A company that is undoubtedly to be counted among those in our sector that have garnered increasing and strong attention in recent years; specialized in solving one of the most “challenging” knots in furniture production: drilling and insertion.
Prima Cucine is a brand that we believe will be talked about far beyond its current level of recognition. This was the conviction we left with after meeting with Stefano Turcatel, General Manager of this company, a creation of Ivano Fistani and Aldo Pizzolato, the two entrepreneurs who founded Arredo3 in 1984, one of the giants of “Made in Italy” furniture, boasting a group turnover of over 260 million euros and 450 employees.
We were brought to Trebaseleghe, in the province of Padua, to better understand this company by Enrico Citterio, co-owner of Stema in Brenna (Como): a partnership that allowed us to once again confirm how the most advanced technologies and the most successful entrepreneurial visions must inevitably go hand in hand.
From left: Stefano Turcatel, Igino Ceccato, Luca Zorzetto, Enrico Citterio e Riccardo Murrone.
“Our adventure began in 2017 with the ownership’s decision to experiment with a new strategy to penetrate the market,” Stefano Turcatel tells us. He has been with the company for four years and has always worked in the furniture industry—a practically inevitable fate for someone like him, born in the heart of the “Distretto del Livenza”, one of the most furniture-oriented areas in Europe. “The project was to complement Arredo3—among the top five Italian kitchen manufacturers and recently repositioning towards a higher-end segment—with a brand offering quality products, precise aesthetic choices, but aimed at the so-called ‘middle’ of the market. This company was founded on a clear idea: to create an industry with systems and production lines capable of combining the best quality with significant production volumes.”
The turning point actually came in 2020, during the pandemic, when everyone’s interest in the home became stronger, and Prima Cucine transitioned from being merely an “offshoot” of Arredo3 to becoming a fully-fledged brand, gaining more independence and everything that entails in terms of positioning, commercial strategy, management, and image.
“In the past four years, we have worked to lay the foundation for Prima Cucine’s new identity,” continues Turcatel, tasked with leading this rebirth, “and to create a coherent and organic response to the needs of a consumer different from Arredo3’s—a person who still wants their kitchen to be spectacular, beautiful to look at, but who prioritizes functionality. Of course, we have relied on the experience of the parent company, which allowed us to accelerate the process: important suppliers, insights, and know-how in both product and organization. Not only that: in general, the furniture world offers massive catalogs, a complexity that inevitably generates costs reflected in the final price. This is a rule Prima Cucine decided to bypass with products designed based on market demands—styles and solutions whose real appeal we were able to assess thanks to Arredo3’s work. Essentially, we positioned ourselves where we felt we belonged, and I must say the numbers have proven us right: 2024 is closing with a turnover of around 37 million euros, more than triple that of four years ago, thanks to a network of about 300 dealers that enables us to operate across the national market and our first monobrand showroom in Rome, which is delivering excellent results.
A growth undeniably driven by our industrial approach, offering—thanks to attentive organization and cutting-edge production systems—quality, expertise, speed, and service. Today, we can boast a complete catalog, in terms of models, finishes, and modularity—a collection entirely conceived and designed internally, which is the cornerstone of the many activities that allowed us to grow by 30 per cento over the last twelve months, far exceeding the 10 per cento we had forecast, in a market that is certainly not in one of its liveliest phases…”
Another aspect that fascinated us during our visit to the Trebaseleghe factory was the high level of technology and a strong, evident organization, palpable wherever one looks. A project that appears highly coherent in every aspect—something not always evident in a furniture company, where the elements contributing to the final result are so many and varied that often the art of compromise becomes the only feasible path…
ON TECHNOLOGY
“Everything we do, every choice we make, responds not only to our objectives: we have the fortune and responsibility of also being a testing ground for tools, methods, ideas, and strategies that—once tested and adapted to our group’s way of doing business—could become even more improved solutions for an industrial and market giant like Arredo3,” continues Turcatel.
“This meant exploring different directions to learn, understand, and comprehend the state of the art today, and that’s how we came to know Stema. To be honest, our previous experiences with the drilling and assembly process were positive, but after hearing about Stema’s solutions and seeing them in action, we decided to delve deeper.
It was a long process: we got to know each other, exchanged ideas, and worked together to identify areas for improvement or increased efficiency. We received clear confirmations not only of their expertise—something we had already heard praised—but also of their seriousness and flexibility, fundamental values for those of us who aim to resolve the ‘knot’ of drilling and insertion, a crucial step for anyone aspiring to grow.
As I mentioned, we’ve tripled our turnover in three years and aim to reach 50 million by 2027: we need to prepare adequately to achieve this ambitious goal. The growth of the initial years was significant but sometimes tested us.
We thus decided on new investments, including a new line for side and base assembly, abandoning vertical drilling in favor of Stema’s horizontal solutions, utilizing robots for insertion and element movement within the machine. Furthermore, one of our priorities was achieving managerial independence from suppliers, building sufficient know-how to be autonomous and govern data and information—in other words, to be masters of our own destiny in this project built with Stema, our technicians, and, most importantly, the workers using these machines in our facilities. This, in my view, was the game-changing step.”
“If I told you it was easy, I’d be lying,” continues the General Manager of Prima Cucine, “but we were prepared because we’re talking about a phase of production that is truly the heart of our work. Fully automating these processes allows us to minimize errors, be faster, and therefore more productive, all while maintaining maximum quality and enabling those who previously spent their days moving pieces between machines to instead oversee the line.
Every day, we assemble fifty kitchens that are shipped within 48 hours—a figure that I believe illustrates how organized, effective, and efficient we must be.
We have three production lines, and I can tell you the difference is noticeable: the line designed and built by Stema ensures higher productivity, better cleanliness, and fewer errors. We are experiencing firsthand the value of our investment, which is proving to be a strategic enabler of further growth. Now, we await the test of time: the new line was delivered in December 2023 and became operational in February this year. We need to see if this infatuation becomes a long-lasting love,” adds Stefano Turcatel with a laugh.
