Cosentino is one of the world´s leading providers of stone products, primarily for kitchen environments. From the stone pit, factory, and head office in Macael in Spain, Cosentino is expanding all over the world. During the last ten years, they have established themselves in North America, Great Britain, Germany and now Scandinavia. The Spanish stone have been on the Swedish market since 2006 but previously, it has been distributed through a stone cutter´s shop in Malmö, South of Sweden. Through this shop, Cosentino has been introduced to resellers and customers and now they are ready to open their own warehouse and office. Göteborg - the obvious choice
The establishment process in Göteborg has been undergoing for almost a year and the choice of city was self-evident.
- There are several reasons as to why we chose Göteborg; however, the most important reason was the strategic location of the city. Göteborg is right in between Helsingfors, Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen. The harbour with its good, logistical conditions has also influenced the decision, says David Benavente.
Together with Deputy Sales Manager, Jorge Lope, Mr. Benavente has been searching for premises, recruiting personnel and also gotten to know the Swedish commercial and industrial life during this past year. To set up on a new market is always challenging but it has been going effortlessly, according to Cosentino.
- Through Business Region Göteborg, we have been in touch with landlords, appropriate personnel, construction companies, and the local commercial and industrial life, says Jorge Lope.
Close to SEK 20 million have been invested in the facilities at Lärjeågatan by Alelyckan which holds a 300 sqm office space and extra 2 700 sqm warehouse space. The four, five square meters sized stones and 3-4 00 kilos stone plates will be delivered to this warehouse. Today, Cosentino stands for a rather small segment of the Scandinavian market. However, if the trend continues from its earlier establishments, it won´t take too long before it increases significantly.
- With our own warehouse and sales organisation here, we are much closer to the end-user. Moreover, we can offer fewer quantities to our resellers, says David Benavente.
Important with local trends
One of Cosentino´s success factors has been to pay attention to cultural differences. Trends and flavours differ in different countries, including Cosentino´s products. In total, there are 56 different colours in their stone selection.
- Through hiring local staff, we get someone who knows the local market and trends. Otherwise, it may be difficult to get it right as an outsider, says David Benavente.
During the last years, orange coloured stone has been popular in theU.S. and in Southern Europe . In Scandinavia, it is mainly black, white and grey that sells.
Assorted material
The flagship product of Cosentino, Silestone, makes up for about 85 % of the international sales. Initially, in Scandinavia , they are counting on this product to make up for about half since granite is still very popular. They have about 35 % of the Spanish market and 8 % of the American one. Except for kitchens, stone can be used for bar counters, floors, wall panels etc., as long as it´s outdoors. A good example of the material´s diversity is the Wembley Stadium in London where Silestone is used in the queen´s private loge, The Royal Room, as bar counters and in the bathrooms. Other places where Cosentino´s products can be spotted are at Hotel Burj Al Arab inDubai , one of the world´s few seven-star hotel, and in the enormous shopping mall, Carrousel de Louvre in Paris.
The Cosentino Group
Since 1979, the Cosentino family has run their business in Macael, Spain. Cosentino´s business area involves the whole breeding work from quarrying to the delivery of ready-made stone plates. In 2007, the company had a turnover of approximately 400 million Euro. Except for 14 stonepits and five factories in Spain , there is a granite stone pit in Brazil and several warehouses around the world. Cosentino has about 2 200 employees where half of those are located in Spain. In Göteborg, 15 people have been employed, however in the long run; the company is counting on a substantial increase of both the turnover as well as the personnel. Besides silestone and granite, there is also marbles in the selection.
