Curasept: Italian passion for the world!

In this interview, we talk to Giulia Giovannardi, International Business Development Manager at Curasept.

Curasept is a young company formed in 2001. With youth comes innovation. “We are really focussed on quality but also on research and development. We actually created a molecule from scratch and we took eight years to develop this product, called Biosmalto,” says Giulia.

What has this got to do with sustainability?

The research for that molecule was carried out in Italy at its national research centre, and indeed Curasept loves to keep things local!

“We have a short supply chain. 80% of all of our suppliers are located in the Lombardy region, near our headquarters. We focus on proximity and local excellence.”

Curasept is a small company, so everything to do with production is outsourced. However, there is a rigorous auditing of those suppliers bidding for contracts. They are first visited and quality checked before contracts are signed. “We were very lucky,” says Giulia, “because one of the best manufacturers of toothbrushes is seven kilometres from our headquarters.” She adds “They have certification for sustainability which is called ISO 14001. We like that they get electricity from renewable sources. In 2020 they saved 2,400 tonnes of CO2.”

The wood they make the brushes from is not only certified but is also all from Italy or Germany. That localness and certification drove Curasept to choose wood over bamboo!

Giulia is very enthusiastic when she talks about being proud of being in Italy, and of producing everything in Italy, and mostly in Lombardy.  It is that sense of localness, and community that she thinks makes Curasept a champion of sustainability.

Community is key! Two out of three of the assembly companies Curasept works with are social cooperatives. One is in Curasept’s home town of Saronno, the other just kilometres away.

“They are companies with a special mission, to educate, train, but also to help people with disabilities to find a job. We really like that they give dignity to people through work.” There are over 340 such workers.

If Curasept’s suppliers are both credible on sustainability and indeed social governance, what about Curasept itself?

It has done its bit to help re-forest Africa, where people buying a product can upload their receipt and a tree will be planted in Tanzania or Cameroon through another Italian company called Treedom.

Curasept is also attacking the amount of packaging it uses. “We decreased the weight of the materials of outer packaging by 8.6% and then to print, we use 85% natural ink, and also the outer boxes we use are FSC certified. On most of our products we eliminate the use of plastic film on the top.” Where film is necessary, it is all from recycled plastic.

Curasept is carrying out its first ever sustainability and social responsibility report and that will be followed by achieving certification. This will take time, as it involves the board of directors, visiting suppliers, forming a road map etc.

The very fact it is happening though is a tribute to this small, young, innovative company that champions localness.