The winners of the TecnAwards 2024

▶ "Best Brick&Tile Manufacturer"

Four brick manufacturers received the award from representatives of four exhibiting companies in the sector, Bongioanni, Cosmec, Marcheluzzo and Tecnofiliere.

• The Belden Brick Company (Canton, Ohio, U.S.A.), founded in 1885 and today the largest family-owned brick company in the United States, with five plants in Sugarcreek.
• Ladrillera Santafé, a Colombian company founded in 1955 that operates some of the most modern brick factories in South America.
• Groupe Benhamadi - Sarl Argilor (Algeria), one of the most important brick producers in North Africa, which has made significant investments to improve product quality and factory efficiency.
• Fbm Fornace Briziarelli Marsciano (Italy), which has a history dating back more than 100 years and today is one of the industry leaders in Italy with four factories.

▶ "Best Sanitaryware Manufacturer"

The award for outstanding companies in the sanitaryware sector went to:

• AkijBashir Group (Bangladesh), an industrial group that produces sanitaryware, tiles and ceramic tableware and in recent years has undertaken an extensive programme of technological investments at its sanitaryware factories.
• Villeroy & Boch (Germany), which was presented with the award in recognition of its ongoing investments at its European plants and its entry into the ranks of the top European manufacturers following the acquisition of Ideal Standard.
• Duravit Canada, which received the award for its extraordinary project in Matane, Quebec, where the group is building a zero-emissions factory equipped with an electric kiln and with 100% of electricity requirements met by hydroelectricity.

In the ceramic tile sector there were two award categories.

▶ "Best New Tile Plant"

For outstanding new lines or upgrades of existing installations, which went to:

• Ceramica Cleopatra (Egypt), which was founded in 1986 and rapidly grew to become the country’s largest tile producer and one of the top manufacturers in the world. A pioneer in the Egyptian tile industry, it has introduced major product innovations such as porcelain stoneware and slabs, all manufactured using Italian technology.
• Venux - Stn Group (Spain) for its brand new large format tile and slab factory in Nules which was opened this year.
• Tubądzin (Poland), for its recently concluded three-year investment programme involving the installation of advanced equipment in all major production departments.
• Portobello America (USA) for the ultra-modern factory in Baxter, Tennessee opened on 14 October 2023. This was the Brazilian ceramic group’s first foreign facility.
• Ceramica Alberdi (Argentina) for the new production facility equipped with state-of-the-art technology opened this year.
• The TecnAward 2024 for the Middle East region went to Saudi Ceramics (Saudi Arabia), while Guocera (Malaysia) won the award for Asia.

▶ "Innovation And Sustainability"

An award for companies that have adopted outstanding plant solutions capable of reducing the environmental impact of production processes by improving plant efficiency.

The award went to:

• Gemma - Al Ezz Group (Egypt), for its recent investments in design excellence and more sustainable materials and processes.
• Nuova Riwal Ceramiche - Gruppo Casalgrande Padana (Italy), which received the award for its new complete production line installed in the factory in Roteglia (Reggio Emilia), designed according to energy efficiency criteria.
• Florim USA (USA), a B-Corp since 2022 (like its Italian parent company), which received the award for its latest investments in the sustainable production of large-format tiles.
• Lamosa Group (South America), the world’s second largest tile manufacturer, which was recognised for the investments made in its factories in Argentina, Colombia and Peru and the Incepa facility in Brazil.
• RAK Ceramics (UAE), the world’s fourth-largest ceramic manufacturer, received its second TecnAward in recognition of its significant investments in technology. These efforts have enabled the company to excel in both product innovation and process efficiency, with a strong focus on digitalisation and reducing environmental impact.
• Simpolo (India), one of India’s top brands, which in addition to the work carried out in the last two years has also announced its next €100 million investment project to build two production facilities in northern and southern India.

The TecnAwards 2024 jury also awarded three Special Awards.  

▶"Partner Country Turkije - Best Company"

Launched to highlight the Turkish ceramic industry’s outstanding international position and its historically close ties with Italian technology suppliers. The awards were presented to three Turkish ceramic tile companies in recognition of their role as industry leaders:

• Kale Group, Turkey’s largest tile manufacturer since 1957 and a pioneer in the adoption of state-of-the-art Italian technologies. The group started up a new Kalesinterflex production line in 2023 and has announced two major investment projects in the large-size tile and slab segments to be completed between December 2024 and December 2025.
• NG Kütahya Seramik, one of the most important Turkish ceramic brands, started up a new 4.5 million sqm/year ceramic slab factory this year, bringing the group’s total production capacity to around 60 million sqm/year.
• Anatolia, the Canadian group led by the Elmaagacli family which has been distributing ceramic tiles and natural stone for about 30 years. This year, the company became a prominent new player in large-size tile production with the opening of a state-of-the-art factory in Izmir, one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world.

▶ "Best Product of The Year"

The award was presented by Italian ceramic design firms, which after examining the new products launched at Cersaie 2024 chose Ceramica Fondovalle as the winner for MyTop Stone Lab Nero Zimbabwe.

▶ "Made In Italy Champion"

A Special Award presented to Novabell Ceramiche Italiane and its Chairman Mario Roncaglia. The jury statement reads: “Novabell has evolved constantly over the years and represents the very best of Italian excellence in the ceramic sector. Thanks to its innovative approach to production processes and product aesthetics, Novabell has steadily improved its market position and made continuous progress in terms of external visibility and corporate welfare. This has allowed it to establish itself as one of the champions of Made in Italy and as an ambassador of Italian expertise.”