The Brivaplast Group will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2026!

Sixty years of exemplary growth for this Italian family business, which in just a few years has become one of the leaders in its field in the manufacture of packaging for eye, face, and lip products. The company now has two factories in Italy and China, Incospack. Notable acquisitions include the Italian metallizer Metal Tech, based in Brescia, in 2022. Brivaplast, which now employs 200 people worldwide, offers a wide range of fully customizable standard products, as well as tailor-made products. Fabio Pezzoli [1], General Manager since March 2024, explains.

2026 promises to be a pivotal year for Brivaplast, as you will be celebrating the company’s 60th anniversary and announcing a further expansion of your factory and headquarters in Ornago. What have been the key moments in Brivaplast’s history and what are the main reasons and characteristics of this expansion of your factory in Italy? What are your plans for your factory in China?

Fabio Pezzoli: Next year will indeed be an important milestone for the entire Brivaplast team, as we will not only be celebrating the company’s 60th anniversary, but also making a significant new industrial investment. Looking back several years, other strategic moments have marked the history of our company, such as the move from Osnago to Ornago in 2018, which significantly increased our production capacity while improving our ability to respond quickly to our customers’ needs. This commitment to a strategy of vertical integration and expansion of our capabilities continued in 2022 with the acquisition of Metal Tech (€5 million in revenue, 40 employees), which allowed us to internalize the essential processes of painting and metallization. We are currently expanding the Ornago plant by adding six new injection molding machines and an assembly line to meet market demand. We are also optimizing our storage and sampling capabilities to be more efficient. At our Chinese plant, Incospack, located in Suzhou in Jiangsu province, we are focusing our investments on increasing production capacity by installing new machines and molds, mainly for PET processing and the manufacture of new packaging products that we now feature in our catalog. We are also taking the opportunity to renovate the premises to improve the quality of life and working environment for our teams. This renovation can only help to refresh the company’s image.

In just a few years, you have managed to become a key global player in the highly competitive mascara market. What are the main reasons for this success?

Fabio Pezzoli: There are several reasons why we have so quickly become a key global player in the highly competitive mascara market. First of all, we have a clear strategic advantage in that we produce all the components of mascara ourselves, which allows us to fully control quality and manage the supply chain. Secondly, we are constantly seeking to optimize the application technique of our mascaras. This involves continuously testing these applicators in combination with makeup formulas. Obviously, this requires close, daily collaboration with formulators. This commitment enables us to offer a complete catalog of mascaras, glosses, and concealers, as well as a wide range of applicators, including fiber-based, plastic, and flocked applicators. On the industrial side, as I mentioned earlier, we are fully integrated. We manufacture both the bottles and the brushes, whether they are fiber-based or injection-molded plastic. We have filed numerous patents in this field.
In the field of glosses, our strength lies in the highly innovative design of new-shaped applicators that perfectly combine performance, functionality, and aesthetics. Here again, we systematically patent all these new products.
In addition, from a more general point of view, we are constantly increasing our production capacity at all levels, whether in the field of injection molding, injection-blow molding, assembly lines, or decoration.

Is innovation synonymous with new products?

Fabio Pezzoli: Our commitment to innovation is constant, which allows us to regularly update our offering with new products and collections. To give a concrete example of what we are preparing, let’s talk about the new collection that has just been released. These are entirely new products with the launch of new PET bottles for the Chocoholic Collection lip glosses and concealers. We will also be showcasing our new packaging for lip, face, and eye products with new shapes and features. 1664-ST is our new packaging with a 16 mm neck, a thick-walled bottle, a long neck allowing a color view of the formula, a click closure system, and made of PET (recyclable).

Increases in customs duties, raw material prices, and legal requirements regarding the use of plastics represent significant constraints. How do you manage them?

Fabio Pezzoli: For reference, Europe is currently our largest customer, followed by the United States. Our strategy for managing these challenges is based on constant communication and our ability to adapt. We maintain ongoing communication with our suppliers and customers in order to quickly regulate and adjust our operations and prices to respond as effectively as possible to cost pressures and regulatory changes. Internally, we are obviously focusing on sustainable solutions (such as post-consumer recycled materials) and optimizing our manufacturing processes to mitigate cost increases and ensure full compliance with all new plastics legislation.

KEY DATES!

1966: Brivaplast is founded in Beverate, Brivio. From the outset, the company specializes in the production of thermoset capsules. It quickly builds a reputation in this market thanks to the quality of its production processes.
1976: Thanks to its mastery of various processing techniques and the high quality of its finished products, the Italian company already occupies a solid position in the production of packaging for makeup and perfumes.
1996: Start-up of the new site in Osnago, near Milan, with the introduction of new automated equipment for container assembly.
2001: Continued expansion of the company and achievement of ISO/9001 certification.
2006: Inauguration of the second production unit in WuJiang (Shanghai).
2016: The company celebrates 50 years in business.
2018: The company moves to Ornago (MB) in a new 12,500 m² factory.
2020: Opening of Brivaplast U.S.A. in Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
2022: Brivaplast announces the acquisition of Metal Tech Srl.
2024: Fabio Pezzoli becomes CEO.