"ALBANESE: From the Winterthur Pioneer ...,
... to the internationally active Swiss company".
Made in Switzerland
The company
An overview
After the successful launch of numerous innovative ALBANESE® products, dating back to 1977, Giulio Albanese founded the company Albanese Baumaterialien Import-Export in Winterthur in 1990.
In 1997, the good course of business made it necessary to move into a new business premises in Winterthur-Wülflingen, at Maienriedweg 1a.
Soon after, the company was certified in 1998, according to the requirements of the market,
EN ISO 9001 certified.
Already at that time, the next young generation was in charge of quality.
In the meantime, the Swiss family-owned company, now in its second generation, distributes ALBANESE® products worldwide, which were developed in-house and protected by hundreds of patents, and is literally cementing the legacy of a Swiss quality brand for innovative construction technologies in our modern everyday building life.
Albanese Baumaterialien AG, which became a joint-stock company in 2010, continues to produce and sell a high-quality and wide range of building systems, formwork accessories, construction tools and safety clothing, which enjoys an excellent reputation both at home and abroad.
The story
The pioneer
In the sixties, Giulio Albanese came to Winterthur as a tourist to visit his father and older brother. But the initial vacation soon turned into a change of home. In the first years he had to experience at first hand what it means to lead a hard construction site life. Perhaps for this very reason, his inventive spirit gave him no rest, and he tackled one problem after another until he found a satisfactory solution.
This was also the birth of the first ever slab edge shuttering system, which Giulio Albanese successfully launched in 1977.
As early as 1979, the first patented Albanese products celebrated their premiere at Swissbau in Basel. At that time, however, still in cooperation with the company Locher. Meanwhile, the developments continued, even outside the construction industry, patented and manufactured one. The distribution was initially carried out by the company Joma Trading. In 1990 Giulio Albanese founded the company Albanese Baumaterialien Import-Export and distributed his products from then on under his own management. This brought him, among other things, until 1992 a proud export share to Germany and Austria of 20%. Thus the upswing of the enterprise was no longer to be stopped. In addition, Giulio Albanese became the first passive member of the Swiss Construction Management Association in the same year.
The inventor
Giulio Albanese
Many people invite me as an inventor. But they will only see a man like any other." I, however, invite you to Winterthur to show you how we develop and manufacture our products, and so that you can talk to my employees.
The young entrepreneur
Giulio Albanese already showed that he had an entrepreneur and inventor in him when he was seven years old. Near the southern Calabrian village of Dinami, his hometown, little Giulio watched the hustle and bustle of tourists on the beach and had only one wish: to be able to afford everything for one day, like these people. And "everything", for him, was already an ice cream. Giulio thought about how he could make it to be able to buy "everything your heart desired" for one day.
He found the solution in the prickly pears that grew on a dune near the beach. "These sweet figs should be sold to tourists," thought the little boy. Thought, done. The very next morning, at four o'clock in the morning, Giulio, his brother and his friend set out for the cacti. For hours they picked the sweet figs with their little fingers, skillfully avoiding the thorns, until the basket they had brought with them was filled. Now they ran down to the beach, where the first bathers had already arrived. A peeled fig costs 5 lire, and for 10 lire you even got 3 peeled figs! With the money thus earned by the newly-born entrepreneur, the three could finally buy their long-awaited glaces.
The management
Pino, Franco & Roland Albanese
The current management of Albanese Baumaterialien AG is composed as follows:
- Pino Albanese: Head of Technology, Development, Legal Affairs
- Franco Albanese: Head of Finance, Purchasing, Training
- Roland Albanese: Head of Sales, Communication + IT
The three brothers - Pino, Franco and Roland - continue the family tradition of the company founded in 1977 by father Giulio and ensure that the company Albanese Baumaterialien AG is one of the Swiss market leaders in the field of building materials through constant innovations. This includes the clear commitment to the location Switzerland (Winterthur) and the label "Made in Switzerland". The permanent development of new products, processes and techniques is the basis for the sustainable success of the company. The focus is on products of the highest quality and safety at competitive prices. In combination with the focus on excellent consulting, this creates added value for the customers of Albanese Baumaterialien AG. Learn more about this in the following reports.