50th anniversary celebrated in style

We celebrated the 50th anniversary of our family-run logistics group with a grand event: a tribute to Kepa Azarloza and looking back at our origins, whilst also looking ahead to our future.

At VASCO, we’re in the mood to celebrate. And with good reason. Reaching the 50-year milestone in business is reason enough for any company to celebrate but having also managed to grow and expand as the international business group that we are, dedicated to international transport, logistics, consulting and innovation, gives us even greater reason to celebrate in style.

Covid prevented us from celebrating at the time, but nothing has stopped us from doing so this time. So, on 1st December, we organised an event held in the Getxo Cruise Terminal, attended by institutional representatives, friends, and industry professionals, as well as all the professionals from our group, present in more than six countries.

Around 200 guests from around the world attended the event to celebrate this milestone with us and pay tribute to our president, Kepa Azarloza.

Our celebrations were also attended by three leading figures in international shipping: Wang Minfeng, President of COSCO Europe (a Chinese shipping company that our group represents exclusively), Dietrich Schader-Bieschin, CEO of MACS (leader in services from Europe to South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique) and Javier Romeu, fourth generation family member and director of the Romeu Group.

Zigor Urkiaga Urkiza, Director of Strategic Projects and Industrial Administration within the Regional Basque Government, and Jon Larrea Arrutia, General Director of Innovation and Road Management for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, also accompanied us at our very special event.

During the event, the whole VASCO family paid tribute to our founder Kepa Azarloza in the manner he deserves, and our president received a heartfelt tribute from his children during the celebration.

Some very moving video footage allowed us to look back over Kepa Azarloza’s long career, the forerunner to our international projection and the visionary who began opening up to new markets such as Mauritania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

Thanks to his initiative, always accompanied by his wanderlust and entrepreneurial spirit, and his drive to find business opportunities around the planet, our business group has been able to expand and grow to become what it is today.

Gratitude and recognition of a labour of love over the years

In his speech, Kepa Azarloza thanked all the employees of VASCO, industry professionals, and friends, for their great affection and engagement with our group throughout these years.

He also took the opportunity to remember the professionals and companies that have accompanied our group throughout these years, as well as to recognise all our companies for the work they have done throughout our history. Work that we will continue to do to move towards new horizons marked by digitalisation and new talent.

For his part, Jon Azarloza, CEO of VASCO, pointed out the importance of “celebrating half a century of activity, the perfect opportunity to thank all the people who have accompanied us throughout these years”.

Jon Azarloza also highlighted to the media that “without a great team who shares our values as a family business and their enthusiasm for logistics intelligence, none of this would have been possible. Making VASCO a model of innovation and transport has been the great challenge for the group and our father, Kepa Azarloza. Recognising and celebrating his great career spurs us on to continue growing and leading the great logistical change that is to come, in which talent and technology will be our greatest challenges. It is not every day that half a century of history is celebrated, and we are convinced that we will celebrate the next fifty.”

A meeting to discuss the future

Following all the speeches and recognitions, journalist Pilar Kaltzada spoke with Jon Azarloza and Wan Kun, MD of Cosco Spain, Dietrich SCheder, MD of Macs Shipping and Kiko Romeu, President of Tiba about future challenges in the maritime/port/logistics business world.

All the participants of the round table discussion gave us a very interesting vision of the challenges and the future of shipping. A logistics service that has received social and business momentum and recognition over the past two years and which is set to face major challenges in the coming years, such as the incorporation of artificial intelligence, and great technological changes that will improve the competitiveness of companies thanks to logistics.

At the end of the event, chef Eneko Atxa, who shares the Azarloza family’s passion for innovation and an international vision from the same origin, Zornotza, offered the guests a culinary proposal with show cooking and a motivating speech.

Atxa, who has received several Michelin stars, is immersed in innovative projects such as research into the future food given to NASA astronauts. A true role model.

After dinner, we all continued to celebrate our anniversary, and as we charged our glasses, the general feeling was: Here’s to the next 50 years!

– EVENT SUMMARY GALERY –