About Us

Always in your hands

Since 1874. We are a manufacturer of ceramic clays for industry, pottery and artistic ceramics, and natural modelling clays for crafts, fine arts and education.

Our target is to innovate, developing products with natural clays that, in their multiple applications, meet the needs of the most demanding users. In each of our products we use experience and passion, taking care of every detail from the conception of the product to the final manufacturing process.

The Quality System, certified according to ISO 9001:2015, is our framework for continuous improvement, and Social Responsibility and respect and care for the Environment are fundamental points in the philosophy of our firm.

Always in your hands, SIO-2® is your brand.

Our story

150 years making clay

The company Cerámica Collet S.A. commemorates the 150th anniversary of the beginning of its activity in 1874, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona). This story, that of Can Batllori-Cerámica Collet, has lasted to the present day after a century and a half manufacturing clay for ceramics.

The Batllori-Collet family comes from a long line of potters from Sants. In 1874, Mariano Batllori Juvert built a house, a kiln, and a pottery workshop in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, so that his son, Josep Batllori Munné, could continue the family tradition. However, Josep's premature death in 1895 left the pottery in the hands of his two daughters, still minors. The company was managed by a family council until 1917, when the eldest daughter, Francisca Batllori Saumell, took over the reins of the company.

During the first half of the 20th century, the artisan activity was strengthened by Calixto Collet Collet, Francisca's husband. With a solid artistic training, Calixto drove the company forward with an appreciated production of utilitarian and ornamental ceramics for construction and architecture, which were announced as “Especialitat en tubos de totes dimensions, fets a màquina. Cairons i Trenca-aigües vernissats de varis colors. Tubos patentats, marca “Ideal”, vernissats per dins i fora. Models en terra Cuita, per a la construcció de façanes de totes menes” (Specialty in tubes of all dimensions, made by machine. Tiles and water breakers varnished in various colours. Patented tubes, brand "Ideal", varnished inside and outside. Terracotta models for the construction of facades of all types) (L'Esguard magazine, 1929). “Can Batllori” ceramics became benchmarks in the sector.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out (1936), the company was collectivized. The businessmen were expelled under threats and the workers who were part of the control committees took charge of the activity. Later, the facilities were seized by the Generalitat to manufacture war ammunition. In 1938, the factory caught fire due to a large explosion, and it suffered further damage from the town bombings in 1939. At the end of the war, with the facilities completely destroyed, Calixto Collet obtained the financing needed to rebuild the factory and resume production. After a decade of great difficulties, Can Batllori was able to recover its competitive position in the context of the ceramic factories in the Barcelonès county.

In the 1950s, Rodolfo Collet Batllori, son of Calixto and a great innovator, assumed the leadership of the company and oriented manufacturing towards complementary products for construction, investing in production and logistics processes to meet the needs of Spanish “developmentalism” of the moment. The company was renamed “Cerámica Collet”. In 1965, due to the strong demographic pressure in the surroundings of Barcelona, the manufacture of clay was moved to a new plant in Esparreguera.

Facade of the house and entrance of the Can Batllori factory on the current Enric Prat de la Riba Street 76-82 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (1920s).

Clay preparation in settling ponds at the Can Batllori factory
in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (1920s).

Utilitarian and ornamental ceramics for construction
and architecture from Can Batllori.

Starting in the 1950s, the company oriented manufacturing
towards structural ceramic products.

In the 70s, coinciding with the crisis of ceramic materials for construction, Cerámica Collet's activity took a substantial turn towards the manufacture of ceramic clay bodies, becoming a supplier of quality raw materials for potters and small industries, which allowed them to abandon the artisanal production of clay and concentrate exclusively on their finished ceramics activity. The leadership passed to the brothers Rodolfo and Calixto Collet Ferrer, sons of Rodolfo Collet Batllori, who promote the Esparreguera factory and develop the red clay market in the Iberian Peninsula.

Yet the success of prepared clay did not stop only as a raw material for ceramics. The vision of the Collet brothers led them to invest in a packaging machine for 2 kg clay formats intended for crafts and education. In 1979, the “SIO-2” brand and the first catalogue was born, which had been published in 4 languages: Spanish, French, English and German. That same year, the public limited company Cerámica Collet S.A. was created.

The SIO-2 brand was also extended to ceramic clays and quickly became popular in the industrial and pottery sector of the country. The success of the product and the emergence of new needs led the Collet brothers to develop new formulas and product typologies, including grogged clays for ceramists and sculptors. In 1981, the last batch of ceramic pieces was produced at the L'Hospitalet factory, ending the production activity, and its facilities remained as the company’s offices and warehouse.

In 1984, the first export sales began and the “SIO-2 PLUS” self-hardening clay was presented to the market, which started to be promoted at European fairs. The great demand for both ceramic and modelling clays pushed Cerámica Collet to make big investments in the Esparreguera factory, and the SIO-2 brand also began to be known in Europe.

Aerial view of the Esparreguera factory (1990).

In 1979, the SIO-2 brand was born
and the first vacuum packaging for clay for crafts.

First SIO-2 catalogs of ceramic clay bodies
for export (80s).

The natural self-hardening clay SIO-2 PLUS is promoted at Spanish and foreign fairs (1992).

In the early 90s, overwhelmed by success and without offspring, the Collet brothers decided to look for external investors to grow and professionalize the company. In 1992, with the entry of new partners, the company gained new momentum. Under the direction of Jaume Casas and the support of Rodolfo and Calixto Collet, the mission of increasing exports was undertaken, beginning a new stage of investment in facilities and human resources. The company reaches the end of the millennium with growth and obtaining ISO 9001 certification for its quality system.

Nonetheless, market trends in the new millennium impacted the company's profits and, in 2002, the shareholders decided to grant the leading of the company to the management team, headed by Rafael Boixadera and Antonio Márquez, to adapt the commercial strategies and both human and material assets to the new needs and demands of the market. In 2003, the offices moved to Esparreguera and marketing and resource optimization strategies were intensified.

In 2005, the company decided to invest in the distribution of ceramic supplies, and so, it acquired a store in La Bisbal d’Empordà, which moved the following year to Vulpellac, under the “Àngela Colls” brand. In 2009 and 2010, new physical stores were opened in Esparreguera and Barcelona, and an online store. The goal was to energize and popularize artistic ceramics, taking advantage of the creative current of the moment.

Starting in 2015, the company experienced a strong growth thanks to the materialization of the efforts and strategies that were initiated years earlier, and, in 2016, the branch Collet Clays Corp. was created, which was dedicated to the import and distribution of SIO-2 ceramic clays in the United States.

Cerámica Collet S.A. reaches its 150th anniversary as a leader in the manufacture of ceramic clays and clays for modelling, with an export level of 70%, and sales in more than 50 countries on five continents. It is the story of a century-old company that has known how to adapt to the needs of the moment and reinvent itself when necessary to prevail from generation to generation. A company with resilience and solid values, which, above all, has succeeded in believing in people.