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Desayunos Esade with Pilar Cosentino, Cosentino Group CEO

At the latest 'Desayunos Esade', held by Esade Alumni, during her overview of the past, present and future of this family firm now run by its third generation.
Pilar Cosentino

“One of our greatest achievements has been to make people see an industrial product as a consumer good – and for customers to want a Silestone kitchen worktop”, said Pilar Cosentino, Cosentino Group CEO, at the latest 'Desayunos Esade', held by Esade Alumni, during her overview of the past, present and future of this family firm now run by its third generation.

Today’s great challenge, she explained is “for Cosentino to be a top brand for all sorts of surfaces in the home, not just for kitchen worktops, but for bathrooms, furniture, floors and facades too.” She also underlined that the company’s production processes “are very similar to those of a fashion brand because of our emphasis on design, together with sustainability and innovation."

 

Global growth and industrial boost in the USA

Pilar Cosentino pointed out that one of the secrets of the Cosentino Group’s success is its business model, “always in keeping with the group’s competitive edge and its presence on the five continents, where we adapt our products to cater for each market and take into account local cultures and preferences.” In this respect, she insisted that “geostrategy is increasingly decisive: we live in a time that is particularly challenging for, amongst other things, the supply chain.” This is why one of her main goals is to “take production to the markets that Cosentino operates in.” In this respect, she recalled that “last year we bought some land on an industrial estate in Florida, United States, a country that accounts for half of our international business.”

 

Innovation, sustainability and family legacy

Pilar CosentinoThe CEO also highlighted the crucial role of technological innovation, “We’re applying AI to different processes, particularly production and customer knowledge.” As for sustainability, she stressed that the company “is investing heavily in energy. Our solar farm is one of the biggest privately-owned farms in Spain and we work hard to optimize water consumption and manufacture our products with an ever-higher percentage of recycled materials.”

As regards corporate governance, Pilar Cosentino described it as “a decisive tool for building a sustainable company over time,” adding that “we’ve been using the standards of listed companies as our benchmark for many years now, and we’re wholeheartedly immersed in a rigorous process of on-going improvement.”

The company’s structure, organization and succession have also been professionalized, “The new generation joined the group more than twenty years ago and a calm, natural transition is under way. We’re separated the roles of president and CEO, and our board of directors is smaller, more responsive and customer-focused.”

Finally, she highlighted the family legacy as the essence of the company, “This is something we’re acutely aware of in this new stage. It’s in our nature to be a caring, brave and innovative company.” She emphasized the importance of “setting standards by consensus and periodically reviewing them” in order to uphold this intangible heritage. “We’ve already issued the third edition of the family protocol, a document that requires dedication, effort and work, but which guarantees the continuity and robustness of this project we share,” she ended.
 

See the complete video of this session here

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