The History

VERONESE PRODUTOS QUÍMICOS has a history of over 100 years to tell.

It all started at the beginning of the last century with Luiz Veronese, son of Italian immigrants established in a place nowadays called Otávio Rocha, near Flores da Cunha, in Rio Grande do Sul.

Luiz, very curious and with an analytical and thorough mind, was very interested in chemistry from a very young age.

Domenica and Felice Veronese

His father, Felice, prospered as one of the largest wine producers in the region. According to the Italian tradition, he decided to build a large house in stone to be the residence of the family of 9 children and the winery attached to it. A house forever.

To do this, Felice needed to extract the necessary stones from a quarry on his property. He needed gunpowder. With the help of an old manual, Luiz managed to produce it successfully. This experience was decisive for his future. The gunpowder was of good quality and he started to market it, then he became involved in the production of fireworks, ordered for church parties and weddings.

Seeking to improve his products, he immersed himself in the studies of salts to obtain different colors for the fireworks. And he observed that in his father’s wine barrels there was a matter called wine tartar which adhered to the walls of the barrels and that, after being removed, was discarded as waste.

It was tartar salt with which it was possible to produce cream of tartar, used by the bakery, pasta and biscuit industry, one of the products that is still manufactured by VERONESE nowadays.

Without knowing it, Luiz already applied the concept of sustainability. He used waste to produce ingredients for human consumption.

Industrial process of the time

From left to right, the Veronese brothers: Luiz, Attilio and Henrique, and Antonieta, Luiz’s wife.

Domenica with her youngest granddaughter in a meeting of generations.

Contrary to his father’s will, who wanted his oldest son to continue the prosperous winery, with resources aided by his uncle, Luiz traveled to Italy. There he acquired machinery and laboratory materials in addition to a good number of chemistry treaties. On his return in 1911 he founded the chemical industry in Caxias do Sul, the main economic center of the region.

Thus began the production of cream of tartar and associated products such as tartaric acid and Rochelle Salt and others, the main raw material being the residues from the wine production process in the region.

After his death at the age of 67, he was succeeded by his youngest brother Attilio and currently the company is being run by Attilio’s son, Paulo Ernesto, thus giving continuity to the Veronese’s family legacy.

Yes, VERONESE PRODUTOS QUÍMICOS has over 100 years of history to tell. It is a centenary company, but aligned with the present and designed for the future.