For many years Kay and I took a full awning on our main holidays, although we found that where it was hot (on the Continent), we ended up taking out the side and end panels as we only needed a sunshade. Then in 2004, I came across the Fiamma Caravanstore, a canopy in a bag that attaches to the van’s awning rail.
It simply unzips and is rolled out of the bag, and the integral legs and arms slide out of the central aluminium roll. Within minutes, it’s up, and it’s just as quick to pack away, too, showing what an impact the best sun canopy for a caravan can have on tours.
We bought a new one in 2019, longer than the original (our caravan had grown in length!), but even after 20 years, the old one still gives sterling service over a patio door at our house.
A visit to Fiamma
As a delighted end-user of the Caravanstore, when we were asked if we’d like to visit the Fiamma factory on the outskirts of Milan, in Italy, it must have taken almost a nanosecond to answer in the affirmative! After all, this is a brand who is well known for the caravan essentials it makes, ranging from the best caravan levelling ramps to bike racks.
We were given an insight into the company’s history by Joint MD Charles Pozzi before being shown around the production and the R&D facilities.
Fiamma (meaning ‘flame’) was founded in 1945 by Arnaldo Pozzi. Arnaldo was a bit of an inventor, and he built a portable gas cooker in aluminium, which could be carried outside for al fresco meals. Sadly, Arnaldo passed away a few years later, but the company continued in the hands of his wife, Norma, who became something of a celebrity at the time as a highly successful female entrepreneur.
In the 1980s, sons Carlo and Constantino worked with their mother until she retired. Then in 2008 and 2012 respectively, grandsons John-David and Charles Pozzi took over the running of the company when their fathers retired.
Following the success of the portable cookers, Fiamma brought out its first portable gas heaters for the camping market. Back then, caravans were very sparsely equipped, so these products sold well.
In 1973, Fiamma had its first breakthrough into the touring market when Carlo went to a caravan show in Louisville, Kentucky. The US market was far in advance of the European one, and Fiamma imported a number of accessories to sell in Europe. This continued until 1983, when Fiamma produced its ‘automatic box’ roll-out canopy (the company patented the first winch-operated canopy – before this, all were manually rolled). Since then, the product range has continued to grow.
Fiamma has three production lines in Milan: FiammaStore (everything to do with awnings and canopies), Carry-Bike (bike racks, most with German TÜV approval) and Comfort (water pumps, levelling systems, LED lights and so on).
Fiamma is especially proud of the fact that everything it sells is produced in-house, with 85% of products manufactured in Milan (all awnings, canopies and bike racks), 10% coming from the rest of Italy and Europe (levelling ramps, for example), and the final 5% (privacy screens for inside awnings) coming from Asia. The company also holds more than 150 patents worldwide.
Quality control, spare parts and customer service are all part of the Fiamma ethos, and the firm guarantees that every part will be available for at least 10 years after production of an item ends (it stocks some parts that are over 30 years old!) and in most cases, the parts will be dispatched within 48 hours.
Attending shows all over the world plays a key part, too, and the company attends some 52 events annually.
Its first show was in Germany in 1978, and then the NEC in Birmingham in 1980, something it has done every year since.
Fiamma now has markets all over the world, and there are around 160 employees based across the four sites in Milan.
The company doesn’t rest on its laurels, either. For example, the latest Caravanstore canopy now has larger zips than our version, making it easier to use, and many of the wind-out canopies now offer the option of a fashionable black case.
Witnessing the manufacture of canopies and awnings, we could see that for consistency and quality, there is a lot of automation involved, although manual input is still required for certain things.
All awnings are completed at one station, with the various components being brought to the station, rather than partially completed products having to be moved to another location, the type of design process that could factor in when you’re choosing a caravan awning.
Robot machinery
All aluminium components (aluminium remains an integral part of many Fiamma products) are cut and shaped in-house, many by robot machinery. It’s fascinating to watch how they twist and turn to get things in exactly the right place at the right time, and so quickly.
Perhaps one of the most interesting areas of the factory was the dispatch. Again, a lot of the work is done automatically, with some manual input.
The warehouse area consists of floor-to-ceiling racks, which part to allow automated forklifts to select the pre-programmed packages. One section opens while another closes, saving a huge amount of floor space.
Once items are selected, they are sent to an area replicating the size of a 40ft container, so when the lorry arrives, it’s neither under- nor over-filled.
We had a fascinating insight into this family business, and it was great to see the third generation with such passion for the company’s products.
As we approach the festive season, you may be looking for accessories and usual ideas that you can give to the caravanner in your life – if you’re after inspiration, check out our guide to 27 gifts for caravan owners.
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