Crobel

The conversation quickly turns to Carlos, who explains how it all began: «When I was a kid, I had this habit of peeling the labels off the bottles. Then one day I took a trip to Canada and realised that all the products were labelled, something that didn’t happen in Portugal at the time. From then on, I was hooked and, when I got back, I decided to start a labelling business together with a friend.» And that’s where he finds himself today, surrounded by 46 employees and machines worth up to 700,000 Euros on the market. Crobel’s journey of almost 24 years has proved to be a distinguished one, characterised by technological development that has ensured quality and competitiveness. «We’ve managed to go from a turnover of zero to six million Euros,» he says, guaranteeing that he has a close relationship with his employees, some of whom have been with the company for two decades.
Carlos Côrte-Real says no when he has to say no, not least because he believes that you are either committed to a project or you’re not. This has been the policy up until now, and he hopes to continue growing steadily. As for the future of the sector, the businessman refutes the possibility of paper falling into disuse, emphasising the significant development of graphic lingo in Portugal, which is currently one of the countries with the most machines per capita.
Chatting away, this is how a fast-paced morning is spent at Crobel, among the colours, sizes, formats and textures that print everyday life.

From the invention of the Gutenberg press to the present day, the history of graphic arts can be summarised as the evolution of machines and processes. Intrigued by the day-to-day running of a contemporary printing company, V&G travelled to the ‘cradle city’, Guimarães, to visit Crobel for a morning, the company founded at the turn of the century by Carlos Côrte-Real.
If it weren’t for the white labelling machine standing as a sculptural object at the entrance, you wouldn’t even think of the place as the permanent abode of a printing company, as eclectic as it is. Côrte-Real soon appears, a smile on his face, inviting us to take a stroll through Crobel’s graphic memory. The smell of fresh ink is unmistakable and the sound of the machines furiously working are proof of a busy day. The team is predominantly young, as the founder believes they are an age group with «a different ability». It becomes difficult to concentrate on a single procedure when there is so much going on at the same time. Take the production of labels, self-adhesive labels and cardboard in the most diverse materials. They will all head off in different directions, serving purposes in the food, pharmaceutical, textile, chemical, wine, childcare or, who knows, ceramics or cosmetics sectors. Their regular customers are the Portuguese, although the Spanish are not far behind. «We’re the national brand that exports the most to Spain,» reveals the CEO, who doesn’t hide his pride at being part of something that is expanding throughout the Iberian Peninsula. 

"We are the national brand that exports the most to Spain”