Verreries Brosse (Zignago Vetro Group) is the only glassmaker in Europe with both semi-automatic and automatic production tools, and it is now investing in new development projects with the aim of becoming the main challenger in the luxury bottle-making sector.
Very few suppliers can claim they have been partnering with the most prestigious luxury fragrances French brands, from the late 19th century to present days. Since the early 1920s, Verreries Brosse, founded in 1854, has been supplying brands such as Chanel, Lanvin, Carven, Patou and Guerlain. “For Verreries Brosse, it’s a heritage and a mission that constitutes a perennial honour, and a responsibility,” says managing director Olivier Caspar.
However, the weight of this legacy could have been fatal to the company, which missed the take off of the automatic glass production and continued to manufacture high end glass bottles with the semi-automatic process that ensured flawless quality, but was soon limited to luxury glass containers for perfume extracts and to giant factice models.
The acquisition by the Italian glassmaking company Zignago Vetro Group in 2002 marked the beginning of a new era for Verreries Brosse. The start up of a new automated furnace that doubled the company’s production capacity in 2009 allowed Verreries Brosse to meet the demand for glass bottles in large series, transferring to the automatic production the culture of high quality and high-end standards acquired by semi-automatic production.
Verreries Brosse did not give up their historical expertise in semi-automatic production. Today, due the combination of automatic and semi-automatic production tools, the company is the only glassmaker in Europe able to produce the entire range of bottles needed by luxury companies, from miniatures to dummy models and special bottles for extraits, plus stoppers, jars, carafes and more.
“Our automated production makes it possible to complete a minimum of 30,000 units per day. But we can also deliver the bottles for a market test or a limited edition of 5,000. Being different and thinking strategically: that is Verreries Brosse’s commitment to the market. We meet the needs of our clients, whether they want a million bottles, a small series of a few thousand or just enough for a test project, at prices adjusted according to the process involved. This flexibility is made possible by the complementary nature, unique on the market, of our two production tools,” said a company representative.
Thanks to these assets, complemented by a catalogue of twenty standard bottles (including recent models launched at the Luxe Pack Monaco tradeshow in 2014 and two new models planned for the 2015 edition), the supplier aims to challenge the industry’s leaders and to become a key player in the production of in high-end bottles.
To achieve this goal, Verreries Brosse relies on growing its automatic activity in the perfume sector and its semiautomatic business in premium wines and spirits, without any compromise regarding quality standards.
It continues to maintain visual control of each unit produced on its lines. “The human eye is indispensable, it is able to see defaults that are not identified by cameras,” said Laurent Santarelli, the Director of the Vieux-Rouen-sur-Bresle production facility.
Verreries Brosse work in partnership with the Nigermat Pariche group for finishing. “This partnership with a decoration specialist, headquartered in a nearby location in the Bresle Valley, allows us to create our own developments,” says Olivier Caspar.
Recently Verreries Brosse has chosen to focus its investments on the production of glass, with two main areas of research: the distribution of glass and the internal decoration of bottles. The first results should be showcased at the next edition of Luxe Pack in Monaco from 21 to 23 October 2015.