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Connecting the city with the country and the world is the new International Fair of Lisbon which will bring renewed excitement to the upcoming Ceramex 2000, to be held February 12-15, 2000. The new fairgrounds, located on the bank of the Tejo River in the urban district of Lisbon, offers a range of exhibitor and visitor services superior to the old venue. A major benefit of the new site is its location. Subways, trains (suburban, national, and international), buses, taxis, and the international airport of Lisbon are just minutes away, making the new fair venue accessible for exhibitors and visitors alike. In addition to the improved access to and from the fair, the new location also permits a defined segmenting of industry sectors. This will optimize time and simplify the show from the buyer's perspective. The fairgrounds includes four halls, each 10,000-square-meters in size. The objective of the show organizers is to have all major Portuguese manufacturers exhibit during the fair. In 2004, construction on a fifth pavilion will commence, further broadening the fair's reach.

The primary goal of the fair is to increase representation of national producers as well as the number and quality of foreign visitors. Finding new markets in which to promote Portuguese national products is an additional goal of the show.

Ceramex 2000 showcases the ceramic, porcelain, terracotta, glass, crystal, pewter, steel, silver, silver plated, kitchenware, tableware, and home textiles industries in Portugal. The show will give retail buyers an opportunity to view the latest collections from Portuguese manufacturers who are using modern technologies to produce their innovative goods, but who still retain a strong connection to traditions which reach back hundreds of years.

First-Class Glass

The Leira pine forest sets the stage for the glassmaking industry. Planted in the 15th century, the forest formerly served as timber for building war ships, but in 1769 the Royal Glass Factory was built and everything changed. The area called Marinha Grande was chosen for the factory site because the firewood from the forest, and the sand from the nearby shorelines, offered the raw materials required for the making of glass and crystal. Now considered the glass capital of Portugal, Marinha Grande is home to a variety of glassware companies representing 99 percent of the Portuguese glassware production centered in the glass region. Among those located here is Atlantis, a national leader in the crystal sector, which exports to more than 30 countries. Constantly investing resources in design and modern shapes, the skill of the workers is essential to the company's success. The precise nature of glass blowers, their skill and accuracy in blowing and cutting is required to transform a ball of fire into a delicate glass item.

Proficiency in producing glassware mainly for the decoration and gift markets is also the aim at Marividros. Here the skill of the workers is supplemented with a bit of mechanization utilized in the molding process with spectacular results. Constantly releasing a new family of goods to the market is challenging, but those at Marividros believe it is important to enable them to have a seasonal presence in the market. While the majority of the goods are produced for decoration, the usefulness of each piece is quickly evident.

Striving to provide its customers with exclusivity in product, Damaso specializes in large glassware pieces and tiles. Producing blown handmade, pressed, centrifuged, and semi-automatic glassware, the factory creates nearly 40 tons of product each day. In the past 10 years the company has made significant investments into upgrading the factory, not only to expand the product range but to improve production. Always seeking innovation and modern designs, the factory also serves as the main school for glassmaking in the area.

Forms From the Earth

Decorated ceramics factories are scattered throughout most of Portugal, with each different region claiming its own distinctive style. Located north of Lisbon is Caldas da Rainha, which translates to "The Queen's Bath," a city which owes its prosperity to thermal cures, fruit farming, and ceramics. Typical of the area is the cabbage ware and other look-alike vegetables, fish, and fruit ceramic forms fashioned from earthenware. The styles are reminiscent of the designs of one of Portugal's most famed ceramic artists, Rafael Augusto Bordalo Pinheiro, who operated a ceramic factory in the city. Here, old-time handcrafted Portuguese techniques are apparent, and the traditional cabbage collection, which is the company's most popular, is supplemented by three or four new collections each year.

Typical of Portugal, hand-painted earthenware ceramics can also be found at Faria & Bento. Marketing the "lifestyle" concept, the casual dinnerware produced here utilizes decoration and useful design to create products that can be used everyday or on special occasions with guests. With a strategy to provide customers high-quality products, a wide and deep assortment, and good service, the company has found a stronghold in markets outside Portugal, including the U.S.

Real Ceramica, located near Cuimbra, specializes in hand-painted ceramics in several ranges including tabletop accessories, pots and vases, and traditional reproductions of Cuimbra painted pottery. Creating the look of old-time hand-made Portuguese ceramics, the contrast between the hand-crafted techniques and the modern shapes give this company's creations a special appeal. Main export markets include France and the U.S., and the company produces more than 300 different decorations each year in order to keep up with changing consumer trends and tastes.

Successfully producing oven-to-table stoneware for almost 30 years has enabled Gresval to export nearly all of its production. The production capacity of nearly 12,000 tons a year translates into 6.4 million items. Gresval's plan is to grow the company's own trademark in order to better service customers. To accomplish this, the company is opening sales offices in a number of key markets, with the first opening in Atlanta in 1999, to be followed by Madrid and Luxembourg in 2000.

With an objective to render each moment of life a unique event, the porcelain made at the Porcel factory melds shape, size, and color with the refined quality of Limoges raw materials. Here in Oliveira do Bairro, both whiteware and decorative porcelain are manufactured with a Limoges body to attain delicate white and translucent pieces which have peculiar details. The production is dedicated to special products, not necessarily massive quantities. And, as with many of the country's ceramic and porcelain facilities, Porcel is working towards ISO 14,000 certification which ensures the emissions from the production of the porcelain into the environment and within the factory are clean.

A Total Kitchen Resource

The cutlery and cookware sector is the most important sub-sector of the metal mechanical industries in the country. Technical knowledge and meticulous care are necessary to create designs to round out the tabletop setting. Cutipol presents a diversified range of kitchen cutlery, including traditional and modern designs in which attention to detail reigns. Modern machinery may be used for much of the initial work in creating the flatware lines, but traditional craftsmanship plays an essential role as the final shape is refined by the careful craftsmanship of the workers. It is this final detail that is most important, and to complete the beautiful shape and finish, it must be done by hand.

ICEL was founded in 1945 mainly to produce pocket knives. As the company grew, its range expanded to include household and professional knives, spatulas, and forks and cleavers. Combining design, craftsmanship, select raw materials, and technology, ICEL has become a leader in Portugal. The knife blades are made of the best European high-carbon cutlery steel, precisely tempered to allow the blade edge to be maintained for a longer period of time and facilitate easier re-sharpening.

"No Cake, No Party!" is the tagline for A Metalurgica, a bakeware company established in 1896 on the outskirts of Porto. Diversity of bakeware forms and design are what characterize this company, and when coupled with high quality and reasonable price points, it's no wonder the company has grown to produce five million pieces a year. Flexibility is another plus for the company which produces tin steel and black or gray non-stick molds. The molds can also be colored outside allowing the mold to be used as a kitchen decoration.

Silampos introduced the pressure cooker to Portugal in the 1960s. The company started in 1951 with the production of aluminum cookware. Later Silampos produced stainless steel cookware which now incorporates the Impact Disc, a new base whereby an aluminum diffusing disc is heated close to its melting point and then firmly adhered between the bottom of the pan and its stainless steel protective layer, integrating them together under great pressure. The base provides both economy of time and energy. In addition to producing high-quality products, Silampos places great importance on the design of its cookware.

Ready For the World

Perpetuating the art of ceramics, metalworking, and glassblowing, companies in Portugal utilize the most advanced manufacturing processes, coupled with the artisanal touch of hand-made products to create a world of export-quality designs.