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2021 is a special year for Sampedro: the brand reaches an historic milestone – a century of existence – after a difficult year that has been successfully surpassed. In 2020, the company registered a 16.7% growth in its turnover, with exports increasing by 89%, and bed textiles sales growing by 85%. Bath articles sales grew by 10%, and tableware by 5%.
“We are a company that has a lot of investment capacity, and with a solid position in international markets. Currently, we export to 36 countries, generate business and wealth for Portugal, and privilege the small customer and the personalized sale over the mass sale. Sampedro creates value and employment”, says Simão Gomes, president of Sampedro’s administration.
Founded in 1921, Sampedro is a 100% Portuguese family business, with more than 160 qualified employees. Recently, it reached the end of the first phase of a strategic investment plan in innovation and modernization that amounts to 15 million euros.
For Simão Gomes, the modernization of the company’s technological park must be continuous. “We want to further improve the working conditions of all employees, increase the installed production capacity, and raise the efficiency and flexibility of the processes. We want to finance new production units, whose services are outsourced abroad, and invest in energy recovery and saving models that make the company self-sufficient”.
Another project for a short-term future is the investment in the company’s R&D skills, with the goal of developing new products, and conquer new markets.