The Parma company Cavalieri & Amoretti, founded in 1959, has become one of the best known suppliers of luxury packaging, in particular for its skills in making cylindrical boxes. The company is active in all kinds of industrial paper engineering, with branches and production units in Europe and North Africa. Successful areas of business include perfumery, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, herbal products, food, jewellery, spirits, clothing, accessories and shoes.
Chairman Gian Luca Cavalieri says: ‘The company has gone through an organic development, and over the years it has joined forces with several local firms. Since the 1990s, we have specialised in the production of packaging for luxury goods, with special attention to round boxes.’
The production facilities at Mezzano Superiore in the Province of Parma were recently renovated; they now comprise three buildings that house the bulk of the company’s machinery. Design and research are also carried out at this site. Cavalieri says: ‘We support our clients during the early phases of product development, with advice concerning the choice of materials, technical solutions and samples.’
Paper, in all its variations, is the mainstay of the company’s products. Each box is made from board with a paper covering, so the stocks used vary from those that imitate fine fabrics to those chosen for their suitability for special finishing techniques. Consequently the materials used by Cavalieri & Amoretti undergo continuous research, and special attention is given to thin boards, FSC-certified papers and printing methods that are environmentally sustainable.
Cavalieri & Amoretti set up the first automated line to make round boxes, and in collaboration with the company Emmeci, they designed the MC 2008 ME CB machine for covering cylinders – a system that allows high production rates in an area that was previously entirely hand-operated. Production is mostly semi-automatic, with machinery that has been designed in-house, though the paper-covering and final decoration details are done by hand.
The perfumery and cosmetic markets have contributed largely to the company’s success, and these have also enabled a policy of constant renewal. Cavalieri & Amoretti now have long-standing commercial relationships with such leading brands as Acqua di Parma, Fendi and Guerlain.
Packaging for Acqua di Parma Collezione Barbiere is made up of cylindrical boxes plus a square-shaped box and a square case. This project was created by Think D-Sign in Milan and won a Fedrigoni Top Applications Award in 2010. Lines and surfaces are at the design’s heart, and the only graphic element is a company logo. The coffee-coloured Sirio Color 115 g/m2 paper contrasts brilliantly with the detailing.
Two packages for Perles de Lalique, in black and white versions, make use of Fedrigoni’s Sirio Black Black and Sirio Extra White. Both show a delicate motif that also appears on the perfume bottle itself, printed in relief on the lid after the box has been completed. The lettering on the sides of the box is thermo-printed.
Similar techniques were applied to a round box for the French cosmetic brand Patyka – another fine example of semi-automatic production that unites technology and hand-craftsmanship. Devised by the House of Gonzague, the circular box, inspired by Parisian hat boxes from the beginning of the 20th century, is covered in Ice White Sirio Pearl 120 g/m2. The decorations presented considerable technical difficulties: they were thermo-printed and embossed on the finished box. The complex fern motif, part of Patyka’s identity design, was printed on each box with a vintage hand press. The product won first prize in the 2011 Fedrigoni Top Applications Award for packaging.
In response to their clients’ needs, Cavalieri & Amoretti produce packaging in the smallest of quantities. The company’s care and attention to craft manufacture permits maximum flexibility in both production and timing.
Luxury packaging is an important element in the fine foods industry, with cases and boxes often produced in limited numbers. Cavalieri & Amoretti’s cylindrical boxes for the Tuscan chocolate-maker Amedei – designed by Studio Fulvio Ariani in contrasting colours – won a Fedrigoni award in 2009. The paper used for the lids is Freelife Merida in Burgundy, Cream, Kraft and Ochre 100 g/m2; that for the cylinders is Nettuno in Pompelmo 140 g/m2.
Among the more recent collaborations in the field of cosmetics are some round versions of packs for Chanel’s ‘Chance’ range, as well as cases for Dior and Carthusia. A 2013 series of elegant round cases by Priority Design for Acca Kappa beauty products is covered with several Fedrigoni papers. A cylinder made for Piper Heidsieck Champagne celebrates the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and has a lid that looks like a reel of film.