The success of the Portuguese dishes used by Buckingham Palace and Ikea

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What do Buckingham Palace, La Zarzuela and the White House have in common? That in their classrooms everyone eats with Vista Alegre dinnerware. What do the Vhils plate of 3,900 euros and Ikea of one euro have in common? That both are manufactured by Vista Alegre.

Vista Alegre Atlantis, the Portuguese home pottery group, has closed the best semester in its history. “We live in good times, but it was not always like that,” explains its general director, Nuno Miguel Marques (Porto, 1975). “10 years ago, when we bought Vista Alegre, it dragged losses of 64 million euros. He was bankrupt, not because of the loss of quality of his dishes, but because of the change in social habits. The wedding lists, where Vista Alegre dishes were never lacking, went on to a better life. ”
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The Visabeira group ventured to buy the dying Vista Alegre, based in Ílhavo (Aveiro), and the no less problematic Bordallo Pinheiro factory in Caldas da Rainha (Leiria). “Both had impeccable quality and strong po[CENSORED]rity, but they lacked commercial dynamism and innovation in the design of their products. They were companies lost in time. Our strategy was to maintain quality by innovating in the design and leaving the tableware to extend to glass and glass, decoration and home gift. And get to the hospitality in the sales channels, ”he continues.
One of Vista Alegre's designs.
One of Vista Alegre's designs.
Semester record

The first half of the year was the best of Vista Alegre's 195 years of history, with 57.4 million euros in sales (37% more), an operating or ebitda result of 11.5 million (65% more) . "We are the sixth largest company in the sector by business volume and the first by ebitda," says Marques. “Ten years ago we sold 30% abroad, today more than 75% of the production. With an investment of 50 million in the last two years, our strategy has been directed not to depend on a market or a product line to better defend ourselves against the cyclical economic crises. It is a difficult sector, as you well know in Spain with the experience of Lladró ”.

Young artists are awarded for six months to visit the six factories of the group and exploit their ingenuity. "We only demand creativity," says Marques. From his inspiration, the new Vista Alegre collections come from the designers of the house and the consecrated. “Today we are trend makers. In 2018 we received 30 international design awards. Other companies come to visit us to see where fashion will go in the next year. ” Where? “In designs I am not going to tell you, but it is evident that the color reigns for a few years. Before the dishes were always white, now almost never; Fashions also last less, ”says Marques.

After learning about the ancient techniques of the Caldas da Rainha factory, urban artist Vhils has just designed his Chimera dish, a limited circulation of 135 pieces for 3,900 euros each. At the other end, the Ria Stone factory serves Ikea dishes in cents each piece. Both are guaranteed to sell before they occur. “In 2014 Ikea opened an international contest to which

Dozens of companies attended. We win thanks to a totally disruptive production process. In general, crockery products have to be baked twice, we manage to make them in one with a change in raw materials. In Ria Stone the complete cycle, from the reception of material to its packaging, is 14 hours; in the competition it is three and a half days ”.
Specialization

Ikea has extended the contract with Vista Alegre until 2026 and also its production, from 30 million annual dishes to 48 million, worth 250 million euros. "I do not fear a contamination between the luxury range and the low cost range," Marques anticipates. “Each of our six factories is specialized in a product; What there is is a positive contamination of synergies from one factory to another. The radical productive transformation of Ria Stone, for example, served to improve the other factories, but these also contributed their experience to the newest. ”

Vista Alegre has 52 stores in the world, plus 80 sales spaces in department stores in five countries and, soon, its presence in the duty free airports. "But we are not going to massify the brands in any case," Marques warns.

Last month Vista Alegre Atlantis presented in the Alternative Fixed Income Market of the Spanish Stock Exchange (MARF) a bond issuance worth 45 million euros (at 4.4% interest at five years), which was covered by 21 large investors, 66% between Spanish funds and the rest Portuguese. Another five million euros have been placed among institutional investors.

With the issuance, Vista Alegre gets rid of mortgages on factories, brands and equipment and also facilitates its sustainable growth, although the general director of the company denies that it is through acquisitions: “Our future is going through an expansion of the segments; extend to other parts of the home. Bordallo Pinheiro factory, for example, already collaborates with Zara Home. In markets, we want to grow in America and Asia, and also in Internet sales, since it is only 1% of our turnover. We have done a lot, but we still have more to do, always creating a trend, but without losing our history, ”summarizes Marques.
The seven lives of Bordalo's cat

In a London square there are giant cats with spiky hairs and snails the size of a dog. They are two pieces from the factory of Caldas da Rainha, the result of the creativity of the great ceramist, cartoonist and scathing cartoonist of the 19th century Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (Lisbon, 1846-1905). The Visabeira Group rescued the factory from bankruptcy the same year as Vista Alegre. Although for economic purposes the operation did not shake Wall Street (it cost 48.5 million euros), the rescue of Bordalo Pinheiro ceramics is capital for the art and heritage of Portugal.

The Caldas da Rainha factory was founded in 1884 and, despite keeping all the molds of Bordalo's naturalistic creations, it was languishing year after year. Its recovery is part of Vista Alegre's strategy to open up abroad with modern luxury ceramics, but also with traditional earthenware and, on the other hand, fully current for its designs based on flora and fauna. Last April the renovation of the original factory was inaugurated, with a cost of nine million euros. With it, the productive capacity has been increased by 60% and the workforce by 37%, from 100 to 270 employees who manufacture 10,000 pieces on average daily, 50% abroad.

The recovery of the Bordalo Pinheiro brand is linked to the expansion of single-brand stores in Paris, Madrid, Cape Town and Lisbon, where the neighboring London square is adorned with the most representative giant ceramics of the artist.