Once, the massive Spanish stone and quartz company Cosentino used their background in stone as a springboard from which to launch their engineered quartz range, Silestone. Now they are using their Silestone network to roll out new natural marble and granite ranges, including a factory-impregnated granite brand called SenSa.

The SenSa granites are produced in Brazil - there are 11 in the range. Using nano-technology they are impregnated in the factory so that they should never need re-finishing, whatever household cleaners are used on them. This is not a sealer. There is no build-up on the surface or blocking of micropores. It is treatment at the molecular level.

SenSa is already on sale in the US, Cosentino\'s biggest market, and will soon roll out across Europe, starting with Belgium and followed by Britain at the end of the summer. Cosentino also intend to open a third warehouse in the UK (in Bristol) in the summer to join the one at Watford and the second in Manchester opened last year.

The point of impregnating the granite in the factory is that the process is more controllable and thorough than it is when a kitchen worktop manufacturer does it in their factory or on site. And it is permanent.

Cosentino are confident enough of the process to guarantee SenSa granite worktops for 10 years, which should also give worktop manufacturers confidence to use the material.

The Product Manager for SenSa (and the Spanish marble range branded as Scalea that Cosentino sell) is Juan PeÃ’a. He told NSS that SenSa would carry a price premium of 10-15% over similar granites. "It\'s adding value to the chain," he said.

And that is the reason for creating brands, Cosentino\'s President, Francisco Martinez-Cosentino Justo, explains.

Branding avoids products becoming commodities. The brand is desired. Cosentino have spent Euro170million in the past three years creating and developing the Silestone Microban antibacterial range (the latest development in which is the Life series of colours) and the natural stone SenSa and Scalea ranges. And they have budgeted to spend another Euro470million to develop and promote the brands over the next four years.

"We have 25 persons in research and development looking for new things to do with the products," said Francisco Justo. But ideas could come from any of the 2,000 people the firm employs. "We give a prize of Euro3,000 a month to the worker who comes up with the best idea. We are in a world of innovation in natural stone, as in every other product. We can never stop innovating."