The Irritec Group, founded in Sicily in 1974, is one of the world leaders in smart irrigation. Irritec’s mission is to improve the efficiency of irrigation in agriculture and gardening, thus reducing the environmental impact. Water scarcity and an increase in food requirements have boosted the use of drip irrigation `world-wide, with Irritec being a global point of reference. Irritec designs, manufactures and distributes products and complete systems for the irrigation of crops grown in the open field or greenhouses
and for the landscape sector. With 11 factories and more than 700 employees, Irritec has production and sales offices in Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, United States, Algeria, Germany and Chile.
Carmelo Giuffrè was born in Capo d’Orlando on 5th March 1948. After finishing primary school, he attended firstly the secondary school in Messina and then Capo d’Orlando, obtaining the Italian Geometra (Surveying) secondary school diploma in 1969. He married Vincenza Giuffrè in 1973, with whom he had two children, Mauro, born in 1975 and Giulia, born in 1979.
In the early 70s, while helping out his father in his family glassworks business, Mr. Carmelo Giuffrè began his career as a businessman with the assistance of his father, Rosario, who bought some machines for the extrusion of plastic window frames, thus founding the firm GIPLAST.
The company was based in Capo d’Orlando. From that very moment, Mr. Carmelo Giuffrè started to become interested in plastics, studying them in great detail and becoming a real expert.
This was the decisive turning-point for the Giuffrè family.
In spite of the success achieved with the manufacturing of window blinds, Mr. Carmelo Giuffrè had the instinct that the production of irrigation pipes could represent a significant step forward and in the right direction to help the business prosper.
In 1974, the company SIPLAST was founded. Based in Capo d’Orlando, it was the first factory actually dedicated to the production of irrigation pipes. Just 5 years later, in 1979, IRRITEC was founded, a company that made pipe fittings. The study and research undertaken by Mr. Giuffrè resulted in some very important patents being registered for Siplast and Irritec.
Both companies achieved instant success. Siplast broadened its activities with the production of a highly innovative micro-irrigation system designed to save water: drip lines, a revolution in the field of irrigation. Orders were subsequently received from all over the world.
The global development process began in 1997, with the setting-up of a plant in Seville, Spain, known as “Siberline S.A.” and now renamed “Irritec Iberia”. Mr. Guillermo O’Shanahan has been managing Irritec Iberia since he and Mr. Jeronimo Sanchez Pando first founded the company.
Carmelo Giuffrè realized that it was essential to go even further in order to develop and remain competitive in the long term.
After Spain, in 1999 he entered the US market with a joint-venture in California for the production and distribution of micro-irrigation solutions. He founded Irritec USA, with Mr. Mike Glassberg at the helm. Irritec USA is now managed by Mr. Mitch Martin.
In 2000 he founded Siberline Mexico S.A. de CV, which is still currently the production plant for Central America. The company was then managed by Jeronimo Sanchez. Irritec Mexico (currently known as Siberline Mexico) is now managed by Mr. Luis Rodriguez. In 2007, he founded a subsidiary company in Algeria (Dripglobe Algeria), managed by Mr. Khelil Soufli and in 2012 a production plant in Brazil, Irritec do Brasil, whose manager was Mr. Uri Goldstein. Irritec do Brasil is now led by Mr. Luiz Carlos Fernandes.
In 2013, Irritec Deutschland was created in Neu-Ulm, and it is currently managed by Mr. Benjamin Zahn.
Irritec Chile was founded in March 2017, located in Huechuraba industrial area, in Santiago, and it is now managed by Mr. Daniel Buezas.
Since 1990 the company has focused on the development and improvement of “drip” irrigation systems, which still represent the core business of Irritec S.p.A. (formed on 1st November 2012 through the merger of Irritec s.r.l. and Siplast S.p.A.).
Nowadays, Irritec S.p.A. is completely managed by the Giuffrè family, the main shareholders being Carmelo Giuffrè, his sister Lucia, his son Mauro and his daughter Giulia. Carmelo Giuffrè is currently the Group’s CEO, his daughter Giulia is the Group’s Marketing Manager and his son Mauro is head of Communications and Logistics. Philippe Lejeune is the new Sales Director.
The Irritec group is a world leader in the production and distribution of irrigation systems. For over 40 years, the Sicilian company has been concentrating its efforts on the field of irrigation, investing heavily in the research and development of products that are made in Italy in accordance with the company’s objectives, which are aimed at simplifying work and optimizing the use of every single drop of water.
Irritec products follow the strategy of a circular economy by using low impact plastics with the same performance.
The most important product patented by Irritec as a result of the commitment of the company’s R & D team, the eXXtreme Tape™.
With 11 factories throughout the world, Irritec is one of the world’s top 4 players.
Irritec now employees 700 people worldwide and its products are distributed in more than 100 countries. The company has received numerous awards for its level of organization and business activities.
As part of its commitment towards eco-sustainability, the company launched the Green Fields project, which encourages farmers to dispose of plastic products properly after use, thus giving them a second life. This initiative shows that Irritec is fully committed to the circular economy. Innovation and sustainability have brought numerous international awards to a company that targets the farmers, distributors and retailers, while always aiming to achieve maximum results and conscious of preserving the planet's most precious asset: water.