Relocate the production of Basque pelota to the Basque Country

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Bistak kalitate handiko pilotak ekoizten ditut, eta osoki Euskal Herrian.

Bista is a brand that encompasses all activities linked to Basque pelota carried out by the company Somocap, which is located in the small Basque town of Jatxou.

Thanks to the quality of its products, Bista aims to capture the hearts and minds of pelotaris (Basque pelota players) as a means of fighting against the influx of balls imported from far away, bringing the manufacture of Basque pelota balls back to the Basque Country and, as a result, helping to boost the local economy.

Bista balls were developed by Somocap's R&D department, guided by the expertise of some of the best Basque pelota players in the region. The balls are manufactured in Somocap's plants.

Somocap has over 20 years' experience moulding parts using rubber, plastic and compound materials, mainly for cutting-edge industries such as the aeronautics, rail and health sectors.

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Sensations and performances

Bista's logo represents an eye looking at a target, and refers to both the game and life itself. Through its high-quality products, Bista aims to help all players reach their full potential. We all have goals in life - professional, emotional, sporting, etc. Bista's goal is to manufacture hard-wearing products that offer good sensations and trajectory accuracy, so that you can enjoy your time on the kantxa to the full.

The quality of our balls stems from SOMOCAP's expertise in rubber moulding processes.


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Made In Basque Country

The creation of this brand reflects our desire to be smart about production: surely it is only logical to use Basque products for a Basque sport? Thus, as far as possible, we always try to select suppliers, sponsors and subcontractors from the Basque Country.

Buying Bista products therefore means contributing to the local Basque economy.


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The hallmarks of Basque culture

Bista's values are imbued with the hallmarks of Basque culture: solidarity, authenticity, honesty and a desire to enjoy life to the full. Bista wants to help keep Basque culture alive, and to this end has brought different professionals from the Basque Country together at the service of one of the key components of this culture: Basque pelota.


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High-tech black/yellow balls

Alongside the smell of rubber, SOMOCAP's production plants are characterised by high-level knowledge and expertise capable of bringing the human and technological worlds together. CAO 3D, Mould machining, Moulding with ultra-modern presses and quality control.

Although it may appear simple, manufacturing a Basque pelota ball requires a high degree of specialist knowledge.

The first stage is to define the required characteristics, and at SOMOCAP we believe the most qualified people to do this are the pelotaris themselves!

Around fifteen different ingredients are then combined in precise amounts to ensure the sought-after characteristics: bounce control and stability, impact and durability.

Moulding expertise is essential for guaranteeing the reproducibility of our balls.

At SOMOCAP, the guidelines used for manufacturing balls are the same as those used for manufacturing cutting-edge products for the aeronautics or health industries, and all products are subjected to the same exhaustive control processes.

  • 1995
    SOMOCAP is set up

    SOMOCAP is set up

    In 1995, when the company he was at went bankrupt, Jean-Michel Sorhouet decided to join forces with nine other colleagues to purchase its machinery with a view to setting up a rubber and plastic moulding firm (SOciété de MOulage de CAoutchoucs et Plastiques). Thus, SOMOCAP was born, located in the heart of the Basque Country, in Jatxou, a small town with just 1,100 inhabitants.

    Solid rubber pelota balls have been part of the company's portfolio of products right from the very beginning, and indeed, soon after it was set up, SOMOCAP became the region's leading manufacturer of rubber balls.

  • 1999

    Pressure from Asian competitors, weakening of the market

    In an attempt to increase their profit margin, SOMOCAP's distributors working in the Basque pelota market began to turn to Asian suppliers. The small Basque company lost 80% of its market share and pelotaris began playing with Basque pelota balls manufactured far far away from the Basque Country.

  • 2007

    A new series of high-quality balls is developed

    Basque pelota players began to complain about the poor quality of the balls, and SOMOCAP began work formulating a new range of high-quality products designed to satisfy their needs and win back its market.

    Thanks to the work carried out in close collaboration with some of the region's best pelotaris, the company achieved its goal.

  • 2008

    The new numbered balls are launched onto the market

    The new balls all carried a number (from 0 to 4) in order to distinguish more clearly between the different bounce characteristics.

    At that time, SOMOCAP was the only ball manufacturer in the North Basque Country.

  • 2014
    The Bista brand is created

    The Bista brand is created

    In order to distinguish the balls as being 'Made in the Basque Country' and encourage pelotaris to identify more with them, SOMOCAP decided to create a brand dedicated exclusively to Basque pelota. Thus, Bista was born, with the name chosen referring to players' strategic acuity. From this moment on, the numbered balls became the X Series balls, with the X standing for xilo (the left-hand wall in trinquete courts).

  • 2016
    The Bista logo is printed on all balls

    The Bista logo is printed on all balls

    Our pelota balls became extremely popular, with proof of their success being the fact that fakes began to appear on the market. Our competitors, who continued to manufacture overseas, began to print numbers on their balls too. Since there was nothing we could do to avoid this, we decided to print our logo on all our balls, to distinguish them from imitations. Hence our logo (of which we are very proud) began to appear on all our products.

SOMOCAPFédération Française de Pelote Basque
Bista Pilota

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Bista

Contact us

Bista | SOMOCAP
Plaza alde
64480 Jatsu
(Lapurdi)

+33 (0)5 59 93 11 56

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