From
the production of insecticides and rat poisons of the highest quality, to
equipment for pest control down to innovative management and monitoring systems
Colkim was set up in Ozzano dell’Emilia sixty years ago. For FARE INSIEME,
Giampaolo Colletti interviews Valentina Masotti, CEO of Colkim.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
To be a good
entrepreneur, you must have a big heart and a good ear. You need to be able to
listen, to really listen. But it takes time to listen. There you have it, the
story we are about to tell you includes all these elements. And, most of all,
the part that is hardest to tackle, i.e. listening to the market with its
difficulties, incessant complaints and all kinds of reviews. But, to understand
what we are talking about, we must take a step back in time. Actually, as we
often say in this podcast, more than one step. Because sixty years ago, a man
with a big heart and a good ear wandered among the gentle Emilian hills beyond
Bologna, those that slowly slope down towards Romagna. Giorgio Albertazzi, the
founder of Colkim, started his career as a representative in the agricultural
sector. He used to sell animal feed, and he was very good at what he did. He
listened to the breeders’ complaints about the problems caused by the rats who
ruined the badly-packaged feed. Rats that turned the hard work in the fields
into waste. That work which, at the time, meant hard work, time and continuous
commitment much more than today. Those complaints inspired Giorgio Albertazzi
to find an innovative solution. Together with a friend, he started to
experiment in his own garage, combining his intuition with his knowledge of
chemistry and a touch of genius. The idea was simple yet revolutionary:
creating poisoned feed for rats, i.e. actual bait. No sooner said than done.
After numerous attempts, the two friends finally develop the first
rodent-killing pellets marking the beginning of Colkim which, over sixty years
and three different generations, asserted itself as a leading company in the
fight against pests. It was the second generation, led by Carlo and Susanna Albertazzi,
that went beyond finding a new market by identifying innovative products in
America and importing them exclusively to Italy.
Company
profile. We find ourselves in Ozzano dell’Emilia, a town of less than 15
thousand inhabitants in the Bologna metropolitan area that extends to the south
towards Romagna. Colkim boasts 40 employees, over 1,000 clients in Italy and an
international market representing 11% of the total. The turnover is €13.6
million, up 10% with respect to last year. “We have been present on the market
for the past 60 years. The company was set up thanks to an idea of my
grandfather’s Giorgio Albertazzi to produce insecticides and rat poisons
destined to the professional pest management market. The quality of our
products and the technical expertise of our consultants and collaborators has
always been what sets us apart. We work in what is defined as the pest management
market with the best pest control solutions while keeping the environment and
innovation into consideration,” explains Valentina Masotti, CEO of Colkim who
runs the company together with her cousins Silvia and Michele Albertazzi. The
company supplies high-quality professional pest management products,
sustainable solutions, technical advice and certified professional training
thanks to the courses held by Infestalia, the pest management school located in
Ozzano dell’Emilia. “Through our field experts, we provide clients with
services that solve even the most serious infestation problems thanks to
innovative technologies,” stresses Masotti.
The
company’s distinctive element. More than chemistry, we could say. And so the
first biofactory on the Italian pest management market was born. “Since 1964,
we have moved beyond chemistry while maintaining the excellence and uniqueness
that has always characterised the company, supplying high-quality products to
an ever-growing customer base. We have moved from chemical collaboration to a
‘more than chemistry’ approach, the expression of the renewal and
transformation of a market whose attention is increasingly geared towards
eco-friendly and sustainable pest management solutions,” says Masotti. It is a
combination of technical, relational and interpersonal skills. The initiative,
capacity for cooperation and investments in research and development have
enabled the company to continue growing. Doing, without ever stopping is a
principle that involves the whole team, starting with those who set off on this
adventure many years ago. Just think that, one day, Giorgio Albertazzi while
reading a newspaper, discovered that a gas called phosphine was used for pest
management in Germany. He decided to learn more about it, so he hopped into his
car and personally drove to the German company that was producing the gas. This
encounter marked the beginning of a lasting collaboration, as Colkim became the
first distributor of fumigating gases in Italy. Here is the recipe behind a
successful organisation: always thinking outside the box, experimenting with
curiosity and courage. To go ahead and do it, without ever stopping.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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