entornos rurales!- We are aware, yes, of the importance of a company not only for people to live here but also so that they can develop professionally.If we want to retain talent -which is an overvalued word;I like more effort or will-entrepreneurs have to create attractive work projects and friendly work environments where collaborators can develop their abilities.We have opted a lot for training and have professionals of extraordinary capacity.
– ¿En qué medida le hacen falta a Extremadura más infraestructuras para su desarrollo empresarial?- It is evident that we are wrong in infrastructure, and we surely endure few comparisons with other regions.We lack a railroad, we lack a bird, we lack plane, and we must claim a clear improvement, but it will not be immediate and, while it arrives, we must not waste too much time to regret.In Extremadura there are magnificent projects that have developed against any probability: Cristian Lay, Gallardo, Inquiba, Vegenat, Komvida, the House of Caracas, Aluminum, etc.This is going to believe, of determination, of resilience, of illusion.Although, obviously, if they put more means we will go faster.
Personally
Se vio morir en un incendio
One day, being a child, Juan Carmona saw how someone treated his father badly, without due respect, in his job.He did not know what he was going to do in life, but that experience marked him forever and he promised himself that he would never work for another.
He is a man made to himself, a restless and entrepreneurial soul who has made effort and perseverance the key to his success.His personal history teaches us that it doesn't matter to fall;The important thing is to get up again.He did so in 1981 when a devastating fire devoured the company that he had created eleven years before.That almost costs his life ("I saw myself die"), but he didn't give up.He started from scratch, and with greater hardness if possible.
His triumph is shared.He acknowledges that Inquiba's story is not understood without his woman, who has played a very important role, and is proud to "have known how to convey to my five children the love for our family business."
His son Juan takes the company's helm today as general director.
En cifras:
Data: 2021
