1904
The origin
At the beginning Vitone was a strict family business. In 1904, Vitantonio, the elder among Vitone’s brothers engineered the first hydraulic press prototype. It targeted local olive oil mills owners.
Since 1904 we have been building machines for crushing and for kneading, horizontal axis centrifuges and vertical separators, dedicated to the extraction of olive oil and other vegetable oils.
At the beginning Vitone was a strict family business. In 1904, Vitantonio, the elder among Vitone’s brothers engineered the first hydraulic press prototype. It targeted local olive oil mills owners.
Mr. Vitantonio sold a 9 inches cylinder with a 2 years guarantee to Giuseppe De Michele's firm. The cylinder should have been integrated by the hydraulic press owned from Giuseppe De Michele's firm. Vitantonio's successors still conserve the original copy of the deal.
On the eve of the season start, Vitone issued a rather original price list of his products. It was not a simple price list, but a real challenge launched against Vitone’s competitors: they were challenged to improve the sales terms and conditions mentioned in Vitone’s list.
Vitone equipped his technicians with a new vehicle that mainly facilitated their maintenance job at the Customers sites. Morevoer, because it was the first car wrapped with an artwork of Vitone’s label, the vehicle unveiled unexpected benefits as a mobile advert.
Due to a joint-venture signed with a Tunisian partner, Vitone Eco opened its first repairing and maintenance workshop abroad. It was built in Sfax, a city located 270 km southeast of Tunis, and provided with all machinery and facilities required for the post-sales assistance.
The major of Bitonto (the place where Vitantonio Vitone, the Company founder was born) decided to entitle a road to Vitantonio. It was a tribute to the popularity achieved by Vitone’s label. Vitantonio Vitone was celebrated by a memorial plaque which defines him as a pioneer of Elaiotechnics.
The Company delivered its first sludge-dewatering plant to the waste water purification site of Acquedotto Pugliese in Bitonto. A few years later, Vitone is exporting its sludge-dewatering technology worldwide.
Vitone Eco signed a 3 years license agreement with SCI (Shanghai Centrifuge Institute). According to the deal, Vitone committed itself to provide SCI with its own know-how in sludge-dewatering technology construction, in return for royalties. It was the first step to expand the business to China.