Acqua Filette, recruitment and a new site on the way

A new state-of-the-art plant is on the way for Acqua Filette, the company from the province of Frosinone that has become world famous with its slogan water like wine. Unmistakable are the Acqua Filette bottles, which in recent years everyone has been able to see on the tables of the press conferences of the Prime Ministers at Palazzo Chigi (for the first time with Enrico Letta, and then becoming a constant starting with Giuseppe Conte): they are more reminiscent of wine and liquor bottles than those of traditional waters.

Founded in 2001, the company experienced a turning point in 2007 with the arrival of Pietro Ricci, the current CEO and majority shareholder. 'I have never understood why water, the most precious commodity we have,' Ricci recounts, 'is not valued as such, rather it is neglected. That is why I went to the Armando Testa agency in 2008 to come up with a project to give a new dignity to the water product. A dignity similar to that accorded to wine'. Hence the decision to follow the path taken by the wine world with Acqua Filette. "The synthesis of this project is our iconic bottle, a classic Bordeaux wine bottle. We are not present in the large-scale distribution channels, but we exclusively target the Ho.Re.Ca. sector (from hotels to restaurants, ed.) with direct distribution, through agents in the wine and champagne channel or of top-quality gastronomic products,' emphasises the CEO.

Ricci's arrival was accompanied by an investment of 1.5 million to purchase the necessary machinery to ensure the market launch of the exclusive new formats. "We are artisans," Ricci emphasises, "but we are always at the forefront with innovation. In 2018 we carried forward the 'zero plastic' project, driven by the first aluminium bottle, 100% and infinitely recyclable, as well as reusable, definitively abandoning plastic formats". A project, the plastic free one, that has also attracted the attention of the SS Lazio football team, with which Acqua Filette has now consolidated a partnership started five years ago.

The company now turns over around 10 million euro a year, half of it from foreign markets. "We are present in 35 countries around the world, in highly visible markets such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the United States (primarily on the East Coast), Australia, the Iberian Peninsula and Russia: water is not among the goods subject to sanctions," Ricci points out. On the other hand, the company's growth has also continued with peaks of over 50% per year: 'In 2019 we were at 3 million in revenues, in 2022 we had already doubled to 6 million, and by next year we expect to touch 12'.

New plans will also drive growth: 'We will invest about 3.5 million in five years. We will finance a rebranding project of all our products and develop a new plant with a format on the level of innovative wine maisons. All this is to give completeness to the company vision and follow a project that aims to enhance the special quality characteristics of Acqua Filette, which is among the purest in the world, thanks to its very low levels of nitrates (0.2 mg/L) and the total absence of arsenic,' the CEO emphasises. "We want the mantra of quality to be perceived in every facet and for our company to become a reference point for a new concept of luxury, also becoming a sort of tourist destination for our 40 foreign partners and their network," he adds.