Companies

Portuguese Savana bets on a greener future

May 6, 2024 Portugal

Savana Calçado, which specialises in making children’s shoes, has been investing in sustainability over time, not only by launching new products but also by changing the way it makes shoes

Founded in the late 1900s, the Portuguese company has built a reputation for quality children’s footwear. But in recent years, Savana has broadened its horizons to include a new range of products exported to the world’s most demanding markets.

The focus on the New.ve brand, designed, created and produced in Portugal, results from more than three decades of experience. “We have taken on the responsibility of being part of the change in the world’s behaviour towards our future and a more sustainable and circular industry”. “Freedom, equality, innovation, the circular economy and more sustainable fashion are part of the brand’s and our company’s values”, says the company’s commercial director.

As part of the Bioshoes4all, a project supported by the PRR, Savana “has adapted how it works”. Ongoing investments range from “the purchase of new solar panels and new, more environmentally friendly production types of equipment, better management of our waste to awareness campaigns to reduce, reuse and recycle all types of materials”.

For Luísa Silva, “sustainability can be seen as both a challenge and an opportunity”. In any case, “a paradigm shift requires significant changes in production and consumption patterns”. The initial investment costs “in sustainable technologies and infrastructure can be challenging for companies”. On the other hand, “innovation in new sustainable ideas can create opportunities for new products, services and types of business models”.

Strategically, Savana will continue prioritising “the foreign market to promote a greater export-dynamic, differentiating ourselves through service, quality, values and product”. “All markets will be crucial in the near future, especially those that are new for our company, such as the US”, points out Luísa Silva. “The market conditions themselves are forcing us to reinvent ourselves, create new concepts, innovative solutions and, above all, the environmental issue, which will be a major challenge”.

Image Credits: portugueseshoes.pt

Portugal Components Footwear Investment Portuguese Shoes Sustainability