The Company's History
Our history dates back to the 1920's, when dozens of soap factories emerged in the province of Castellón, and hundreds throughout the country. Nowadays Jabones Beltrán is the only active factory of traditional soap production that, with a family character, reaches the centenary in all Spain.
The origins
Old family diaries show that the beginning of experimentation with soap dates back to 1908. That year Mariano Beltrán Ferreres and María Beltrán Gimeno ran a bar in Xert, Castellón. The Beltrán family began to make the first soap tests in the same house. This activity becomes progressively more important and finally becomes the main project of the family when they register in May 1921 the industrial license plate, under the name of Mariano Beltrán. In 1922 the first advertisement of the company was published and in 1924 the three brothers of the second generation were already working in the company: Mariano, Práxedes and Manuel. Lorito and Beltrán were the first two registered trademarks of the company (1927) in the Property Registry of the Ministry of Labor, Commerce and Industry.
The changes in the country (Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, the Second Republic, the civil war and Franco's dictatorship) did not stop the activity. The war had a major impact on soap production, which became a very valuable and scarce commodity. At the beginning of the 1940s, the factory moved for the first time to industrial premises in the town of Xert, and in 1945 it moved to the provincial capital. Years later the company changed its name to Beltrán Hermanos, its current fiscal name.
Chemical/industrial development: detergents and washing machines
The arrival of detergents and washing machines in the 1950s completely changed the outlook for the soap industry. Unlike the vast majority of manufacturers at the time, the company from Castellón decided to maintain the traditional soap production methods. It innovated with soap flakes, soap powder, and later liquid coconut soap for washing machines, but opted to maintain the original production philosophy based on natural soap made by saponification of fats and oils (as opposed to the new synthetic detergents). Joaquín Beltrán kept the company as a single active member of the third generation in a phase of certain stagnation of the company but managing to face the growing and strong international competition. From the 1980s onwards, his three sons: Joaquín, José Manuel and Juan Carlos would progressively join the company as the fourth generation of soap makers, thus initiating an important process of mechanization of production.
The irruption of the organic sector
In 1992 the factory moved to the town of Almazora where it maintains its current headquarters. With the turn of the century, members of the fifth generation, consisting of Mara and Iris, joined the company. The factory was going through difficult times due to the loss of important sales, but the increasing diversification of products and the conviction to maintain a sustainable production allowed to overcome the difficulties. The creation of the Biobel brand made Jabones Beltrán, in 2011, the first Spanish company to manufacture laundry cleaning products with organic certification. The commitment to maintain the specialization in traditional handmade soap and combine it with innovative ingredients of natural origin has been in line with the history and production philosophy of the company and has allowed the consolidation of the business project, which has now reached 100 years of uninterrupted activity.
"The book gathers the most important moments in the history of soap in Spain through this small family business. A 100-year journey in which each decade shows a challenge, an adaptation to change and a family union until reaching a milestone reserved for few business initiatives: reaching the centenary." Editorial Dikynson.
