The Bertazzoni Way

ACROSS THREE CENTURIES

In the mid-19th century, a new railway was built connecting Austria with Italy. The trains that came down through the chilly Alps were heated by innovative wood-burning stoves. It was these that set one man in Guastalla to thinking. And so began the story that has made Bertazzoni one of Italy's most successful companies in the 21st century.

ENTERPRISE OF FATHER AND SON

When Francesco Bertazzoni noticed the wood burning stoves on trains coming into Guastalla, he saw how the idea could be adapted to cooking. He and his son Antonio decided to turn the dream into reality. This eventually led to the first Bertazzoni wood burning cooking stoves, produced in very small quantities and just for local use to begin with.

SCALES MADE BY FRANCESCO

Precision measuring instruments were made by Francesco Bertazzoni for local trades, from Parmesan cheesemakers to pharmacists. The metal-working skills were used by him and his son Antonio for their first wood burning stoves.

ERA OF THE WOOD BURNING STOVE

What father and son had done proved to be the start of an outstanding success story. Antonio Bertazzoni exhibited at the 1906 Milan International Exhibition and in Florence in 1909. For half a century the family business grew and prospered, based on the design and production of their wood burning stoves.

HAND-MADE WOOD BURNING STOVE

Early Bertazzoni stoves were custom built by father and son in their Guastalla workshop; no two were ever the same. They were very fuel-efficient units for cooking, hot water and heating – even providing ashes for the laundry.

SUCCESS NEEDS SUPPLYING

For some years Antonio Bertazzoni ran the business aided by his own sons. It was they who built the first Bertazzoni factory close to the Guastalla railway station in 1909. The main finance came from one of their wives, daughter of an Emilia-Romagna cheesemaker, who lent the brothers the grand sum of 10,000 lire.

THE BEGINNING OF MASS PRODUCTION

Antonio's son Napoleone adopted techniques learned from the motor industry in Turin. Using standard castings and components in a new factory, production reached 80,000 units in the interwar years.

BEGINNING THE BRAND STORY

After the hiatus of the First World War, the family began producing cooking stoves on a much larger scale. In 1923, they adopted a new FBG logo (Fratelli Bertazzoni Guastalla) and launched a new brand name: "La Germania'. The marque and the name both celebrated the railway and its crucial connection to the engineering reputation of Germany in the north.

STYLED FOR THE KITCHEN

The La Germania logo was introduced and brand marketing to consumers began. Stove performance improved with hot gases from the fire forced around the sides of the stove to maximise heating efficiency.

THE HEART OF THE HOME

Wood burning stove design was matched by enhanced aesthetics. Sheet steel forming and vitreous enamel finishes gave a more sophisticated look. The refined details and colours reflected 1950s tastes.

THE GAS REVOLUTION

After the Second World War came the momentous discovery of gas in the Po Valley. A number of Italian companies responded by producing gas-fired stoves, and in 1953 the Bertazzoni’s introduced their first gas countertop units. Production of gas stoves by the family followed in 1955, further perfected in 1958 with the addition of an oven.

INTO FAR DISTANT LANDS

Bertazzoni's cookers, still exclusively marketed under the brand name of La Germania, made new friends in the 1960s as exports began for the first time, instigated by Francesco Bertazzoni, great- grandson of the founder. The first overseas sales were made in the Mediterranean area and by the 1970s the La Germania name had become well known throughout Europe and in Pacific Asia.

NEW QUALITY OPENS DOORS TO AMERICA

In 2001, the company introduced the unrivalled 'Toyota system' for manufacturing that relies on the relationship between exceptional speed and uncompromising quality, backed by the commitment and culture of the company's people. Bertazzoni also began exhaustive analysis of the American market and in 2005 launched a series of all-new ranges there under the new 'Bertazzoni' brand name. Success followed.

THE COORDINATED KITCHEN AND NEW MARKETS

The sixth generation of the family joins the business and Bertazzoni widen the scope of its portfolio to become the one-stop kitchen supplier. Award-winning built-in ovens and induction cooktops are introduced. New refrigeration, dishwasher and ventilation appliances complete the concept of the total Bertazzoni kitchen. Exports continue to mature and expand with new subsidiaries established in Sweden, France, Netherlands, UK, Australia and China