Iris Ceramica Group
en
Back

Corporate Governance

Immagine

Romano Minozzi

Founder and President of Iris Ceramica Group

With a degree in Economics and Commerce from Bologna University, in 1961 Romano Minozzi became one of the founders of Iris Ceramica S.p.A, where he is Chairman.
In 1987 he purchased Castellarano Fiandre Ceramiche S.p.A, out of which the GranitiFiandre S.p.A. brand was officially born in 1989.
In 2002 he inaugurated a big new ceramics plant in Brandenburg and set up the new company Porcelaingres Gmbh.
After Germany, Romano Minozzi turned to the United States, opening the production plant of the Group’s US company,
Stonepeak Ceramics Inc., in Tennessee in 2003.
He has always held key positions in the various companies in the Group he owns, as CEO, Managing Director and Chairman.
He has received numerous awards for his work, including the "Innovation 2000" prize from the International Academy of Ceramics and the "2017 Innovation Award" at the 21st EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Immagine

Federica Minozzi

CEO Iris Ceramica Group

Graduating with honours in Law at the University of Modena, she joined the company when she was very young in 1997, studying and investigating various aspects of the ceramics industry, which was strategic for her own future. She has held management roles in the various Iris Ceramica Group companies since 2000, consolidating her experience gained in over 26 years of business activity.

Her very clear vision – to re-engineer ceramics to improve interaction between humans and the environment - underlines her bold and innovative spirit.  
With her pioneering entrepreneurial vision, Federica Minozzi has originally combined technology with matter, becoming an ambassador of the concept of the beautility of ceramics: a noble material that brings together beauty, aesthetics, art and function.

This pioneering approach has also been put into practice in the production site in Castellarano with the H2 Factory® - the world’s first ceramics factory designed to be powered by green hydrogen – which has made the company a major case study in the decarbonisation field and received numerous international awards. The most recent in 2024 were: the SMAU Innovation Prize, the CEOforLife award and a prize at the IHTA – Italian Hydrogen Technology Awards.

Federica Minozzi’s business model, which enhances heritage while always looking to the future, technological innovation and sustainability, and seeing the central role of the company as a cultural driver, has helped her to make her mark on the ceramics industry and beyond.
In 2022 Forbes devoted their July cover to her, underlining Italian women's leadership and in 2024 RAI Italia devoted an episode of its docu-series Italian Genius to her.
Some of the most important other awards she has received include:
2017 Innovation Award at the XXI edition of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year,
2022 Premio Industria Felix for the best female-led business,
2023 Forbes CEO Award of the year in the Design sector
2025 Woman Excellence Award at the third edition of Women at the Top

In 2025, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella awarded Federica Minozzi the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro, recognising her entrepreneurial commitments and professional career. This Prize celebrates her entrepreneurial spirit, courage, and foresight, along with her commitment to social and environmental impacts.In the same year, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UniMoRe) conferred an Honorary Master’s Degree in Management Engineering on her.