Anfora is the largest Mexican manufacturer of vitrified ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

s. It is based in the silver mining city of Pachuca

Pachuca

Pachuca, formally Pachuca de Soto is the capital of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of which the city serves as municipal seat...

, in the state of Hidalgo, in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

History

Anfora was founded by Pablo Schmidt, Alberto Lenz, Julio Vermehren Carlos Reichert, Enrique Hilger, Federico Ritter and Adolfo Goerz in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 in 1920 as a porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 manufacturer for home and institutional use. After the Mexican Revolution

Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...

, Anfora came to dominate the Mexican market for this type of products. In 1932 Anfora started to manufacture sanitaryware for the construction market. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Mexican government under Lazaro Cardenas

Lázaro Cárdenas

Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...

 intervened the company since due to the owner's German nationality and eventually sold the company to local investors in 1947. After the war, Anfora grew exponentially and became a household name. In 1994 it moved to a 1200000 square feet (111,483.6 m²) facility in Pachuca

Pachuca

Pachuca, formally Pachuca de Soto is the capital of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of which the city serves as municipal seat...

, where it continues to operate with over 600 people in 2010.

Markets

The company sells in Mexico through a network of distributors and wholesalers. In the USA it's represented exclusively by Steelite International and competes against local factories like Homer Laughlin

Homer Laughlin

Homer Laughlin born 23 March, 1843 in Little Beaver, Ohio, was an American businessman and potter who, with his brother Shakespeare, formed the Laughlin Pottery Company in 1871 in East Liverpool, Ohio....

 and Buffalo China. One of the main patterns is the hand painted Blue and White Puebla, sold as a collector's dinnerware set through Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn is an American-based home furnishing store chain with retail stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since September 1986, when it was purchased from GAP, Inc, Pottery Barn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc....

. Other customers include Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

 and Mexican restaurants like Sanborns, Las Mañanitas and San Angel Inn.