hat are the company size indicators?

In terms of turnover, we hold to separate two areas: the productive – which comes from our core, the production of yarn – and the business, buying and selling yarn, which greatly influences invoicing values, but is not core. Since we are associated with Mundifios, we have a lot of synergies, and this area is one of them. We have a turnover of around ten million euros. Last year, in a perfectly abnormal situation, we had a very good first quarter, I would say one of the best ever, and then we had an abrupt stop.

Did you stop production?

We decided to stop production for a month. It wasn’t exclusively due to lack of orders, it was due to instability, which could have had several outcomes: default, delivery delays for orders already placed by customers… We began working in June at 50%, and the activity resumed fully from September on. It has been a huge surprise: 2021 is being our best year ever, which does not cease to amaze us, given the international situation, the drop in consumption and the confinements. We know that the online market paid off – but it didn’t make up for all the closed stores and drop in consumption.

The recovery is underway?

Demand has been extremely high – we’ve stopped trying to figure out why. We have been managing in the short and medium term, always attentive because everything can change at a moment’s notice – it only takes a mutation [of the virus] that is resistant to the vaccines and everything is derailed. We have to be alert and reactive, as we did last year.

What are the 10 million of 2020 worth compared to 2019?

Even with the stop and with us working three months at 50%, we managed – also through the sale of some stock – to close 2020 with a 2% or 3% decrease in turnover in comparison with the previous year.

This year, will you exceed the 10 million mark?

We hope to surpass it, but we don’t want to make too many predictions. We will definitely have a better year than 2020 and even better than 2019, we believe.

You employ 120 people. In terms of exports, how are you?

The exports were a pleasant surprise. Inovafil is a project that was designed to support the Portuguese industry and the textile cluster in the north of the country, which needs a spinning mill like Inovafil making differentiated and value-added products.

And suddenly the foreigners came…

It was said that European textiles were dead, but we realized that Europe itself needs yarn and differentiating products, not commodities, and installed capacity. The new programs that are being implemented in Europe will not stop the globalization process, but will change it. The dogmas that said that production would move entirely to Asia and that Europe would limit itself to buying and selling things with margins – design, conception…

And the seal…

The European seal. This past year has clearly exposed Europe to the risk of its dependence on Asia, and of the giants that are beginning to dominate the world’s economy.

There was a political risk clearly negotiated by Europe, don’t you think?

Yes, we are talking about the pandemic, but in the future we are going to talk about other circumstances that will be similar to this one, be it storms, political decisions, system changes… We believe that because we have the best European textile chain, even better than Italy, we can serve the best and work for them. We export about 50% of production essentially to Europe, France and Germany, and to the United States – to non-conventional markets, markets other than clothing. Furthermore, w

Let’s get to that part. Threads for thermal energy, vitamin E release, anti-ageing, healing accelerators, moisture management, thermoregulation. Are we in a textile company or in an alchemy laboratory?

We are in a textile company, believe it. If we ever put our team to work in a monoproduct, they would lose their motivation easily. The team is addicted to new products, new tasks. Mundifios realized that: if it wanted to respond to new challenges, such as sportswear and workwear, it would have to produce small quantities, without stockings, and the response time had to be fast.

This all results from the investment you make in the development area?

We knew from the beginning that our products had to speak for ourselves, and that our service had to be flawless. We are RDI [research] certified, but we wanted to go further: we created a project with the University of Minho and formed an R&D group whose function is to search for materials – in connection with partners, whether they are suppliers, licence holders or customers. We map the level of suppliers and existing fibres, we work closely with a group of fibre producers who come to test at Inovafil at an early stage, and we have a great connection with producers and their developments. Universities, technology centres, CITEVE, CeNTI, and customers are part of it all. 

What is hiding in Inovafil’s labs right now?

From what can be revealed, we are part of a giant step towards the sustainability of the global textile industry. A European project led by H&M and Adidas put together a European consortium – from companies to universities, which we integrate – that is working with fibres developed in Northern Europe, which is at the forefront of everything sustainable. The Nordic countries, which have a lot of know-how in wood, are the leaders in cellulosic fibres. In other words: from wood pulp, we go to cellulosic pulp, and then fibres. The process is to dissolve the clothes, extract the cellulose, and make fibres again, such as Infinitive Fibre. We are also part of a consortium led by TMG that is studying non-Newtonian fluids – together with CITEVE and CeNTI.

What is your annual investment in R&D?
It’s hard to quantify, but it’s always in the hundreds of thousands of euros.

You have talked about University of Minho, CITEVE and CeNTI. How do you assess the Portuguese research abilities?

They are clearly at top level, full of very capable people, and above all very accessible. Inovafil’s path is a path of innovation and partnerships, with customers, suppliers and with science – in order to launch cutting-edge products. And we still have to learn how to create and protect our products, and learn how to form value chains between Portuguese companies.