Martina is the middle of the three Font siblings who run the family business based in Torrelavit (Penedès), where their grandparents founded a cardboard factory in 1952, where their parents started converting cardboard into boxes, and where Francesc and Martina first, with Maria later, have given it a boost through innovation. In the last 25 years, since the siblings joined, Font Packaging has grown from 10 to 60 million in turnover.
"Surely we are an exception, but it works for us." In fact, their strategic plan has four points written down: the first three are about business, and the fourth says that "we have to enjoy the journey following our purpose, which is to protect what is important", whether it's the client's product (with boxes), the team, the environment, or the territory.
Martina (1977) is extroverted, powerful, fast, sweet, empathetic. And very curious. Trained in Business Administration, in 2001 she did an Erasmus in Sweden that opened her eyes to a new way of understanding industry, more modern and competitive than what she knew. She is the corporate director and the visible face of the company. Francesc (1976), a computer scientist, is its general director, and Maria (1980), with a degree in Law, in Advertising, and a master's in London, has joined the company since the pandemic, as innovation director. "That innovation depends directly on management is key to differentiating ourselves in a commoditized world of multinationals."
"Our differential is having the most powerful innovation on the market""Each one has their role, we know what we must do, and it works. We try to give our opinion without pushing, and to empathize fully." Now, being three, she says it's easier to make decisions: "If you are only two, it's difficult to break a tie, and if you are one, what happens is the loneliness of the leader."The key, she says, is the mutual respect and admiration they feel, and the excellence of each one in their field: "The three of us grew up in the factory, we lived it and we always go all out."
For many years, Martina has also been actively involved in other events. "My brothers are not at all interested in the public sphere, they are fine with me going out for a walk. They are more into inside the box, fighting with PowerBI. The good thing is that each of us can do what we are good at." She is vice-president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and presides over the Packaging Cluster. She likes the day-to-day and strategy, but also takes care to weave a network of contacts with whom she learns and shares: she has built a good list of experts with whom she meets for lunch. Months ago she discovered a scientist at a conference, and did not hesitate to write to her on LinkedIn. "And when I manage to convince my brothers to accompany me, they freak out! We call it going for a walk, but it's a great way to learn." Especially in technology topics, which advance very quickly. "We must be techno-leaders, to lead we must understand technology. It is difficult to decide how to apply technology to your business, because technology is expensive and you cannot make many mistakes." For example: "They have already told us that soon we will buy from AI: we will have to think about investing in SEO in the new environment."
Font Packaging is a strange beast, amidst global giants that bill hundreds of millions of euros, and small local companies. "In the sector there has been a lot of concentration in recent years, but we believe that the family business makes sense for the territory and must have continuity. It's us and 260 families around us." And she remembers that just last year a person from the team retired who had started working in the company in her grandfather's time.
Their clients are from all industrial sectors, from chemistry to automotive, including ecommerce, which they pioneered with Kartox in 2010, anticipating the boom of electronic commerce that was to come. "Our differential is having the most powerful innovation on the market. We calculate the carbon footprint of each box, or we have climatic chambers that can simulate the boat trip in a box to Japan."
With their parents, once a month they hold a family council to inform them, but they no longer have executive functions. In fact, "my father was the most generous in the world; when he saw us ready, he immediately stepped aside so as not to hinder the handover. Yes, I ask him a lot; he has the experience, but today there are many topics, such as in the application of AI to improve processes, where he can no longer help us. We must bet and we bet a lot on young talent."
Font Packaging has six plants, 65,000 square meters in the Penedès. "We must grow no matter what; packaging takes up a lot of space and is cheap, logistics penalizes. We can grow a lot in Spain, but we have to grow in parallel in sales and production capacity, and making predictions is very complicated."
But they already know how to grow; they have come this far. "The key was after the 2009 crisis; after sales fell by 25%, we decided to bet on innovation and technology. Now everyone sees it, but back then it was not at all obvious. We had neither the largest warehouse nor the cheapest price. And we agreed with my brother: either we change or we won't survive, we must do things differently." Part of the change involved what Martina calls "leaving Torrelavit and entering the business environment of Barcelona, to interact with other companies, to learn." "At first I would go to events, with my flashy glasses, and ask a question that sparked interest. Otherwise, how do you get people to know you, if you are not part of the traditional circles, if you come from a town of a thousand inhabitants?"
Martina says her siblings are calmer, that she is more "wild and anarchic, the one who steps out of her comfort zone," but the three are permanently connected. By technology, but also by values and priorities. "Money... if you have more, you don't eat twice... In life, proximity between people is the key. We don't realize that what's important is the day-to-day, trying to find the best in each other. In the end, we are fortunate."
Mother of two children aged 13 and 10, a padel player, restless and enthusiastic. "I can't get more out of a cardboard box company in a town of 1,000 inhabitants than we already do," she says. But her mind constantly ponders, and she thinks and asks, because she knows how much it costs to sell boxes, and how necessary it is, for the company and for the country, to add glamour to industrial marketing.
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