We spoke with Endika Albinarrate, CEO and Managing Director of Envases Group — Envases Metalúrgicos de Álava, S.A. With more than 75 years of family history in the manufacture of premium aluminium packaging, Envases Group has evolved from its industrial roots to become a global benchmark for leading perfumery and cosmetics brands. Technological innovation, sustainability and service come together in every piece produced at its Llodio plant.
Name, position and company
Endika Albinarrate, CEO and Managing Director of Envases Group — Envases Metalúrgicos de Álava, S.A.
Tell us about the company you work for. What is its history?
Envases Group is a family-owned company with more than 78 years of experience as a manufacturer of aluminium packaging. It all began in 1948 in Llodio, in the heart of the Basque Country, with the aim of producing high-quality metal packaging and specialising in aluminium, a material we are passionate about because of its unique properties: it is lightweight, noble, infinitely recyclable and offers finishing possibilities that no other material can match.
Today, we are a group with two production plants in Europe and a commercial presence in highly demanding markets such as France, the United States and Korea. We supply most of the world’s best-known perfumery and cosmetics brands.
What does your day-to-day work at the company involve?
My day-to-day work is a constant combination of team management, client relations and anticipating the future. We work with brands that have extremely high standards, and we like to support our clients, whether large or small, from the first sketch until the product reaches the end of its life cycle.
I spend a large part of my time working closely with our R&D and production teams, while also supporting our clients throughout their creative processes. At Envases, we believe that people are what make the difference, which is why I remain very close to our different teams.
What differentiating value do you offer?
We offer a very high level of investment in innovation in rigid aluminium packaging, with the aim of enabling aluminium packaging to replace plastic or glass and, in particular, of developing decorative finishes that add value to our clients’ products.
Our production lines include technologies that are exclusive to aluminium, such as hot stamping, silk screen printing, shaping and embossing. These special finishes allow brands to stand out visually at the point of sale. Most importantly, clients with recognised brands trust our high level of responsiveness and reliability.
What challenges do you think you will face in the coming years?
There are two main areas. The first is to continue leading from a technological perspective. The luxury perfumery and cosmetics sector is constantly demanding new shapes, never-before-seen finishes and packaging that is both a work of art and fully functional.
We have won the prestigious innovation award at ADF Paris Packaging Week 2026 for the fourth consecutive year, and this means we must continue to set the bar very high.
The second challenge is sustainability. Aluminium can be recycled infinitely while retaining all its properties, and we are able to manufacture using 100% post-consumer recycled aluminium. Consumers and brands are demanding this, and we have the answer.
What does being part of the Beauty Cluster bring to you as an organisation and as professionals?
For us, it represents a natural connection with the ecosystem we serve. We have been manufacturing fragrance packaging for iconic brands for decades, but manufacturers often remain in the background.
Joining this community allows us to get closer to brands, formulators and designers and, above all, to contribute our perspective: packaging is not simply a container, but the consumer’s first sensory contact with the product. We want to play an active role in that conversation.
Going back to your company, how did you enter the beauty sector?
Aluminium has always been present in luxury perfumery, practically since the origins of the sector, as an extension of the fragrance range. For us, it was a logical evolution. We started in industry and gradually refined our processes, technologies and capabilities until we were able to work with the world’s most demanding perfume houses.
We are the leading manufacturer of packaging for high-end perfumery in categories such as deodorants, all-over sprays, hair perfumes and similar solutions.
Our major clients, including Puig, LVMH, Chanel and Estée Lauder, do not only produce fragrances, but also skincare and make-up products, and we have followed them wherever we have been able to add value. Now is the time to take the next step and work with specialist beauty clients, because we already have the solutions they need.
Speaking of beauty, how would you define it?
Beauty is precision. A well-designed aluminium package has something sculptural about it: every curve, every finish and every reflection of light is calculated to create an emotion.
In today’s world, beauty also means durability and responsibility, because a beautiful material that cannot be recycled does not fit with the values of our time. Packaging in 2026 must not only be attractive, but also responsibly designed. In this respect, aluminium, and Envases in particular, have a major role to play.
Do you have any hobbies, superpowers or hidden passions you would like to share?
I am a very simple person, from a small town, I would say, who, due to life circumstances, has had to travel quite literally around the world. I know the perfumery and skincare markets from São Paulo to Seoul and, although I have always enjoyed flying and attending meetings, I must admit that I feel most comfortable in the peace and quiet of my home, which is always lively thanks to my two young children.
I cycle to work whenever I can, and I value the close relationship our company has with its people. I am passionate about looking after the lawn at home and making sure it is always perfectly cut. That may be my most unusual obsession.
What is the latest book you have read or film you have watched?
I mostly read children’s stories to my children, but the latest book on my e-reader is HLR8 (Accelerate) by John P. Kotter.
In recent years, the world has been changing at an incredible pace, much faster than it has over the past few centuries, and it is our responsibility to understand these changes and prepare our organisations to deal with them.
One of my main goals as Managing Director of Envases is to make change management a constant part of the organisation.
Business is based on…
Trust earned through every on-time delivery, technical honesty with the client and the courage to invest in innovation before anyone has even asked for it.
As a fourth-generation family business, we know that long-term thinking is not a strategy, but a way of understanding life. A company like ours, committed to all the stakeholders around it and now celebrating its 78th anniversary, is not simply thinking about the end of this year or the next.
We are thinking about how we will secure the future for the generation that comes after us.
