The Group was born in 1961, when Romano Minozzi set up Iris Ceramica during the Italian economic miracle and urban construction boom, when 40% of the total all the ceramics in the European Economic Community was produced in the ceramics area of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Entire residential districts were built to accommodate workers in the area which, within a few years, became an international industrial phenomenon.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the Group underwent a first phase of major development, particularly thanks to the increase in exports, which accounted for 50% of production by 1980.
The negative economic situation that subsequently hit the Italian industrial system, and construction in particular, required new efforts to be made to adapt to the market. The Group responded with a technological innovation of the production lines involving electronics and automation, achieving low production costs and consolidation, until the advent of single firing.
Growth resumed in the 1990s with the creation of technical and specialized divisions and service companies, and acquisitions that strengthened the brand's presence in the individual market segments. The ability to understand and support the spirit of the times, innovation and quality, combined with the values of sustainability and respect for others, have become the strengths of Iris Ceramica Group, whose laboratories continue to transform ideas and insights into cutting edge products.
Today the Group's challenge has also become cultural: to spread a concept of increased beauty globally, for a world in which the production system and human habitat create a new level of well-being. Transcending the essential aesthetic and performance quality, our products testify to the constant research and commitment to return to nature and to humanity what we have enjoyed - raw materials, talent, discoveries, balance and listening.
The Group therefore promotes a kind of evolved humanism inherent in our DNA and defined by the equation Ecology = Economy, translated into other equation-principles that guide our entire production and activity:
EXCELLENCE = LEADERSHIP
Being a market leader with excellent products is an encouragement to develop products that are increasingly a projection of shared needs and values within the Stakeholder community.
QUALITY = BEAUTY
We want a more beautiful world where culture and morality are the sentinels of progress and the surface of things reflects the intentions and efforts of a purpose that is never artificial and always authentic. Precision, elegance and harmony are the criteria that shape how we spend our time.
RESEARCH = DEVELOPMENT
We remain inquisitive and continue to study the world in pursuit of the best outcomes, honing our expertise and knowledge and collaborating with young people in search of answers that are more respectful of their – and our – future, showcasing and making their intuitions a reality.
INNOVATION = TECHNOLOGY
Active Surfaces™: intuition becomes reality. We are investing in the future with encouraging results: quality, technology, research and sustainability have their perfect synthesis in a magical, self-cleaning, antibacterial surface which degrades pollution by purifying the surrounding air and, as evidenced by the certifications obtained in 2020 by the University of Milan, is also able to eliminate 94% of the viral strains of SARS-CoV-2 after only 4 hours of exposure to UV light.
CULTURE = SUSTAINABILITY
Authoritative leadership can only be achieved with a great sense of responsibility to spread innovative and ecological thinking. We enhance human resources, invest in training and promote shared planning.
ECOLOGY = ECONOMY
We create value while respecting health and people through a sustainable production system that is continuously improving based on a vocation developed since the beginning of the company and confirmed by the “Zero Emissions” milestone reached in 2019, in advance of the UN 2030 Agenda. We were the first in our industry to reduce harmful emissions from the firing kilns of Italian factories producing large ceramic tiles, consolidating an objective to which the Group has dedicated its history and gives us the confidence to meet future challenges. With this in mind, in 2020 we finalized an agreement with Alperia, the largest energy service provider in Trentino Alto Adige which, through its 34 hydroelectric plants, uses local water resources to generate certified renewable energy. As a result of this new partnership, 59% of the electricity purchased in Italy comes from renewable sources. During 2021, the Iris Ceramica Group signed a memorandum of understanding with SNAM - one of the leading energy infrastructure companies in the world and one of the largest Italian listed companies by capitalization - for an industrial project that involves the study and development of the first ceramic factory in the world powered by green hydrogen. In the new plant, based in Castellarano (RE), ceramic surfaces will be created with a blend of green hydrogen produced with solar power, and natural gas, allowing the immediate reduction of CO2 emissions. In the long term, this will pave the way for the exclusive use of renewable energy for zero-emission production, as the plant is designed to run on 100% hydrogen.