History

Entrepreneurship, invention, engineering and technology are at the heart of Labaronne-Citaf history. Discover here the story of Labaronne-Citaf and the one of its flagship product, the flexible tank.

At the beginning of the company, the flexible tank. Also called bladder, soft cover, flexible pouch or flexible container, the flexible tank is a means of flexible storage for liquid which is more economical and practical than a rigid reserve. Once filled, it looks like a large “pillow” which explains its common name of “pillow tank”.

History

2019
Jul 17

60 years of excellence – the history of the company

60 years of excellence – the history of the company

Jul 17

Change of Visual Identity

Since its origin, the logo created by André Labaronne had remained unchanged. On the occasion of the company’s anniversary, July 17, 2019, Labaronne-Citaf revealed a new logo. Without drawing a line on the past, based on the experience and dynamics of the new management, this visual identity brings together the..Read More

2017
Jul 06

Buyout of the company by 2 employees

Buyout of the company by 2 employees

For nearly 10 years, several managers succeeded each other. Under the governance of Jacques Cellier, Gérard Haricot and Michel Charton took over the management. In 2004, Denis Aubel bought the company and chaired it until June 2017, the year in which the company was placed in receivership. On July 6,..Read More

1988
Sep 14

Death of Jacques Labaronne

Death of Jacques Labaronne

The flexible tank market is expanding rapidly. Jacques is developing connections with the Middle East. But when he returns from a customer appointment, he gets a car accident from which he will not survive. An entrepreneur, Jacques Cellier, bought the company and renamed it Labaronne-Citaf, in tribute to the family..Read More

1973
Jan 02

Jacques Labaronne takes over the company

The company is slowly thriving. But André Labaronne is ill. His son Jacques, who was then 26 years old and already a director of the company since 1970, took over the management of the company.

1969
Jun 01

Moving from Tours to Vienna (Isère)

Moving from Tours to Vienna (Isère)

Attracted by more favourable tax conditions (thanks to the Isère deputy Louis Mermaz), and always with the ambition to promote his product, André Labaronne set up his small business in Vienna. There are many forest fires in the area and the tanks meet the needs of the firefighters. The various..Read More

1965
Oct 19

Improvement of the flexible tank

Improvement of the flexible tank

In close collaboration with his brother Georges, a winegrower, André Labaronne has developed his tank and marketed it to farmers in the region. But contracts are not enough for the company to grow and CITAF is in difficulty. Always looking for improvements, he is looking to optimize his patent for..Read More

1964
Oct 21

Moving to Tours

Moving to Tours

The market is hard to create in France… André Labaronne leaves Paris for Touraine, where he can ensure family support. So he settled in Tours, which has become the new fiefdom of the Labaronne family. He moved also the CITAF company’s head office there and appointed Claude Touchon, his brother-in-law,..Read More

Jun 16

Death of André Labaronne

Death of André Labaronne

Thanks to Jacques Labaronne’s commercial fibre, the company began to expand internationally. Nevertheless, his father will not have time to take advantage of it. On June 16, 1974, André Labaronne died of his illness at the age of 51.

1963
Oct 12

Revision of the 1st patent

Revision of the 1st patent

Attached to his first inventions, André Labaronne remains convinced that his transport tanks meet a real need. Therefore, he decided to advance his concept, by taking inspiration from the improvements made to freestanding pools, to redesign a prototype.

1961
Dec 13

3rd patent of invention

3rd patent of invention

Thanks to his experience in the flexible, André Labaronne is closely interested in the principle of self-supporting pools. He optimized the systems, already in place at that time, and developed a prototype of a “freestanding pool” designed to eliminate all the known disadvantages of freestanding pools.

Jul 17

Conquering Paris

Conquering Paris

As the activity progressed, the Algerian war precipitated the departure of André and the entire Labaronne family to France. He set up CITAF in the Paris region, more precisely in Brunoy.

1958
Jul 17

Birth of CITAF company

Birth of CITAF company

André Labaronne creates the company CITAF – “CITernes Algérie France”. Based in Algiers and determined to commercialize his invention, he began to manufacture his first prototype alone, which he managed to rent to Sahara, an oil company.

1957
Oct 12

2nd patent of invention

2nd patent of invention

At the end of 1957, André Labaronne developed his invention. He decided to separate the principle of flexible tanks from the transport part, developed in his first patent. This storage solution dedicated to liquids was registered on October 12, 1957 under the name of “flexible tank”.

Mar 01

1st filing patent of the invention

1st filing patent of the invention

Son of French winegrowers living in Algeria, André Labaronne is fascinated by the conquest of the desert. However, he notes that the tankers that bring water back empty. It was then that he had the revolutionary idea of developing a “flexible tank” that – once emptied – took up less..Read More

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