Elica celebrates 20 years in Mexico: A story told through art

In Querétaro, the Group's manufacturing hub serving North America and Latin America, Mexican designer Fernando Sarvide was invited by the Fondazione Ermanno Casoli to create an installation inspired by Día de Muertos and curated by Marcello Smarrelli

QUERÉTARO, Mexico, Nov. 11, 2026 — Twenty years of growth in Mexico, told through the language that has always accompanied Elica's history: art. Elica celebrates the anniversary of its Querétaro production site, a strategic industrial hub serving the markets of Latin America and North America. 

With 32,000 square meters of floor space and an annual production capacity of approximately 800,000 units, the Mexican hub represents a key asset for business development across the Americas, both for Elica-branded products and for OEM customers. Its presence reflects Elica's ability and commitment to understanding the needs and culture of each region.

The celebration marking ElicaMex's 20th anniversary was attended by Chairman Francesco Casoli, CEO Luca Barboni and Marcello Smarrelli, Artistic Director of the Fondazione Ermanno Casoli in the presence of Mauricio Kuri González, Governor of Querétaro; Felipe Fernando Macías Olvera, Mayor of Querétaro; and the State Secretaries for Labor and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Querétaro.

The highlight of the day was "Viento y Memoria" (Wind and Memory), an installation created by Mexican designer Fernando Sarvide and inspired by Día de Muertos, one of the country's most important and widely observed celebrations.

"I still remember the day we laid the foundation stone of this production site. Seeing it grow and change over the past twenty years is a source of great pride for me. Italy and Mexico have so much in common. We have developed a truly positive relationship: many people from Mexico have come to work in Italy, and just as many from Italy have gone to Mexico. I believe this is the future of successful companies: bringing cultures together to take on new challenges. Today, we are laying another stone for the future," said Francesco Casoli, Chairman of Elica.

This forward-looking vision is reflected in the Group's strategy for the Americas.

"For Elica, being close to our markets means investing in strategic regions and strengthening our direct presence, so that we can respond to local needs with greater agility and responsibility. In Mexico, this approach translates into developing expertise that enables us to combine industrial efficiency with design excellence. In North America, we have strengthened our direct presence in distribution through the acquisition of AG in Canada and the establishment of SEA International on the East Coast of the United States. With this celebration, we want to thank the entire team for helping us grow over the past 20 years in the Americas," commented Luca Barboni, CEO of Elica.

To celebrate this milestone, Elica chose one of the country's most deeply rooted traditions: Día de Muertos, a celebration of profound cultural and social value that uses music, color and joy to confront the theme of death by celebrating it as part of life. On this day, families come together to symbolically welcome the souls of their departed loved ones.

For the occasion, the FEC (Ermanno Casoli Foundation), established to promote dialogue between art and business, invited Mexican designer Fernando Sarvide to create an installation conceived as a symbolic space for displaying photographs of loved ones: an altar that traces a symbolic journey through life, loss and remembrance. At its base, a carpet of sawdust and seeds continues this symbolic journey, while marigolds, candles, terracotta objects and offerings help create a welcoming space rich in meaning.

Created within the production site, the project is part of FEC for Factories, an original approach developed by the Ermanno Casoli Foundation to bring contemporary art into the heart of manufacturing environments, encouraging creativity and the development of new languages, production processes and communication systems.

The project was designed to give equal weight to two central elements: the celebration of Elica's 20th anniversary in the Americas and the tradition of Día de Muertos.

"Fernando Sarvide's work explores memory from two complementary perspectives: that of those who are no longer with us, and the history of Elica – what it was, how it has evolved and all the people who have shaped the brand from the past to the present. It tells the story of Elica's origins while also looking ahead to its future," said Marcello Smarrelli, Artistic Director of the Fondazione Ermanno Casoli.

As part of "Viento y Memoria," Elica employees were invited to write names, messages and dedications on paper butterflies in memory of their loved ones. These butterflies become part of the path leading to the altar, transforming individual memories into a collective gesture. Through their participation, the installation becomes a shared experience rather than simply something to observe. Each contribution strengthens the bond between memory, tradition and a sense of belonging. In this way, Día de Muertos continues to live on through remembrance and participation. The installation thus becomes a space where personal stories intertwine, giving rise to a shared sense of belonging.

As was the case during the 10th-anniversary celebration, the event concluded with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the façade of the production site: a tangible sign of a story that is still unfolding, as Elica looks ahead to the next chapter of its journey in Mexico.

Elica, Italian company standing at the forefront of cooking appliance production and design, a leader in kitchen extraction systems with over 50 years of history. European major player in the production of electric motors for household appliances and heating boilers . Around 2500 staff employed in its Fabriano headquarters and in its seven production sites in Italy, Poland, Mexico and China: these are Elica's figures, successfully achieved under the constant guidance of the company President Francesco Casoli. Results driven by corporate values that have always inspired every single project, product and activity: design that meets aesthetics and performance for an extraordinary cooking experience, art destined as a model for creative processes and working methods, and innovation to support technological solutions capable of enhancing product functionality.

The Fondazione Ermanno Casoli (FEC), established in 2007 in memory of Ermanno Casoli (Fabriano, 1928–1978), founder of Elica – an Italian company and global leader in kitchen extraction systems, and the FEC's main supporter – promotes initiatives in which contemporary art serves as an educational and methodological tool, helping to improve workplaces and spark innovative processes. A pioneer in exploring the potential of dialogue between art and business, the FEC has established itself in Italy as a cutting-edge model in the area of corporate training through contemporary art, offering increasingly structured and specialized activities involving internationally renowned artists, who help bring these two worlds together while respecting their respective objectives. This method was explored in the publication "Innovare l'impresa con l'arte. Il metodo della Fondazione Ermanno Casoli," published by Egea in 2018 and released in English in 2021 under the title "Innovating business with art. The Fondazione Ermanno Casoli Method." www.fondazionecasoli.org

SOURCE Elica