To go through the metal curtain hanging from a shop door to access a bakery or a grocery store. The history of Kriskadecor, a company based in Montblanc (Conca de Barberà, Tarragona), was born linked to this very common scene ---especially in villages--- and to these fine chains, whose main mission is to prevent insects from entering establishments or homes.
This was almost 100 years ago ---the company was founded in 1926 and the first client was a pastry shop--- and, although metal curtains continue to be Kriskadecor's hallmark, its business has evolved in every sense, especially towards the world of interior design and decoration. On the one hand, its product now has much more sophisticated purposes and, on the other, the internationalization of the company, supported by ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya, has been total.
The company's history began with Josep Maria Sans Amil, who was the founder of the company and who designed the machine that allowed the mass production of metal curtains and popularized them. His son, Josep Maria Sans Folch, carried out exhaustive research to improve the product: he designed new types of links with which to manufacture the curtains and began to work with anodized aluminum, which allowed the incorporation of a wide range of colors into the finished product. Now, Josep Maria Sans Esplugues, third generation of the founding family, leads the company together with his brother Maties.
"From 2003, we looked for new uses, with more added value, for our curtains. In this way, we stopped focusing on private homes and small businesses and started thinking bigger," asserts Josep Maria Sans Esplugues. One of the keys to this change of direction, explains the company's general director, was entering the US market with a local distributor. Since then, participation in large projects has been practically continuous.
Kriskadecor's business is almost entirely international. 80% of its turnover, of just over 5 million euros, comes from foreign markets. Among these, the United States stands out, where it has clients such as Google, Paypal, Calvin Klein, and Hard Rock Cafe. In fact, since 2016, the company has had a subsidiary based in Miami responsible for sales and distribution in the United States. The company has had the support of ACCIÓ in its internationalization process through the network of 40 Foreign Trade and Investment Offices of the governmental agency, which help Catalan companies do business in more than 100 countries.
Looking ahead, Sans explains that Kriskadecor's goal is to continue growing in the United States, as well as opening new markets such as Iran, South Korea, and Japan. "We also plan to strengthen the building cladding division, which is one of the most technically demanding. One of our latest projects was the cladding of a student residence in Montpellier, and it was quite a challenge," says the businessman.
From the Oscars to Casa Batlló
Certainly, the company's portfolio of international projects is impressive. One of Kriskadecor's first forays outside our borders to sell decorative metal chains ---curtains for homes and businesses were already being sold internationally since the 60s--- was at the 2005 Oscar gala, when its curtains were part of the stage props.
Other projects carried out by the company include the cladding of the Ecuador pavilion at the Milan International Expo in 2015 or the spectacular decoration of the Westfield Mall, in the Netherlands, where it used more than 12 million links, with more than 1,000 km of aluminum wire. However, the project Sans is most fond of is local. "Being able to be in one of Gaudí's most iconic works, such as Casa Batlló, is incredible for us," says the businessman.
The doubts of Catalan companies about going abroad
The internationalization of a business can bring great benefits to a company, but, evidently, it is not without risks and uncertainties. To try to mitigate both, ACCIÓ makes the Technical Office for Barriers to Internationalization available to companies. Through this single window, ACCIÓ offers free support in less than 72 hours to companies that encounter obstacles that hinder their business and that are related to export, import, opening offices abroad, or problems derived from worker mobility.
Last year, the Technical Office for Barriers to Internationalization received 2,000 inquiries, most of them linked to regulations for commercial access to a country (25.5%), customs issues (19%), taxation (10.3%), and logistics and transport (8%). As for the countries about which companies have raised the most inquiries, we find the United Kingdom (9.8%) and the United States (9.4%), followed by China (7.8%) and Russia (6%).