The history of Gonzagarredi dates back to 1911, when Maria Montessori was a guest of her friend Maria Maraini Guerrieri Gonzaga. Maria Montessori found a small joiner's shop in Gonzaga, Italy where the educative material and furnishings required for her Method (today widespread all over the world) could be tried and produced.
The joiner's shop was a small workshop called "Baroni e Marangon", and it was there that the first Montessori materials were made according to the specifications of Maria Montessori. As the Montessori method flourished throughout the world, so did the little workshop. In 1975 the company changed its name to Gonzagarredi.
Today Gonzagarredi has become an international company with distributors throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America. The company has grown into one of the largest Montessori material producers in the world and is also one of Europe's leading school furniture manufacturers. Gonzagarredi makes a complete line of furniture to compliment the Montessori environment and also produces library, office and playground furnishings.
CERTIFICATION OF THE COMPANY
Gonzagarredi has an internal control system which consists of several procedures which ensure high quality levels at all levels of design, production and delivery. A team of skilled technicians is responsible for the quality of production, the purchase of raw materials, the working process, and the testing of the final products. This assures that all products meet the highest standards of design, quality, and safety. The company has obtained and maintains the Quality management system ISO 9001:2000, certified in July 2002 and the Environmental management system ISO 14001:2004 certified in July 2005.
See the Policy for Quality and the Policy for Environment.
CERTIFICATION OF THE PRODUCT
Gonzagarredi products are subjected to safety, strength and non-toxicity tests at authorized European laboratories to obtain quality certifications. These labs have some of the most rigorous quality and safety standards in the world. All production takes place in compliance with the highest of these industry standards. This includes non-toxic varnishes and paints, ultra-low formaldehyde content class E1, and fireproof materials (class 1 and 2).
