Cartonajes Salinas

If we had to define it, we could say that it has just received a doctorate in the packaging of covered rigid cardboard for Premium and luxury markets.

It has all that knowledge which has acquired over years of study and experience, it is aware of the latest technical innovations which are applied every day, it handles a wide variety of information about the sector, it has been working to years to grow as a company… but it still maintains intact its passion for challenges, for continuing creating, learning, improving… there is still a willingness of much more.

Antonio Martínez leads this company since its creation in 1995; in his team a group of coordinators manage the different departments: Marketing and design, commercial, budgets, models, production, development and quality.

In a chat mode, we talk to him about the past, the present and the future of the company:

AS SUCH, CARTONAJES SALINAS WAS CREATED IN 1995, BUT THE BOXES BUSINESS IS MUCH OLDER IN YOUR FAMILY, ISN’T IT?

That’s true, my father started to make covered boxes for the footwear sector (main industry in our area) in the 60s.

I took over the business at the beginning of the 90s, there were many changes during those years until we finally established as Cartonajes Salinas.

SO AT THE BEGINNING, DID YOU ONLY MANUFACTURE SHOE BOXES?

That’s right, the company was created to meet the demands of the footwear industry which was developing in Elda, and which still constitutes the biggest industry in the area. The footwear continues being an important part of our production, although the characteristics are very different from those early days.

AND HOW DID YOU MAKE THE FINAL LEAP TO OTHER SECTORS?

Well, I remember that period as a hard one, we were in that conflict that many companies suffer between “renew or die”, and I felt like renewing, creating.

I remember exactly the day in which something in my head changed. It was a Sunday in 1995, we had moved to Salinas some months ago, and in December special edition of the Journal ABC (the magazine “Black & White”), I read “when Christmas approaches, famous fragrance houses launch, together with their perfumes, cases containing several products of the firm…” The following week I went to a department store and I saw it, I saw lots of sectors and products for those we could work.

From that moment, we focused on the commercial activity to make ourselves known; this was mainly in Madrid and Barcelona where the majority of the companies devoted to the Perfume and cosmetics industry were.

We were about eight years to reach our objective, to run the business in order to be able to invest in the appropriate machinery which would allow us to enter those sectors.

With hindsight, I think there are many basic aspects in the companies that have not changed much, net-working, elevator speech and marketing were also used those days although we did not call the in that way.

There are other things, like the Access to the information, which I specially value and I consider it as one of the most important agents of acceleration of the changes we have seen and lived during these years.

Since then the wheel starts rotating and the investments and changes are continuous and constant.