Rock (sanitary)
Introduction
Roca Corporación Empresarial is the parent company of a group of companies dedicated to the design, production and marketing of products for bathroom spaces. Roca has its headquarters in Barcelona (Spain) and is present in more than 170 markets.[3] It has 79 production centers in 18 countries and directly employs more than 20,000 people.[4].
Roca is a Spanish company with family capital that since 1999 has carried out international expansion based on both the acquisition and the creation of companies and the installation of production plants in various countries. In 2023, Roca reached a turnover of 2,057 million euros.[2].
History
Roca was founded in Gavá (Barcelona) in 1917 by the brothers Martín, Matías, José and Angela Roca Soler as Compañía Roca Radiadores.[5] The company was exclusively dedicated to the manufacture of cast iron radiators for heating. The rapid penetration of new products in the market and a determined desire for expansion led to the expansion of business areas with the intention of diversifying its business activities.
In 1925 the first cast iron boilers were manufactured and in 1929 the production of cast iron bathtubs began. In 1936 Roca entered the production of sanitary porcelain. In 1954 it also began to manufacture taps. A second porcelain factory was inaugurated in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) in 1962.
Later, in 1968, the third porcelain factory was launched, in Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville), (now closed)
, and in 1974 the steel bathtub factory was inaugurated. The company Cerámicas del Foix, which became a subsidiary, was the beginning of the current ceramics business area.
During the 90s, commercial subsidiaries were opened, agreements were consolidated with leading companies in their markets and acquisitions and corporate operations were carried out, such as the purchase of the Swiss company Keramik Laufen&action=edit&redlink=1 "Laufen (Unternehmen) (not yet written)") in 1999.[6] At the beginning of 2002, a restructuring process began to organize the different business areas into independent companies and Roca Corporación Empresarial S.A. is established.
In 2005, the heating and air conditioning businesses were sold with the aim of concentrating all efforts in the bathroom space sector.
In 2019, In-wash smart toilets are launched, toilets with a washing and drying function, which incorporates the advances of Japanese washlet toilets.