This is the story of a challenge won on the field: restoring two old machines for the packaging of tea bags. That is of TeaPak was born. It is rooted in Imola and can export anywhere in the world. Thanks to a completely renewed facility and a €25 million investment made in 2020, the company places almost one billion infusion bags on the market - 27 every second on average - destined to the European, African and Asian markets. For FARE INSIEME Giampaolo Colletti interviews Andrea Costa, founder and managing director of TeaPak
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
And now what? Young Andrea Costa, who was twenty when everything started, opened his eyes wide with amazement when he saw what is father Pio had brought home. They were two old Imas model C21 almost ready for the scrapyard. The father decided to challenge his son, who had just finished his technical studies at Istituto Alberghetti in Imola. A challenge that seemed a titanic enterprise. Disassemble and fully reassemble those two shabby mechanical gems to make them perfectly functional again. They were two tea bag packagers from legendary Ima from Ozzano dell’Emilia. It was the summer of 1991 and, at that moment, the two were yet to know that they were about to start a successful business. After all, the birth of the company and the start of Andrea’s career coincided with his will to immediately put into practice what he had learned during his technical studies. Of course there was a lot of enthusiasm and, as is often the case, it made up for the lack of means. Together with his father, Andrea put the machines back to work. And he did something even more. He evolved them. Working well is not enough, one must do things to their best.
Birth and growth. A challenge, as we mentioned. But also a game. That is how TeaPak was born. Everything started in a garage, the iconic vision connected to the imagery of American starter-uppers. Here, however, we find ourselves in Emilia-Romagna and the small company with a single employee already produced 25 million bags during its first year. Record figures. “Ever since the beginning, our vision was to inspire and serve our neighbours worldwide and we have been doing so, yesterday just like today, through caring for our people, the sustainability of our processes and our business and the support for the community which we operate with,” reports Andrea Costa, founder & Managing Director of TeaPak. At the start, TeaPak, which currently boasts 103 employees, operated as co-packer for Italian and international brands. But ambition is only tantamount to the desire to accomplish. And so, Yogi Tea arrived in the 1990s, an American multinational with branches in Oregon, Holland and Germany. Andrea opted for a strategic alliance based on the sharing of objectives, on a life philosophy and on a vision that connects growth with the diffusion of well-being. All these were also key elements part of the Yogi Tea philosophy. That alliance proved so fruitful that, in 2011, it changed the face of the company forever. During one of the worst global economic crises, when many decided to de-localise production to areas where the cost of labour was much lower than in Italy, Andrea convinced the management of the multinational that the quality, dedication and skills of the Italian team deserved trust and respect. As well as the possibility to grow. Therefore an unbelievable decision was made: that of also transferring that part of the production that was still in Germany for historical reasons to Imola, thus making Imola the only European production site of Yogi Tea. That was the turning point. But also the proof that the market immediately recognises the value of Italian-made infusions proudly made in Imola, leading to a 28% growth in turnover. “A choice in contrast with the trend thus transformed our small company into a large enterprise,” stresses Costa.
The hi-tech facility. Another apparently insane choice was made in 2020: a new facility was built in partnership with Cefla in the midst of the pandemic. “TeaPak is no longer a simple production company, it became the beating heart of an international business that envisions living and working together to bring inspiration to the world,” says Costa. An investment of over €25 million was made in the facility, made entirely locally and with Italian suppliers. Today, the production places on the market 500 different types of herbal teas and almost one billion infusion bags - 27 per second on average - destined to the European, African and Asian markets. It thus exceeds a turnover of €20 million. We grows and we invest. TeaPak purchases the packaging material from Italian and local suppliers for €7 million, it registered a direct cost of labour of €4.5 million and owns state-of-the-art machinery and technologies worth €16 million. A winning combination of human capital and technologies. “The success of a company is even more fulfilling when it is achieved through the well-being of those who form part of it. We have therefore created an articulated structure to guarantee the awareness of our employees, monitoring the quality of their conditions of work and the level of participation. Because people are what makes the difference,” says Costa. That is how a welfare system is born that includes economic support actions, social support, the promotion of well-being in the company, the facilitation of the life-work balance, the dissemination of training and culture and the sharing of green practices. Thus, for the third year running, this has obtained the Welfare Champion recognition, the maximum rating within the Welfare Index PMI certification of Generali Italia. TeaPak works by applying the highest quality standards to all company processes, using over 150 raw materials and ingredients which are managed within the warehouse to create over 500 different infusions. Today, 90% of the packaging material is purchased locally within 300 km. And, as regards production, 80% of the process is automated with 13 Ima High Tech machines, industry 4.0 applications and an 88% production efficiency. Tradition and contemporaneity. “A tea bag is the most traditional thing we can imagine. Yet there is a lot of innovation behind it, as production processes have evolved a lot and we have invested in increasingly sustainable production and low-impact materials,” concludes Costa, who led the company to becoming a benefit company in 2022. A new way of doing businesses and, after all, of being a community.
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