BY EU STUDIO
Updated Wednesday, May 18, 2022-16:36
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To the east of the province of Burgos, next to La Rioja Alavesa, in a small town in size and population (barely 1,200) called Pradoluengo, a family business has managed to set an example of how innovation is also possible in rural Spain.
Today, Calcetines Mingo, as it is called, contributes to the production of one out of every four socks used in Spain and, of the half million pairs it manufactures each year, nearly 400,000 are exported.
Mingo socks, an example of innovation from rural Spain
This company with more than a century of life behind it represents a firm commitment to family and local tradition, as then, and, today, also to innovation focused on sustainability.
Something that Banco Santander and the Chamber of Commerce have been able to value, which have chosen Calcetines Mingo as SME of the Year 2021 in the province of Burgos, an award that recognizes the work of small and medium-sized companies, which the financial institution supports in their day to day with all kinds of initiatives focused on financing, internationalization or the promotion of digitization.
"It has been a pride. We have all been very excited, because we come from a sector that has practically disappeared in its entirety," celebrates José Manuel Mingo, current manager of the company and great-grandson of Avelino de Miguel,
Sergio Gonzalez
"In the heat of an economy that favored the establishment of small textile businesses, my great-grandfather founded a small artisanal company to manufacture socks by hand," he says.
And it is that, at the end of the 19th century, the textile industry, focused on the manufacture of berets and socks, became the flagship of the local economy of Padroluengo.
The natural resources of its environment had a lot to do with it: the easy access to raw materials such as merino wool;
the strong currents of the Oropesa River, which guaranteed enough energy for the operation of fulling mills, looms and spinning;
or the key fuller's land in the manufacture of these garments.
Half of the population
The childhood of José Manuel Mingo, and also the history of Pradoluengo, has been woven between socks.
"I don't remember my life if it wasn't playing between bags of socks and berets in my father's old factory," he recalls.
Now, few children live in the village, which has lost more than half its population in the last 15 years.
One of them is the son of Amaya Pereda, one of the 25 people who work in the company and also a resident of the town: "I started working in the company because, basically, I had seen it all my life in my family. My father and brothers had worked on it and I decided to give it a try.
She is part of that group of young people who are committed to staying in the place where they were born: "I am from Pradoluengo, I would like to live here and for that we need companies like Calcetines Mingo that give us the opportunity to create a future and a life in the village".
She shares an opinion with Ángel Martín, a former Socks Mingo employee who has just retired after a lifetime dedicated to the textile industry.
"We must try to continue with the work in the towns, create companies in rural areas so that they can continue to live,
Technical and sustainable
Far away are those beginnings in which the entire town was a large factory, when the neighbors took care of each of the manufacturing phases of a sock in garages and on the ground floor of houses.
Over time, and circumstances such as the entry of foreign competitors or the crisis in the textile industry, that splendor has been lost.
Now there are few who survive compared to those who were.
And Mingo Socks is one of them.
Throughout its history, it has experimented with the manufacture of different garments, however, at present, it is only dedicated to the manufacture of socks, mainly high-performance technical ones for all types of sports.
Because, José Manuel Mingo says that when he became manager in 1999 "we quickly realized that we had to change practically everything,
Sergio Gonzalez
From that commitment was born what is now his star collection, because it cleans seas and oceans.
And it is that each pair of FreeWaves by Funstep is equivalent to a plastic bag in the sea.
They are made from a polyester thread that is obtained thanks to recycled materials from the Cantabrian and Mediterranean seas.
"For us, innovation and development were from the first moment almost an obsession", assures the current manager of him.
Sergio Gonzalez
Together with Calcetines Mingo and another four million small and medium-sized companies that it accompanies on a day-to-day basis, Banco Santander continues to support the group that makes up 99% of the Spanish business fabric and is the main creator of employment.
For years, the banking entity has promoted all kinds of measures betting on SMEs as the support of our economy, among which are specific financing and advice programs, acceleration of digitization, promotion of internationalization or recognitions such as the SME of the Year Award .
Discover more initiatives to boost your business with Banco Santander
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This text has been developed by UE Studio, a creative branded content and content marketing firm from Unidad Editorial, for SANTANDER
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