History of a small Catalan company, with a life of a hundred years, that has dedicated its main attention to innovation and to quality improvement.
1908: FOUNDATION
Agustí Badia i Badia founds in Mollerussa the initial company: a winery devoted to selling high quality vinegars and wines. Badia Vinagres sets off at the beginning of the XXth century, a moment when the society looks for new initiatives and is very confident with science applied to food production, in agriculture as well as in the food industry.
1940 – 1960: DIVERSIFICATION
The second generation, together with three of her sons, diversifies the business into the fabrication of alcohols, liquors, glass, lemonade and vermouth and they go on elaborating wines and vinegars.
1960 – 1970: SPECIALIZATION IN VINEGARS
First restructuring of the company as a consequence of the socioeconomic changes of the time. Some of the activities set off during the previous stage are suppressed and the activity focuses on what will be the future’s production: peculiar and high quality vinegars.
1985 – 1995: MODERNIZATION
The Schützenbach traditional acetification method, which allows aromas and flavours of a high subtlety, is recovered. At the same time, the bottling system is modernized and the tangential filtration system is incorporated to clarify vinegars. The conjunction of tradition and innovation allows Badia Vinagres to go ahead in obtaining vinegars with a distinctive character.
1997 – 2005: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The third and fourth generation, Agustí Badia father and son, set off the second restructuring of the company with a huge bet on R&D. The collaboration with the Oenology faculty of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) from Tarragona has been essential to develop the projects below:
- Formulation of new high quality vinegars (I): Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wine vinegars.
- Formulation of new high quality vinegars (II): Muscatel and vermouth wine vinegars.
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Research of new procedures of high quality wine vinegars elaboration. The application of these new procedures has allowed the entry into the vinegars market of a new generation: bittersweets of Merlot and Riesling.
Although this innovative products are the visible side of this investment on R&D during the last years, the company has also carried out improvements in the production process that have allowed the minimization of water and energy consumption and therefore the environmental impact has lessened remarkably.
2006: REORGANIZATION
The fifth generation comes into the company. Judit Badia, the first woman in the history of the organization, maintains the same business philosophy that has led them until now: new concepts and products development together with the University and the leading companies in the field.
