CORPORATE PRESS RELEASE
Clementoni, an Italian story.
When growing up is a “beautiful game”
“Play is a serious matter. People should never stop playing,
especially when they grow up”
Mario Clementoni
Through the significant words of its founder, Mario Clementoni, the company describes the goal that has guided its activities for more than fifty years: to help children learn while having fun. Clementoni was founded to encourage children of all ages to play, setting itself the ambitious goal to support them in the delicate process of mental and physical development, through the language that they know best and is their natural form of expression, play.
The company was founded in Recanati in 1963 thanks to the brilliant intuition of its founder who decided to bring to Italy a previously unknown product, the board game. Throughout its history, Clementoni has strongly believed in specialisation in the market segment that has characterised its mission and development: educational games and, thanks to the creation of many toys that have become part of the collective memory of our country, Sapientino has over the years become a brand synonymous with education.
Clementoni is now a leading corporate institution which has seen turnover grow by 50% in just six years. Strongly oriented towards foreign markets and at the same time deeply rooted in its home country, it recorded a consolidated turnover of 174 million Euros, of which 55% was generated by exports (fiscal year April 2015 - March 2016). With 580 employees in Italy and more than 80 abroad, the Group currently has sales offices in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, Poland, UK, Turkey, Benelux and an operating subsidiary in Hong Kong.
Managed by the second generation of the family, the company sees all the children involved in pivotal roles: since 2002, Giovanni Clementoni has held the post of Group CEO, Stefano Clementoni deals with the Asian subsidiary, Pierpaolo Clementoni is involved in product development through the Advanced Research department, and Patrizia Clementoni manages the HR department. At the family’s side, in the formulation of the strategic plan that has enabled the company to achieve more than a decade of growth, there is a qualified group of managers led by Guido Vingiani, General Manager.
Firmly rooted in its country of origin, in terms of number of items, 80% of total production takes place in the factory in Recanati, which covers a surface area of over 42,000 square metres of which 9000 is dedicated to production and 33,000 is used as a warehouse. Thanks to unique know-how that places the company well ahead of the competition for paper and cardboard products, such as Sapientino games and puzzles, for several years the company has implemented a strong reshoring tactic that enabled it to "bring home" the numerous production processes previously outsourced abroad.
According to a clear-cut strategy, in recent years Clementoni has pursued continuous product innovation that has resulted in a wide and varied range of educational games, all created, designed and developed by the Research & Development team, consisting of more than 60 young researchers. The company holds firm beliefs in this approach, investing more than 3% of consolidated turnover in this activity.
The Clementoni catalogue now offers games for children aged 0 months to 12 years. Starting from early childhood, there are Baby Clementoni, Disney Baby and Clemmy, followed by games for pre-school and school-age children from the well-known brand Sapientino; a line of scientific toys from Science&Play, the ultra-modern Clempad tablets, made in Clementoni; creative toys from Crazy Chic; and not forgetting of course the “old classics”: the Recreational Activities and the famous Puzzles. An extensive range of games that have accompanied the growth of entire generations of children.