Kariba
Our story
1956
Aristide Cappelletti worked at Pirelli as a technical department assistant and in the evenings in his spare time designed plumbing systems for a small installation company. Struck by the rumor of "concealed cisterns," a novelty at the time, he began producing NAUTILUS and POLARIS cisterns, the latter with electromagnetic control, in a small workshop.
1959
Aristide Cappelletti founds C.B.M.
1960
C.B.M. presents the highly innovative NAUTILUS flush copper cistern at the Milan Trade Fair: it has a round shape versus traditional rectangular shapes. The new shape ensures a perfect seal, eliminating the problem of edge leaks.
The new cistern is a success and production in Bresso (Milan) jumps from 500 to 20,000 cassettes per month within a short time.
1961
The success of that first impact with the market was reconfirmed the following year with the presentation-again at the Milan trade fair-of Kariba, the first backpack box made entirely of plastic, since at the time the only existing external boxes were made of enameled sheet metal.
Construction work on the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River, one of the largest dams in the world, built by Italian companies gathered in the consortium had recently ended. I The headlines in all major newspapers read “Kariba: Italian work in the world”. Hence the idea of naming the new cisterns KARIBA, which is still in production today and boasts millions of pieces sold worldwide.
1969
CBM S.r.l., thanks to continued growth, became CIBIEMME PLAST SpA and moved production from Bressoto its new plant in Ortonovo, Liguria.
1975
ETERNA concealed cistern is launched on the market.
'80
Strong growth necessitated the construction of a larger, more technological production site: the company moved from Ortonovo to Senato di Lerici.
1988
The shares of CIBIEMME PLAST SpA are listed on the restricted market of the Milan Stock Exchange.
1990
KARESS, the first prototype cistern equipped with electronic touch control, designed specifically for hospitals, is presented.
1993
From a spinoff of CIBIEMME PLAST, Kariba S.p.A. was born. The legendary Kariba cistern presented in 1961 gives its name to the new company based in Senato di Lerici.
1994
Major relaunch of concealed cisterns. Monolith, a one-piece cistern made of polypropylene, covered by several international patents, is launched on the market.
1996
A fully automated floating valves production system, unique in the world, goes into operation at the Lerici plant.
1997
KARIBA DUO flush cisterns, equipped with a dual mechanism (partial and full flush) for water saving, are presented at the Batimat fair in Paris.
2000
TOP DUO cistern is presented at Expocomfort in Milan, and goes into production in September of the same year.
2001
New flush concealed cisterns and DUO control plate are presented at the Frankfurt International Fair.
2003
The new start/stop control plate and the concealed flush cistern with infrared control are presented at the Frankfurt fair.
2012
Kariba obtains the important international ISO 9001 quality system certification.
2014
SMARTIKA is launched on the market, the new mounting frame for wall-hung WC that can be installed with any type of wall (load-bearing walls, lightweight, plasterboard) by simply changing the installation kit.
2018
The new AUREA and FIDIA control plates are unveiled at the MCE exhibition in Milan.
2021
ITAKA control plate is launched on the market.
2022
EMOTIKA, the first integrated domotic flushing system, is presented at the MCE exhibition in Milan.
2023
Renewal of the machine park with a view to Industry 4.0: better performance and lower consumption.
Installation of photovoltaic panels in the Senato di Lerici plant.
