About Viarco

The origin of the manufacture of pencils in Portugal dates back to the year 1907 when Councilor Figueiredo Faria together with his partner the French Engineer Jules Cacheux decided to build in Vila do Conde an industrial unit for the manufacture of pencils called “Faria, Cacheux & Cª” also known as Portugália. Although Portugália was a pioneer and successful in the development and production of writing articles in the country, it is believed that its activity will have been seriously affected with the entry of Portugal in the First World War and mainly by the Great Depression of 1929/31. The turning point took place in 1931 when Manoel Vieira Araújo, an experienced hat industrialist and prominent figure of S. João da Madeira, decides to diversify the branch of activity of Vieira Araújo & Cª, Lda, and acquires the Portuguese Lápis Factory. In 1936, the brand that would accompany generations of Portuguese to the present day is registered - Viarco. Despite its size, the Vieira Araújo group was a family company, so it was one of his sons, António Vieira Araújo, who was appointed to assume the responsibilities of reactivation and dynamization of the new sector of the group. The first years of work were applied in the research and development of forms, equipment, production methods that allowed to further improve the quality of the products as well as to diversify the offer.Read their story