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In our NORMAPeople series, employees around the world talk about their day-to-day work, how they came to the company and what they appreciate most about their jobs.
Pasquale Terribile and Cosimo Iacopetta are the founders of Teco – an Italian irrigation products specialist for gardening, landscaping and agriculture, which has been part of NORMA Group since February 2024. In the interview, they talk to us about how they came to found Teco, the changes that a company experiences over the course of 20 years and their vision for the joint future.
Pasquale, Cosimo, can you tell us a little bit about your professional careers?
Pasquale: After my father’s death, with my diploma of Agricultural Technician, I decided to take over his business and started selling fertilizers and other agricultural products to local customers. After about five years, though, I recognized that it was becoming increasingly difficult to run the business, so I started looking for some alternative approaches.
At that point, I found a number of trade journals that highlighted the potential of irrigation technology compared to fertilizer sales. I started working as an irrigation installer, developing irrigation systems for small farmers. After three years in this job, a company offered me the opportunity to sell their irrigation products in 1984.
In 1988, I was given the opportunity to attend an international congress on micro-irrigation in Australia. It was there that I met Cosimo and we became friends. Later, the company Cosimo was working for at the time offered me the opportunity to distribute their products, first in Italy and later throughout Europe. I worked as a sales agent for the European market for over ten years until I finally reoriented myself.
Pasquale Terribile
Cosimo: I started my career as a toolmaker and worked in that business for 16 years. As the years went on, however, I felt the need to discover something new and decided to go back to university. I started my diploma in mechanical engineering and began working for the University of Adelaide in the mechanical engineering department before I finished my studies. During my studies, I developed a keen interest in computer-aided design and realized the potential of this field for the future.
After only four months, I received a request from my future employer and started working as a product designer in research and development – my introduction to irrigation. That was in 1988, the same year I met Pasquale.
How was Teco founded?
Cosimo: In the course of our friendship, we tossed around the idea of forming a team together and developing our own product range. At that time, however, I was still living in Australia.
Pasquale: We were and have always been a strong team. I had a good sense of where our products would be sold, while Cosimo had the expertise to make them.
“The market for micro-irrigation was developing and there was growing interest from distributors, contractors and professionals.”
So, in October 2003, Cosimo decided to move to Italy and in March of 2004 we founded Teco.
We decided to manufacture products for landscaping irrigation, because at that time this area was still a niche compared to agricultural irrigation.
Cosimo: We kicked things off in the first year with a small product range that consisted of three items. But winning customers as a new company is always difficult and the first ten years were extremely challenging.
Cosimo Iacopetta
How have you managed to expand your customer base over the years and differentiate your products from the competition?
Pasquale: At first, we focused on selling our products in Italy, because this was the market we were closest to. Later on, we expanded our sales activities to other European countries as well as to South East Asia and the US. About a decade ago, we founded Teco Inc. in California and set up a warehouse near Los Angeles to efficiently serve the US market. At the site here in Trani, we employ 11 people plus Cosimo and myself. Since our founding, we have outsourced a large part of our production – a strategy that has proved extremely successful since it has allowed us to grow and our suppliers as well.
“Our focus was not on simply copying products, but rather on developing better products. And that is exactly what we have done. Quality was and has always been our top priority.”
The customers who have been with us from the beginning are still our customers today, because we were able to convince them with the quality of our products and our service. We have a very strong focus on professional and reliable relationships with our customers and always strive to build long-term partnerships. The number of our customers has grown steadily over the years.
Cosimo: Our goal, as Pasquale pointed out earlier, was to develop high-quality irrigation products that were also competitively priced. The first few years were challenging and we had to make a lot of sacrifices to achieve our goals. But once our customers recognized the quality and service we could provide, Teco began to grow rapidly. Over time, we have developed our business. Until recently, Pasquale was the one who traveled from country to country to sell our products. Today, the customers come to us.
What was your biggest motivation for setting up your own company?
Pasquale: I firmly believed in the idea and saw a promising opportunity in the market that I was ready to seize.
Cosimo: Thanks to my professional background, I had extensive knowledge of irrigation products. I knew their weak points and recognized potential for improvements. This was the main motivation for me to set up my own company.
How has Teco changed over the course of the first five years until today?
Pasquale: When we founded our company, we started in the premises of my father’s former store. However, space was extremely limited and after a few years we expanded our capacity by taking over adjacent business premises. We then moved to a larger warehouse with 150 square meters – that was very big for us at the time.
“But we soon realized that even this space wasn’t big enough to keep up with the rapid growth our business.”
For this reason, we moved our company headquarters to the current warehouse in Trani, which has 900 square meters, about a decade ago. At that time, the space still seemed large, but it is gradually becoming too small again.
Although the majority of our products are manufactured by suppliers, we purchased an assembly machine for our site here in Trani approximately four years ago. This machine makes it possible for us to assemble high-volume products such as valves. We now have three of these machines, which facilitate automated assembly and quality control for each individual unit.
What products does Teco provide its customers with?
Pasquale: When we founded our company, we were familiar with the product range that was already in demand on the market. We therefore started with the products that we considered most important for landscape irrigation and that were experiencing the highest demand. Over the years, however, customer demand also changed and we invested in other products to meet their needs. Today, we offer a wide range of micro-irrigation products for landscaping and agriculture, including drip irrigation solutions, fittings, sprinklers and valves.
How do you see the shared future of NORMA Group and Teco?
Pasquale: The integration into NORMA Group has allowed our team to expand considerably. Each individual employee opens up new opportunities for us to acquire potential customers.
“Teco’s product range in the field of micro-irrigation perfectly complements NORMA Group’s existing range in the field of water.”
The synergy allows us to sell existing NORMA Group products to Teco customers as well as Teco products to NORMA Group customers.
From my sales experience with Teco products, I can train the new sales colleagues specifically with regard to our product range. At the same time, I benefit from their specialist knowledge of NORMA Group products. As a result, we can bring the products of both companies closer to our customers and increase sales in the long term. I am really looking forward to the future and am excited about the opportunities it will bring us.
Cosimo: At Teco, Pasquale was the sole sales representative from day one and has been developing the market pretty much on his own. I, on the other hand, have designed all our products. Now we have the opportunity to work with NORMA Group’s engineers and develop products together. At the same time, Teco’s products will complement NORMA Group’s existing product range.
With more than 30 years of experience in toolmaking and design, I can contribute extensive specialist knowledge. I have many product ideas and look forward to working with the NORMA Group team to develop further ideas.
“As part of NORMA Group, I am confident that we will be able to develop more competitive, high quality and innovative products in the future.”
These developments will enable us to continue to grow together. I firmly believe that we can achieve a lot together with our colleagues at NORMA Group and look forward to a successful future as part of the company.
