On a very cold Monday morning in February Chris and I set off at 5am for a long drive to Derby to meet up with our retail partners Robeys in preparation for our trip to Italy.  The trip had been organised by Piazzetta one of our well respected manufacturers whose stoves Low Carbon have been supplying to customers for many years.

After a good breakfast for sustenance and a nice hot northern cup of tea we set off to the airport with dreams of copious amounts of spaghetti and pizza and hot afternoons lazing about in the Italian sun.  Unfortunately as with all work related jaunts, although the food didn’t disappoint we were in for a very informative and eye opening couple of days, no lazing around for us.

Piazzetta Showroom

Piazzetta Factory Entrance

After arriving in the beautiful hilltop ‘City’ of Asolo just north of Venice we settled in to our small but comfortable character filled hotel and prepared ourselves for the coming day.  The following morning, once satisfied with a simple breakfast hosted by what can only be described as your typical ‘Italian Mamma’ and a very brisk walk to the fort at the top of the hill in the early morning sun, we set off to the factory.  Greeted by Lucio Turchet, (Export Manager) we were shown around the Piazzetta showroom and guided through the history of this 50 year old company.  Piazzetta supply wood burning and pellet stoves which come as inset or freestanding models, with boiler options available.  They started out as a family run business and have grown in size.  The father of the company still lives to this day in a house situated right next door to the factory on the original site where it all began.

Hand finishing the clay ready for firing

One of the most impressive features of the Piazzetta and Superior ranges is the Ceramics that are fixed to the sides of the steel frame stoves forming the casing, giving them a real Italian appearance and to the touch, undeniable quality. Piazzetta make all their own ceramics at the factory from the moulding to finishing and packaging, we were lucky enough to see this first hand on the tour.  Their range of 34 colours makes these stoves unique and with many of the processes still carried out by hand anyone investing in a Piazzetta product could not fail to be impressed by the end results.  Following on to the testing lab was interesting to say the least. Some stoves were looking like they had seen far better days, but this just illustrated how consistent they are with their testing.  Piazzetta are recognised throughout Europe for their high testing standards and they go to some great lengths to achieve accurate results.

Preparing the soapstone

Lunch was one of surprise. With three courses we were baffled as to how the Italians stay awake during the afternoons!  The classroom beckoned and the later session was one of theory and processes with our opportunity to suggest what we felt would be a successful addition to the UK market.

Day 1 complete at 6pm we headed back to the hotel and onwards for dinner.  Another feast of delights, some of which you would never see across a table in England!  With our host Lucio heading up the table, everything was under control and well communicated. It’s always useful having an Italian with you in Italy, especially for those of us with limited vocabulary.  With the prospect of another fact filled day ahead we headed to bed.  For some not a great prospect as it appears the Italians like their mattresses very firm, for me slumber came quickly and on Wednesday we woke to a very wet almost British like day. 

With breakfast complete we were all raring to go and today we were set to learn all there is to know about Pellet Stoves. With the technical programming abilities that these stoves have there was a substantial amount to take on board.  As with everything once you know what you’re doing with it, it’s simple and with the technical guys from Piazzetta at the helm they breezed through it with relative ease.  Frantic page flicking and note taking resulted in most feeling fairly comfortable in taking these products home and installing them in people’s homes.  Low Carbon is aiming to gain it’s MCS accreditation for Biomass this year and therefore both Chris and I were very excited of the avenues this will open up for us as a business.

'Line' Piazzetta's new pellet stove

Lunch on day two, yes you’ve guessed it, three courses and the offer of wine!  Chris and I politely declined, with the prospect of yet more technical training in the afternoon session we decided it was wise to keep a clear head and thank goodness we did.  The technical aspect of the training had done it’s distance with me and I took the opportunity to have some dedicated time with Lucio who answered some of my (excuse the pun) burning questions on the standard wood burning stoves and their features. Chris pretty much buried himself in the data book for the Pellet Stoves.  When I came to find him at the end of the session he had his head in a stove examining the workings!

At 5.30 we were all done, heads full of new and useful information and feeling like we’d used up our brain capacity for the day.  With dinner looming we headed back to the hotel. When flying with Ryanair one doesn’t get to take a vast array of outfit options so we all sported our tidiest pair of jeans and jumped on the mini bus for a last night of over eating!  It was time to let our hair down and enjoy a glass of the local Prosecco followed by a Grappa or two, then back to a local bar for a night cap.

Thursday we headed home.  We had been well and truly looked after and blinded with brilliance.  The showroom was spotless, the factory immaculate, the professionalism and pride shone from everyone we came in to contact with and our confidence in this brand had grown beyond doubt.  On returning to good old blighty, as well as being grateful to get back to one course at dinner and a soft bed we were brimming with enthusiasm and looking forward to talking to some of our new customers about the possibilities these stoves can offer.  Piazzetta really do know what they’re doing!

Written by Caroline Southard