Born from the desire to provide solutions suitable for our tender four-legged friends, during our long collaboration Cucciolotta has decided to extend the innovation of its products to the farm animal sector as well, presenting itself to its customers with two different web platforms that fully express this duality while managing to maintain a single corporate image.
Cucciolotta, for which we manage the social media page, web infrastructure and Seo Positioning, is one of Viva Digital's success stories , which even led us to recently open a second website entirely dedicated to the sale of products for farmyard animals, given the exponential growth that has occurred in recent years of the project together.
How was Cucciolotta born and what does it do?
We are Salvatore and Francesco Polito, and our company produces HPL products . The idea was born from the need to make a dog house for ourselves, for our home. A dog house that wouldn't get ruined or absorb odors, which is very common with wooden dog houses due to the material they're made from. We had this HPL at home that we used to process for pharmaceutical companies, so I decided to build the first dog house, and this material proved to be truly excellent.
You noticed a problem, you assumed that it could also be a problem for others and then you tried to solve it, thus creating your first prototype.
Exactly, I had bought several kennels but the dogs destroyed them or in any case needed constant maintenance. I painted them, put the nails back on, but in the end they always came apart. At this point the only solution was to try to build a home made kennel and having some material available I tried. The results were really great, so my friends started asking me to build one for their pets too and so it all started. Then other products were born from the kennel, such as chicken coops.
So in addition to the kennels, do you also have other products? How were they born?
The material we use is very special. It is also used in furniture, to make kitchens or in spas to build bathroom doors or cabinets, because it is a material that does not really absorb moisture and consequently does not deteriorate.
Seeing the results, we expanded our product range to meet customer needs. So, starting with a single kennel model, we developed other models, such as indoor kennels, nurseries (whelping crates for dogs and cats), bowl stands, and many others.
Then we moved on to another world because we thought that material could solve other problems as well. We focused on another animal category : poultry. We attempted to design a chicken coop, following the example of the kennel, and we found that the material's qualities were perfect for these animals' needs as well. In this case, too, we solved a major problem farmers faced, because chicken coops are usually made of wood, which offers good thermal insulation but presents a host of problems, such as mites that can infiltrate through the cracks. This mite problem is the main problem for farmers, as the mites attack the coop and consequently the animal, in some cases even causing its death. Naturally, pet owners are very sensitive to this issue.
Did this solve the problem?
Thanks to this material, HPL laminate , we have not only solved the dust mite problem, but also met other needs. Our designs are designed for easy shipping, quick assembly and disassembly (with the interlocking panel system), easy opening, and simple cleaning. Furthermore, they are easy to move, as the products can be easily assembled and disassembled. Our product has many advantages: it is high-quality, sturdy, and resistant to direct weather, it does not warp, and it is not affected by humidity. Furthermore, it requires almost no maintenance. It is perfect for both pets and farm animals.
Is the durability guaranteed by your company?
We offer a 5-year warranty on the product , although our first prototypes were actually 10-12 years old. We still have them, and they haven't had any problems, so we offer a 5-year warranty, but if the product is well cared for, it will last much longer.
If a customer decides to buy a wooden chicken coop, how long would it last?
There are very thick and thinner chicken coops, both made of wood. However, from what we've found, even the highest quality ones can deteriorate after six months due to odors, or because they can't be washed, or because of violent storms. The quality of the materials is unmatched by the ones we use. We can say we've created a new category, a revolutionary product. The downside is the prices, because it's obviously an expensive material, much more so than wood, but the quality-price ratio we offer is unmatched . If we spread the cost of the product over its much longer lifespan, we're making a profit. Furthermore, the animals' health is the primary benefit, as they live in a cleaner and more disinfected environment.
Here is an example of an anti-mite chicken coop produced by Cucciolotta:
What is your flagship product currently?
Garden chicken coops are certainly working very well, especially throughout Europe, where home-raising has been a practice for many years, perhaps even longer than in Italy. They've already experienced the problems with the materials used: metal is more durable, but it rusts over time, and our coop is proving very popular throughout Europe. Over the past two years, in particular, we've exported a lot. Those who try our product never go back. The initial approach isn't easy because it's more expensive, but those who have tried it continue to buy it again or recommend it to friends. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive.
What is your strong point? What distinguishes and identifies you?
In our staff there is an architect who takes care of the development of the projects, and the most important thing for us is that the products must be functional for those who use them daily, it is not just the material but a set of things that we try to perfect . It must be within everyone's reach so that even one person can mount, clean or move it.
Animal health is another important point for us and their safety. There are many predators that attack chickens such as foxes, wolves, etc. so our chicken coop is also safe from that point of view. In the last two years we have added a new door with bayonet coupling that once closed cannot be opened from the outside unless a man intervenes.
We have been working on this project for many years trying not to leave out anything, and we always try to improve it, as the best companies do.
What sets us apart is that we design, produce, package, and market everything ourselves . Furthermore, having had previous experience in processing the material, we know how to do it.
Are we talking about that famous Made in Italy that is tempting to international markets?
Oh yes, our architect is the key to everything, when he assembles a chicken coop or a dog chair it is a spectacular thing, enjoy when he assembles a product because you say "but how did we make it"? Before putting a product on the market, we make many prototypes, many we fix or redo them. It is not easy to create a functional product suitable for everyone.
Who is your typical customer? Both for chicken coops and kennels
They are customers who have already bought products with which they were not satisfied and are looking for something that goes further. This is why they come across our products. They are looking for design (our products have a quite attractive design) and quality. All the features are expressed through our site and capture people's attention precisely because this material offers many guarantees. Our customers are Italian, but in the last two years trade with many other European countries has developed a lot.
Based on the feedback you have received from your customers, what is the first benefit you would mention? What do you hear most often? And what makes your heart warm?
The ease of assembly . Everyone says, "I didn't think it would be this easy to assemble," but also the sense of sturdiness. When you buy a low-quality product, the pictures can be misleading, and when you assemble it, you immediately notice how fragile it is. Customers immediately notice this: the product is very sturdy and durable. Our chicken coops range from 40 to 100 kg, so compared to plastic products, the difference is noticeable.
Since we work extensively abroad, another positive aspect is the product packaging . The chicken coop is heavy and must be transported on a pallet and wrapped in cardboard and internal packaging to protect it during transport. We've worked hard here, and our customers appreciate it.
Let's change the subject and talk a little about your company. How are you organized? Where are you? What company is it?
The company is located in the province of Turin, in Giaveno (Piedmont). We are still a small-scale artisanal business, employing 10 people in total and organized to handle the entire production process. The raw materials arrive from suppliers and we transform them using CNC machinery, some of which are quite large, and we employ specialized workers to operate the machinery and perform other manual tasks. The product is highly artisanal , so some parts are actually worked by hand, especially the small details.
Can we say that it is a complete company, where there are administrative offices, design, the workshop, the warehouse, all in one structure?
Yes, we have a shed dedicated to production and we have another shed dedicated to the warehouse, where there are both the raw materials stored and the semi-finished products and where there is staff in charge of packing and shipping the orders that are sent daily.
We have a fully equipped workshop, from lasers that can mark and cut, from pantographs that work the HPL sheet in one go, then we have the quadriconia UV printer to make the plates. We do everything ourselves, we do not depend on others.
In what year was the company founded?
IT Design was founded at the beginning of 2016 even if we inherited the products from another company that had been working since 2011 so in reality Cucciolotta products had already existed for about ten years, then we decided to create a company on purpose. to create and develop a whole series of projects. At the beginning we had a couple of kennels but then since we decided to develop other products in 2016 we have created a real brand and since then we have developed more than thirty products.
So you already existed you have only decided to do a rebranding, just a corporate restructuring but is it always you who have been producing these products for 10 years?
Yes, there are new staff, but it's still us.
How do you see the future of this sector?
Honestly, pretty good. We see demand constantly increasing , which gives us hope for the coming years. Demand for quality products is growing because people prefer to spend a little more but have the guarantee of a product that offers significantly higher quality elements.
Do you have any future projects that you want to anticipate?
We design new products every year. We have several garden furniture products in the pipeline, always designed with this material and this interlocking system, requiring no tools for assembly. We already have several prototypes in the pipeline , but we haven't yet been able to market them, but we plan to develop them over the next one or two years.
Another very interesting sector is that of bee hives. We are working on it but it's not that easy. It is a very very sensitive sector that is booming, but there are technical specifications that we are trying to understand and evaluate to see if the HPL is better than the products that are out there now. We are always at the forefront and looking for new products, of course you have to find the right one.
All our products are available on our website, which we've also decided to revamp and update, creating two separate websites dedicated to our products. We've tried to separate our farm products from our dog and cat products. You can find our farm products on Cucciolotta.com , while our pet products are available on Cucciolotta.dog. We've tried to further improve product visibility by providing more details to help customers immediately understand what they're getting. In recent years, we've been working extensively abroad and have tried to use a language that speaks through images, in addition to text, to convey the quality of our products to everyone. You can also visit our Instagram page.
For special requests we are at your disposal and we are open to any suggestions from customers. Do not hesitate to contact us, we will reply as soon as possible!
