Chicco, from syringes to baby bottles: the story of the Italian empire of baby products

A pacifier has been left half-hidden among the crib sheets. On top of the chest of drawers, a baby bottle rests. A little further on, in a corner of the room, the brightly colored wheeled walker, which the baby will soon use to take its first steps, is parked. You have to look closely, but everything has the same logo: that of the Chicco brand. Behind these mythical white letters on a blue background, with the red dot above the i, there is not only a brand of baby products, but also an Italian giant in childcare and children's consumption. It is called Artsana, it was founded in 1946 in the Italian city of Como and today it groups brands such as Chicco, Boppy, Neo Baby, Prénatal, Toys Center or Bimbo Store. In 2024, the group had a turnover of nearly 600 million euros, not including the Prénatal area.

But the story of Chicco does not begin surrounded by cribs, pacifiers or colorful toys. The beginning of the business empire is in the sector of sanitary products: that of syringes and thermometers. Pietro Catelli, the founder of Artsana, was born in 1920 in Como, in the Lombardy region. As a young man, he began working as a seller of sanitary articles and that first experience helped him to detect a market with possibilities. In 1946, at just 26 years old, he opened a small wholesale business of medical supplies with his sister Jolanda. He named it Artsana, an abbreviation of Articoli Sanitari e Affini.

During the first years, the company grew within the sanitary universe. It distributed products such as syringes, needles or thermometers and gained ground in a sector where reliability and safety were key. But the big turn came in 1958, twelve years later: Catelli had a son, Enrico, whom he began to affectionately call Chicco. At that time, he was not even aware of it, but soon that nickname would become one of the most recognizable children's brands in Europe.

From syringes to cribs

With the birth of Enrico, Catelli understood that baby care could also become a specialized market, with products designed not only to meet basic needs but also to accompany the development of children during the first months of life. And he created the Chicco brand. The objective was to offer articles for children from 0 to 36 months, from bottles and pacifiers to toys, strollers, high chairs, and walking products. The brand started with 27 articles, but soon multiplied its catalog to reach 900.

Some became fortunes almost immediately. One of the first successes was a bottle with an anti-colic system. Baby toys also became popular. In the midst of Italy's economic boom, Chicco found its own niche in the homes of a new middle class that was beginning to consume more and look at childhood with different eyes. In 1961, he created Pic Solution, specializing in self-medication products, and in the late sixties, he began international expansion. Spain was one of the first European stops, with the opening of the subsidiary in 1967.

In the seventies, Chicco's growth had already made Artsana a benchmark company in Italy. Over the years, it opened new business lines: it entered personal hygiene with Lycia, sanitary products for incontinence with Serenity, and later, children's fashion with the acquisition of Prénatal in 1996.

The generational handover arrived in the early 2000s, when the group's management was progressively transferred to the founder's children: Enrico, Michele, and Francesca. Pietro Catelli died in 2006. In 2015, the group created a joint venture with Giochi Preziosi to integrate Prénatal into a large hub of stores specializing in children and toys. Two years later, Artsana bought the other half and took complete control. In between, in 2016, the Investindustrial fund, linked to Andrea Bonomi, bought 60% of Artsana, in a deal that valued the company at around 1.3 billion euros. The Catelli family retained the remaining 40% and remained linked to the company. Since then, the group has strengthened its international profile and continued to expand its perimeter, with brands such as Boppy, Fiocchi di Riso, Neo Baby, and Fisiolact.