Tierre Chimica, with operational headquarters in Arzignano (Italy), grew exponentially from 2012 to 2022. The commitment to the environment is remarkable.
This is a consolidated reality with growing numbers and with particular attention to environmental sustainability. We are talking about TIERRE CHIMICA, an industry located in the industrial area of Arzignano in Seconda Strada, wherein there is the heart of the large tanneries and multinationals of the sector.
Tierre Chimica was founded in 1996, but the organizational staff had already been working in the Vicenza (Italy) leather district in the sector of chemical products for the tanning industry since the early 1980s. An experience developed, precisely in the greatest period of growth of the tanning sector, through commercial exchanges and continuous research, aimed at customizing the products that still now allow it to offer a wide range that is always evolving, from the wet phase to the finishing. The products include the beamhouse sector (soaking, liming and tanning), retanning (synthetic tannins, resins, auxiliaries), dyeing (acid- base dyes), fatliquoring (sulphates, sulphonates, synthetic and natural oils) and antifoams. The finishing sector weighs the most on turnovers with a vast range that includes anilines, pigments, waxes, caseins, acrylic and polyurethane resins, emulsions and nitroemulsions , compounds and water-based fixatives. One of the flagships of the Venetian (Veneto company is the fact that it is the official reseller, in the north-eastern part of Italy, Stahl, one of the world leaders in the production of chemical products.
To discover this reality up close, we spoke to the president and general manager of Tierre Chimica, Riccardo Ruella. Piedmontese of origin but arrived in the Vicenza (Italy) area as a child, after obtaining a bachelor in chemistry, he began to operate in the chemical tanning sector, obtaining a considerable entrepreneurial satisfaction until acquiring company shares in 2012 of Tierre Chimica.
“The birth of the company – confirms Ruella – dates back to the mid-nineties, but for almost two decades it remained in the commercial sphere. In the months following my purchase in 2012, together with my partner Giorgio Repele, we have decided to radically change activities, setting up production facilities and deciding to move from Altavilla Vicentina (Italy), where the
registered office remains, to Arzignano, considered by all to be the world capital of tanning: here we began to develop our own production, which over the years has increased due to the ability to offer different and innovative products. In 2015, Stahl assigned us the distribution for the Triveneto area and further development began from there”.
Where is your core business located?
“At the sector level, we specialized above all in fashion, thanks to our experience and technologies we are also able to cover all the other sectors. At the Arzignano plant, we currently have laboratories and machinery for both wet and finishing, with this last phase however remaining prevalent and where we maintain a mixed production, on one hand the Stahl method and on the other the path we have taken. We currently have 19 employees with various technicians specialized in finishing and wetend”.
What was the winning move of your growth?
“The use of jargon as used in the fashion world, we say that we did “like a tailor who cuts his suit”. It is fundamental and strategic for us to have focused on assistance, capillarity and relationships with our customers, including the timeliness of an entrepreneurial choice that in the end has paid off a lot: in 2015 we had already reached a significant target which increased five times in 2022, despite the two-year period characterized by Covid which slowed down the economy in those years and we believe we have significant growth margins, also because we are working so hard in the area of research & development of new products”.
In the area of sustainability, what requests do you receive?
“One aspect is certain: the market is starting to be much more sensitive to environmental issues. Thanks to Stahl, we have developed a whole series of finishes deriving from renewable sources, they make the polymeric phase and we develop it. One path done, together, in what is called the sustainability of the process, not only in the composition but also in the entire life cycle of the product. The importance of these issues was not yet well understood at all levels, only the large tanning groups started to understand and adjusted accordingly”.
What are the future strategies of Tierre Chimica?
“We are moving at 360° with the aim of identifying a line of products linked to renewable energies and raw materials deriving from a non-oil cycle. In the finishing phase one cannot expect to succeed 100%, however one can create polymers that have high percentages of plant components or natural origins, therefore non-extractive and non-fossil.
We are also focusing on processes and products that require low energy and water consumption”.
Riccardo Ruella e Giorgio Repele