Italo Ottinetti and passion for aluminium

In 1920, Italo Ottinetti, born in 1898 and veteran of the Great War, together with some partners, established at Baveno, the typical village on Lake Maggiore currently in the province of Verbania, the metallurgical company that is still named after him. In the small factory, aluminium was full processed: the bar was melted to obtain the plate that in turn was rolled to obtain the disk from which, after pressing or turning, the finished product was obtained. A purely craftmade production of high quality articles that Italo Ottinetti sold personally, travelling all over Italy as far as Sicily. At that time, the range included cutlery, pots and pans and household accessories, as documented by the catalogue of 1925, year in which Italo Ottinetti became the single owner of the company.

Business prospered and the factory spread out and employed, before the II World War, more than 50 persons, reduced later on due to the mechanisation of most of the production process. These were the years of the economic boom.

The new generation

The trademark imposed itself in Italy and abroad, especially in Europe; the factory employed approximately twenty persons. Italo Ottinetti, who died on 4 November 1977, could count on his sons, Michele and Franco, in addition to the help of his wife Giovannina Adami, as always.

The production cycle adopted great innovations such as the installation, among the first in Italy in 1971, of a recycling washing system that allowed to recycle the cleaning water of process oils.

The nineties were characterised by the great struggle for reaffirming aluminium as a material fit for coming into contact with food. Italo Ottinetti is among the founders of the ‘Alluminio in Cucina’ Group that is managed by Centroal - Centro Italiano Alluminio (Aluminium Italian Centre) and gathers the companies specialised in the production of professional pots and utensils with a view to promoting and spreading the culture of aluminium in the kitchen. But it is only in 2007 that decree no. 76 of the Ministry of Health comes into force confirming that aluminium articles are fit for coming into contact with food. The battle was won.

Italo Ottinetti today

The company, which kept over the years its historical site with the ownership and management of the Ottinetti Family, welcomes the third generation of entrepreneurs with Italo Ottinetti, son of Michele, currently president, working in the production sector. Franco and Maria, daughter of the founder, become members of the board of directors.

Now, the company includes new production lines to execute new product ranges, strictly made in Italy, and components for industrial machineries. Tradition and innovation, passion and creative spirit combine characterised by the ideal of quality to which the company always referred as back in 1920.