Water cooler design and manufacturer Blupura was founded in January 2008 and is a partnership between Luca Costantini and Gianni Grottini. Together, they have over 40 years’ experience and have built up a solid reputation in the industry.
Luca has enjoyed many years of experience in international sales of bottled and mains-fed coolers, while Gianni has even more experience on the technical and manufacturing side of the water cooler industry. He has spent the last 25 years researching materials and components, and selecting suppliers to develop numerous water cooler models.
Blupura was founded with the idea of manufacturing and offering the international market ‘a new angle’ on mains-fed water coolers; innovative and eco-friendly, thanks to the use of natural fluoride-free compressors, with a unique Italian design and stylish materials such as aluminium and glass.
Launched with just three staff members, the company now employs 16 full-time staff, several consultants and an outsourced labour force for the peak season.
Its first products were the Fontemagna range: floor standing, tabletop and under-counter coolers, all aimed at the hospitality market with innovative design, touchscreen commands and high performance of 150 litres an hour.
The company has budgeted for 30% growth in 2013, and is now based near Ancona, central Italy, in an 1,800 sq m manufacturing facility. This beautiful region of Italy is still a hotbed of Italian manufacturing and enjoys a great reputation for quality products.
How do you view Blupura within the European cooler manufacturing world?
Luca Costantini: Thanks to our innovative ideas and hard work, together with investments made in research and development, quality certifications and approvals, exhibitions, advertising and communications, I believe we are viewed as a solid business partner able to cooperate by supplying high quality and stylish products and developing tailor-made solutions and customised products.
When we founded Blupura, we had a clear vision of what the market was lacking: almost all of the water cooler manufacturers were battling it out for a segment of the office market sector, hardly taking the (almost) virgin market of hospitality into consideration.
We understood that this market segment was just at the beginning, so we created a completely new design using modern materials such as aluminium and glass with high performance, which were specifically aimed at satisfying the hospitality market.
Where are the real growth areas for your business?
Costantini: The hospitality sector is the area with major potential. Our ranges of Fontemagna and Wave models are designed to fulfil the need for cold water in situations that require high volume and high reliability, such as hotels, restaurants, canteens, schools and hospitals.
We firmly believe that the outdoor/indoor vending water cooler market has enormous potential. Blupura started to manufacture and install them in 2009, and since then we have experienced a steady growth in this business in Italy, with many other countries from Europe to Africa and the Middle East showing great interest in developing these coolers for their own markets.
Do you have many high-profile clients?
Costantini: We are proud to say that the Queen of the Netherlands, her family and guests drink water from Blupura units installed at the palace. Our units are also installed in the Dutch Parliament, the Spanish Ministry buildings and many renowned restaurants throughout Europe and the US.
Which sectors are most popular for your coolers?
Costantini: It varies from country to country. Our main market is Germany, where all the coolers sold are installed into offices.
The hospitality market hasn’t yet taken off other than for public institutions such as schools and hospitals. In the UK and Italy, the majority of installations are in restaurants and hotels.
Where do you see your main competition coming from?
Costantini: Right from the start, our aim has been to be different to our competitors. We are opening up the sector to new ideas and solutions with innovative coolers to satisfy niche markets in hospitality. So far, our coolers with TV screens, outdoor fountains and vending coolers have proven to be very successful.
Blupura caters to the high end of the market. We do not manufacture or import and distribute cheap, plastic coolers for the office market. We do have office coolers, but they are in stainless steel and aluminium, such as the Wave model, and have a TV screen to transmit advertising or information (the BCC model).
In the hospitality market, competition comes mainly from other Italian manufacturers, but we believe our environmentally friendly solutions set us apart from the rest.
How important are environmental issues to your business and how are you approaching them for the future?
Costantini: The environmental issue was one of the main reasons Blupura was founded. Gianni and I were convinced that this was the future for water coolers. We founded Blupura with the aim of being different and innovative in environmentally friendly solutions and design.
We were the first to introduce the natural refrigerant gases (R290 and R600) with high energy efficiency and zero impact on global warming, and Blupura is still the sole company in this industry to have made the historical change of using natural, eco-friendly, fluoride-free HC compressors.
Sometime in the not too distant future, the synthetic gases used by all other cooler manufacturers (R1234) will be banned. In fact, we were recently approached by a world-famous pharmaceutical company with thousands of global employees looking to replace the hundreds of coolers currently present in their premises, which use synthetic gases, with ours with natural gases.
We have been mentioned by Greenpeace in their report on cooling technologies for the last two years. We also won three Watercoolers Europe awards for Best Environmental Practice.
Do you have new products in the pipeline?
Costantini: Blupura has four employees dedicated to research and development, and we are investing in discovering niche markets and developing solutions for them.
In 2012, we launched the Top Control, the Bridge and the Wave (all dispensers with portion control to be used with under-counter coolers), the BCC – a cooler with TV screen to transmit information and/or advertising – and the City 2.0 range and outdoor and indoor vending coolers.
For 2013, we have other exciting projects, including a domestic table-top cooler that follows our green philosophy and style.
Which are the newest technologies you are using?
Costantini: All our coolers give high performances and deliver high quantities of cold still and cold sparkling water, as we use the Direct Chill in Ice Bath (Ice Bank) technology.
The chilling capacity of the refrigeration system is enhanced by the fact that the stainless steel coils where water flows are immersed in a bath of ice and iced water.
In the last few months, we have introduced a new chilling technology used in our DCT models: the Direct Chill In Tank. The stainless steel pipe, where the still water flows, is inside the stainless steel carbonator where the sparkling water is produced by pressure. This means a higher production of sparkling water, ideal in markets such as Germany, where sparkling water is highly appreciated.
Are customers still willing to pay for quality and top technology?
Costantini: There is, and always will be, a higher market segment that demands quality and design and is willing to pay a little more to receive this. This is a worldwide trend that’s increasing.
Where are your most important markets now, and where are the growth areas for Blupura in the future?
Costantini: North Europe is our main market concerning office coolers, while we sell hospitality coolers not only all over Europe, but also in Africa and the US. We see enormous potential for the outdoor/indoor vending fountains in Africa and the Middle East.
Do you think there is now a bias towards mains-fed water coolers rather than bottled coolers?
Costantini: Definitely. Of course, bottled coolers are easier to install and therefore they will probably never disappear, despite the fact that their costs and prices are destined to grow. We believe mains-fed coolers are a greener, easier and cheaper solution, offering a safe and economical alternative to bottled water.
Are people drinking more filtered tap water and less bottled water in Italy?
Costantini: Bottled water sales are slowing in Italy, because of the recession and a higher awareness of the quality of tap water. Water authorities are upgrading and modernising the distribution network, and are investing in press and public relations campaigns to educate people and to encourage the use of mains water by highlighting its quality and safety aspects.
Outdoor drinking fountains such as our Fontemagna City models are part of these investments. Blupura works very closely with the Italian water authorities and city councils. We have designed, manufactured and installed several dozen outdoor drinking fountains that dispense cold still and cold sparkling water, where the public can go to refill their own bottles at low cost (usually 5 or 10 cents a litre).
This is becoming more common in Italy, where over the last five years, around a thousand public water supply fountains have been installed.
The trend is expanding to other markets and we are receiving visits from other European countries, Africa and the Middle East to see our installations and to understand how the system works.
What are your main ambitions for Blupura in the future?
Costantini: This is just the beginning. Blupura is already an established brand and a company with an excellent reputation within Europe. Our ambition is to be a market leader outside Europe too.
Hannah Oakman is deputy managing editor magazines at FoodBev Media.
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