Belcinto has just obtained environmental certification under the ISO 14001 Standard, becoming the first leather goods company to obtain this certification. This initiative, which came from the company’s management, involved the entire team and had the technical support of the CTPC.
In an interview to the CTCP, Ana Maria Vasconcelos guarantees that sustainability is a concern of the company since its foundation in 1961.
How did the bet on sustainability come about? What have you done in this regard?
We were born in 1961, and our strategy has always included sustainability. We have been adding over the years new products to be able to spend surplus materials. We always try to minimize internal surpluses. In addition, we provided artisans and NGO’s with residual materials for their social projects.
Why did you choose to carry out this environmental certification (ISO 14001)? What improvements did it bring to the company?
Environmental certification is an important step in the company’s present and future strategy. We have been subject of several audits carried out by our international customers, so, we decided to anticipate and speed up these processes. The 14001 Certification is adequate and essential for productive companies.
Sustainability has been a pillar of our brand since ever. We work at maintaining long-lasting relationships with people, producing products with long life cycles, and protecting the planet, reducing the ecological footprint.
I believe our path reflects such. We bet on consumer products, where we give unlimited guarantees, we currently have 90 workers, and a modern production unit prepared for flexibility.
Continuous training of our workers and establishment of partnerships with customers and suppliers to stabilize the production chain. Reducing the ecological footprint, greener production processes. We produce energy, already with photovoltaic panels, we use 100% water-based glues, we introduce new products in the production chain, we bet on the diversification of customers and markets.
For us, CTCP is a very important partner, with whom we have been working for years. We have full confidence in their services, and jointly with the Belcinto internal team that worked on this certification, we are fully satisfied with the result obtained.
The story of Belcinto, a company dedicated to the development and production of leather and leather and leather goods, began in 1961 in São João da Madeira. Belcinto started by producing handmade leather belts. However, due to the success of its products, it soon expanded its production to children’s school bags, men’s travel bags, wallets, hats, bags and women’s accessories.
Today, 61 years later, Belcinto holds a strong presence in both national and international markets, being characterized by a unique legacy of craftsmanship with distinct quality.
Recently, the company from São João da Madeira bet on the creation of the Leather Goods brand, which produces articles from the remains of raw material and other collections, reusing them and incorporating them integrally, without generating new ‘leftovers’ in the process.
"At Leather Goods, we set ourselves a serious, difficult and achievable goal: to produce only from the remains of raw materials from other collections, reusing them and using them fully, without generating "leftovers” in the process”, revealed Ana Maria Vasconcelos. "This forced us – she continued – to think about the design with rigour, to invent new compositions and combinations that appeal to consumers, to take risks and challenge the creativity of the team, starting from an idea which is dear to us – to look at a piece to its full potential, satisfying functionality issues without failing to please, and even surprise, consumers, keeping us up to date, but without compromising sustainability”.
For the launch of the new brand, Belcinto looked "at raw materials and accessories that had been idle for a long time, as one looks timeless at a treasure, knowing its value”. "We experimented, recombined, raised other hypotheses”, revealed.
Ana Maria Vasconcelos advances that "the result is a deeply original line, firmly rooted in what we did before. An unusual line, filled with our know-how and history”. It is moreover "a job that amused us and made us feel we were doing the right thing”.