Internationalisation

At the end of 2015 a French factory for Renova

0
2194

The Portuguese group Renova plans to construct its first production site outside Portugal. The new factory will be situated in Saint-Yorre, in France, and should be commissioned at the end of 2015. The industrial site which is situated in the central southern Alvernia region, and which was closed in December 2013, will therefore gain new life. The factory has been sold by the Sodiaal dairy chain (Candia, Entremont, Yoplait) to the Portuguese specialist which produces personal hygiene items such as toilet paper, paper towels and handkerchiefs.

This investment in France will significantly improve Renova’s capacity to respond to requests from the market in central and northern Europe. The transaction amount has not been announced, but the management of the Portuguese group, noted for its gaudy and unusually coloured toilet rolls, tells us that the new site will create about thirty jobs by the end of the year, which is the time frame for the reopening of the factory. Renova, which already has two production sites in Portugal, employing 600 people, will produce toilet rolls and kitchen rolls at Saint-Yorre, in a single productionline. The products will be marketed in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and then also in northern Europe.

The Renova group had a turnover of 140 million Euros in 2014 and with this investment outside the Portuguese borders it is on the path towards significant internationalisation. The group already sells its products to the main French retailers (Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan, Monoprix), and gets 10% of its sales from France. In 2013 it started to penetrate the mass market, through the creation of more accessible products, whilst luxury items (sold at a price of up to five times more compared with traditional rolls) are reserved for very selective distribution channels (concept store, museums, and also «trendy» places»).