A can filler ready to leave for Dubai, another destined for wine bottles in France: at Eurostar in San Marzano Oliveto, work is running at full capacity. Founded in 1996 by Alessandro Castagno together with his wife Elisabetta, the company is preparing to celebrate thirty years in business with a project that looks to the future: doubling its production area.
An investment to double the production lines
Eurostar has purchased 14,000 square metres of land adjoining its original site, with the aim of building a further 4,000 square metres under roof: the space needed to double its production lines. According to Castagno, the investment will also bring new jobs alongside the current 35 members of staff, spread across the original San Marzano Oliveto site, the welding department in Canelli and the Squadron brand, created three years ago in Santo Stefano Belbo to serve smaller customers with the same types of machine.
A pioneer in exports
Eurostar was among the first Italian companies in the sector to export to China, today one of its main markets thanks to sake and sauce producers. The Middle East, between Qatar and Kuwait, is strong on mineral water plants; North Africa is served with machines for olive oil mills; in the Americas, Australia and South Africa, as in Europe, customers are mainly bottlers of wine, spirits and liqueurs. The result: more than 2,000 machines installed across every continent, with 95% of production destined for export, against total revenue of around 6 million euros.
Eurostar manufactures almost all the components of its lines in-house, with a single exception: a solid, long-standing partnership with Arol, a world leader in capping.
Artificial intelligence, the next challenge
Having won over global markets with increasingly efficient machines, the next frontier for Eurostar is artificial intelligence applied to predictive maintenance: the company is collecting downtime case data for each individual model, with the aim — by 2026 — of speeding up maintenance work, including on a preventive basis, with the support of AI.
“Young people, technology and patents are the ingredients for defending market share.”
Alessandro Castagno, founder and owner of Eurostar
A family team, rooted in its local area
Both of the founder’s children now work alongside him: Stefano, who heads the technical department, and Giorgia, who looks after marketing. Castagno is also one of the founders and board members of ATPICA, the association that brings together around twenty companies in the Valle Belbo — confirming a bond with the local area that has accompanied Eurostar since the very beginning.
Source: article “Brevetti pionieri”, La Stampa, Economia Locale, 4 December 2025, by Roberta Favrin.
