In a move to better support its fast-growing North American market, Spain’s Cosentino Group, maker of innovative surface materials for architecture and building design, announced today it would build a new manufacturing facility in Florida. The new production site represents Cosentino’s first in the U.S., and only its second one outside of Spain.
Headquartered in Almeria, Spain, the company employs nearly 6,000 people and serves 129 markets around the world. Its 2022 sales totaled over $1.8 billion (€1.7 billion), a 22% increase from 2021, while its EBITDA increased 13% to more than $343 million (€312 million) and its net profit increased by the same percentage, to more than $128 million (€117 million).
Cosentino was founded in 1980 by Francisco, Eduardo and José Cosentino, when they took over their father’s stone business there in Almeria. It was in the late 1980s that Francisco came up with the idea of using stone scrap to create entirely new surfaces. Despite his efforts landing him in bankruptcy not just once, but twice, he persevered and finally launched his first innovative product, Silestone, in 1991. Founded in the passing down of the original business from father to sons, Cosentino remains a family-owned company to the present.
Today the company is focused heavily on sustainability. It recently relaunched Silestone on the back of a new manufacturing process, HybriQ, that features 99% reused water, 100% renewable electric energy, zero water waste and recycled raw materials within the composition of the finished product.
“We believe it’s time to invest in a manufacturing facility in the U.S.,” said Eduardo Cosentino, CEO of Cosentino Americas and the company’s EVP of Global Sales. “The North American market is the biggest for Cosentino–it’s about 60% of our sales worldwide. We believe we can provide a better solution for our customers by having production there. It will improve our responsiveness and our sustainability.”
The company’s only existing production facility outside its home country is in Brazil, where it produces its granite surfaces. “Because most of our granite comes from there, we decided to manufacture in Brazil because of transportation costs,” explained Cosentino. “Now we have to increase our production capacity for our other products, so we decided strategically to build in North America.”
Cosentino currently produces a variety of natural and manufactured surface materials for kitchens, baths, floors and claddings, including Silestone and other brands such as Dekton, Sensa and Scalea. The new production facility will initially manufacture either Silestone or Dekton, with the final decision on which one to come at the end of this year. Long-term plans include the ability to eventually produce any of the company’s brands there.
Site selection was recently completed. “We considered sites in Georgia, Texas and Florida,” Cosentino said. “We made the decision to go with Florida, in the Jacksonville area. Our decision was based on several factors, including the ability to find very good talent locally, and it being a city with a very good port, which we’ll need to bring in our raw materials, and one that also has very good rail access.”
Cosentino plans to invest $270 million to develop the new manufacturing site. The first phase of the project will include a 408,000 square foot production facility with 734,000 square feet of adjacent support areas. With more than 1,400 employees already in North America, the company anticipates hiring nearly 180 employees directly to staff the new facility.
“We already have offices in Miami,” said Cosentino. “We have a huge investment in the state. We plan to become a resident company. One of our biggest challenges is getting the people we need, and we’ll be working with the city of Jacksonville and the local universities to develop our workforce, and to make sure they have the proper training.” The company expects its recruiting efforts for the new site to begin in 2024 or 2025.
In the meantime, they’ll be working on all the phases of the plant construction. “We expect to close all aspects of the deal by the end of 2023,” Cosentino shared. “We anticipate starting construction in January of 2025, and being in production by the end of 2028.”
The new facility will continue the company’s efforts to center its productiom close to its biggest consumers. “Europe, the U.S., and Canada make up 85% to 90% of our sales,” said Cosentino. “This sets us up to serve that demand well.”
It also realigns the company somewhat. “We’re a Spanish-owned family business,” Cosentino continued. “But we feel like an American company. This is important. It’s not just about how well the business is doing here, but about investing in the community. We’ll continue to do that. We plan to open new solutions centers and showrooms as well.”
This article has been edited to update the planned date for production to begin in the new facility.
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