Mario Micheli – IRIS GREEN
On June 12, 2026, Iris Green celebrated its 30th anniversary. It was a grand celebration at the expanded and renovated company headquarters, with everyone gathered together: colleagues, collaborators, and families. From a small local company to the undisputed Italian leader in tinting systems, a point of excellence and a benchmark in Europe and the world. A 30-year journey that we wanted to retrace, first and foremost, with founder, partner, and Managing Director Gabriele Cambi, and with those who, along with him, contributed to making it all happen.
Gabriele, tell us how Iris Green was born?
Gabriele: “Almost as a joke, arising from a chat between two colleagues and friends in a laboratory: I was one of the two, and I was 22 years old…”.
In your opinion, what makes Iris Green special, and what has enabled it to keep growing over all these years?
Gabriele: “A commitment to service, the central role of the laboratory, and the passion of our team, these define us. My background as a chemist naturally led me to focus on laboratory development from the very beginning; it is where I spent much of my time and where I still love to return whenever I can. For me, having a laboratory equipped with the best, most advanced technology and staffed by top-tier technicians is not merely an option: it is a necessity. Every year, we invest a significant portion of our profits in laboratory instrumentation and in training technicians recruited from both technical institutes and universities. This enables us to provide our clients with technologically cuttingedge solutions that fully comply with the rigorous technical regulations constantly evolving in our field”.
Which were the turning points in the company’s growth?
Gabriele: “I would highlight three key moments: the first, in 1996, as a contract manufacturer for a major multinational; the second, in 2000, marking the start of building the Italian market; and the third, in 2015, with our expansion into international markets, resulting in our current presence in over 40 countries worldwide. I will now hand over to Mario Micheli, our Sales & Marketing Director”.
Mario, tell us about your first impressions at Iris Green.
Mario: “When I started at Iris Green eleven years ago, the company was already performing well in Italy, and all the ingredients were in place to make it a success internationally as well. Over the years, we have worked on boosting brand visibility, building an overseas sales network, and, more broadly, driving Iris Green’s internationalization. The results have exceeded our expectations: revenue and volume figures have more than doubled, with foreign revenue growing more than sixfold, rising from 5% to 32% of the total”.
To what do you attribute this growth and success?
Mario: “I often remark that while we in sales act as ambassadors, and certainly must do so effectively, it is the laboratory that truly makes the difference in our sector. Our clients’ technicians find in Iris Green a partner capable of working alongside them at every stage of their operations, allowing them to focus on their paint business. On this point, I would like to hand over to Matteo Maranghi, our Technical Manager”.
Matteo, tell us about yourself and Iris Green.
Matteo: “You know, I’ve just celebrated 24 years with the company, longer than my marriage… It’s been great helping to grow that small, initial technical core into the team of 12 technicians working in our lab today. They’re young, motivated, and, being good Tuscans, always ready with a joke…”.
What characterizes the Iris Green laboratory, and how is it organized?
Matteo: “We have been told that ours is one of the laboratories with the most modern and comprehensive instrumentation in the sector. Over the past five years, we have more than doubled the number of our laboratory technicians, and a significant portion of my time has been dedicated to their training and to optimizing the use of our equipment. Today, we can say that we have a modern and well-organized laboratory. Our laboratory is essentially divided into two areas: Product and Color. I personally manage the Product side, specifically Research & Development, Quality Control, physicochemical and bacteriological analysis, custom product development, and regulatory affairs, while the Color division is managed by Davide Grotto, whom I will now hand over to”.
Davide, what do you handle in your area?
Davide: “We prepare, optimize, and manage our customers’ color formulas. To do this, we utilize three spectrophotometers and three different color-matching software programs to meet each customer’s specific needs. We have also recently installed an automated dispensing line, which allows us to reduce the time required to prepare color formulas. We are also responsible for an increasingly strategic area: software for managing tinting machines and color-matching, both at points of sale and in our customers’ laboratories”.
Gabriele t, coming back to you: how did you manage this growth in volumes, revenue, and staff?
Gabriele: “A few years ago, we decided to bet on our growth and purchased the facility next door, more than doubling the total footprint of our factory and offices. Last year, we also approved an investment plan to significantly increase the automation of our production lines; this included installing a new, fully automated system for large-batch production, which boosted our production capacity by over 50%. At this point, I’ll hand things over to Simone Cordisco, our Production Manager”.
Simone, how are you finding your new factory?
Simone: “It is exciting to see such an ambitious and innovative project take shape and to be a part of it. We have just started up the new plant, yet we have already recognized its remarkable potential; we are confident that this new installation will yield excellent results in terms of both quality and productivity”.
But Iris Green is not just about production; if I understand correctly, right from the start you have had been very active in the trading powder pigments, activitìy that has proven highly synergistic with your core business of tinting systems.
Gabriele: “That is absolutely true, but I would prefer for our Asset Trading Manager, Enzo Ravà, to speak to you about it directly”.
Enzo, what is the reason a manufacturer of paints, inks, or plastics decides to buy from Iris Green?
Enzo: “Our customers choose us for the extensive stock of pigments, registered under our name and tested for our own production use, and for the speed and flexibility of our service, but above all for the added value our Laboratory and Regulatory Department provide compared to traditional distributors”.
So, Gabriele, what is the next milestone?
Gabriele: “We certainly don’t lack creativity or the drive to get things done, we’ll see how it unfolds, but the important thing is that we do it… together!”.
