Letícia Sperb Masselli (Abicalçados): There is a shift in the market

When the pandemic started there was a moment to adjust, to understand it first and to see where to go. Many questions arose and we all needed to learn how to live with it. But now that the worst is gone, I would say we have a big opportunity ahead of us. The world is shifting, is changing and a lot is happening in Brazil in order to grow our footwear industry, (in) worldwide (terms), I mean.

This nearshoring opportunity in America - in South America and North America - as our exports are growing a lot into these countries. We also see some growth in Europe. And due to that we are facing a big challenge trying to increase our production capacity, because our domestic market is very strong and is becoming strong and strong again and we only export a part of what we produce: now is around 12%. I think we can grow to around 15% of our production. But still the exports are growing very fast. If you look to the period until April this year, and compare it to the pre-pandemic, we have grown more than 30%. So, that is a lot. If you look to the United States alone, we have grown by 100%, and it is our main destination. So, it is a big deal.

There is a shift in the market. I think most clients and international brands are looking to diversity in terms of suppliers, which is something strategic: they want to look outside of Asia, as well. So, for us and other countries this is a big opportunity.

Our focus on sustainability: there has been some decades now that we are investing in sustainability. We have a certification called Sustainable Origin that looks into processes and into sustainability as a whole, not only environmentally, but also, economically, socially, and into all other elements of sustainability. And this is not only for our footwear factories; the entire supply chain is considered into this program which is called Sustainable Origin.