History

ICEL was born from a small family workshop created in the forties by three brothers in which steel was forged and from which agricultural and kitchen cutlery items emerged.

This workshop was located in Ribafria, a small village near Benedita. In the beginning, the product range consisted of pocket knives and a few totally hand made knives. The grade of steel was carbon steel that was forged and hardened with rudimental equipment, the energy used was produced from coal. The handles were made of animal bones and horns. As production raised, distribution was no longer local and became regional, and the products were then available in shops and markets in different points of the country, mostly transported by rail.

By 1945 the small workshop had 25 employees and the decision was taken to establish a company called Indústria de Cutelarias da Estremadura, Lda. from which the first brand name ICEL would come out.