Corona Industrial Acquires Blackwood Industries to Expand Its Tableware Distribution Network

Corona Industrial (Corona), a Colombian multinational with 140 years of expertise in the manufacturing and distribution of products and solutions for the home and the home improvement, construction, industry, agriculture, and energy sectors, announced today the acquisition of Blackwood Industries, a Florida-based leading product and service provider for the foodservices industry, with the purpose of expanding and strengthening the distribution network of Corona's tableware portfolio under the Vajillas Corona brand to foodservice customers in the United States.

“We're honored to welcome the Blackwood Industries team to Corona and excited to combine their 20 years of proven leadership providing outstanding service and quality products to the foodservice industry in the U.S. with Corona's 140 years of experience in designing, manufacturing, and distributing quality tableware products for consumers and foodservice industry customers under our Vajillas Corona brand,” said Daniel Restrepo, CEO of Corona's Tableware Division. “We're looking forward to working together with Blackwood's team, suppliers and customers and to further strengthening the Vajillas Corona distribution network and continue raising the bar to deliver innovative products and exceptional solutions to our customers.”

“Blackwood has a significant presence in the restaurant industry that will allow Corona to expand into other business segments. Additionally, our sourcing and logistic team, combined with Corona’s team, will make us an even stronger supplier to such industry. We are happy to be joining forces with Corona to integrate a powerful team that will allow Blackwood to strengthen its capacities and portfolio to better service our customers and continue developing and growing in different markets,” said Stephen Jones, CEO of Blackwood Industries.

Corona's tableware business was founded 140 years ago in Colombia and today is one of the oldest and most recognized manufacturers of dinnerware in America. It produces two product lines under the Vajillas Corona and lc (in Mexico and Argentina) brands: one for consumers and another for institutional clients such as hotels, restaurants, and caterers, as well as exclusive products for third parties. In addition, Corona produces exclusive designs for the European brands Churchill and Arovo. Since 2013, it is the exclusive distributor in Colombia of the institutional portfolio of the Portuguese brand Vista Alegre.

The Vajillas Corona product portfolio is distributed and sold via direct sales, company-operated boutiques and online at www.vajillascorona.com.co and Amazon. The main export destinations of the Vajillas Corona brand include Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, the United Sates, Central America, Ecuador, and Europe.

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About Corona Industrial. Corona Industrial (Corona) is a Colombian multinational with more than 140 years of expertise in the manufacturing and distribution of products and solutions for the home and for the home improvement, construction, industry, agriculture, and energy sectors. It consists of four Business Divisions – Kitchen & Bath; Surfaces, Materials & Paints; Tableware; and Industrial Minerals & Energy – two Commercial (sales) Units that are Almacenes Corona and Corona Commercial Colombia – and Transversal Support Functions. Corona has twenty manufacturing plants in Colombia, two in the United States, three in Central America and three in Mexico, as well as thirty-eight specialty home improvement stores in Colombia under the retail formats of Centro Corona and Tienda Ceramica and five in Central America under the retail format of Solutions, and a global sourcing office in China. In partnership with Cementos Molins of Spain, Corona established Empresa Colombia de Cementos that produces and distributes cement in Colombia under the brand ALION. Corona generates more than 8,800 jobs worldwide and exports its products to various markets around the world, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Central America, the Caribbean, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. For more information about Corona, please visit https://empresa.corona.co/.