São Paulo – Linhas Bonfio, a traditional maker of threads and fibres, headquartered in São Paulo, wants to double its exports over the next two years. To reach the objective, the company established by the Bonduki family, which is of Syrian origin, should invest in expansion of sales to traditional markets, like the countries of Latin America, and also expand into North Africa.
"We have already made some contact with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, and with Syria (in the Middle East), but the proximity with India and China ends up making negotiations more complicated," said Alfredo Bonduki, CEO of Bonfio. "But we have great interest in exporting to the Arab market and plan to continue seeking opportunities in the region." Exports are currently responsible for 5% of company revenues.
According to Bonduki, the Bonfio internationalisation process began in 2001, when the company started participating in the Texbrasil, an export incentive program established by the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (Abit) in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
"We were initially guided to adapt the package and the products. We started exports through the Latin America and, little by little, grew, be it due to participation in international fairs [in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina], or through distributors and local representatives," he explained.
The brand currently exports to 23 countries in Latin America and has partnerships with a company in North America, American & Efird (A&E), one of the global leaders in production of threads. "Apart from that, we started working with suppliers, mainly in Asia, to improve the quality of the products," he pointed out. Bonfio imports synthetic filaments from Asia and cotton from Egypt.
Bonfio has been on the market for 67 years, produces 200 tonnes of thread a month and employs 350 people.
History
The history of Linhas Bonfio began in 1941, when brothers Emílio and Georges Bonduki established a thread and fibre distributor, close to 25 March street, a traditional trade centre in the centre of São Paulo. In the late 1950s, Emílio set up a small thread factory in the city. Some time later, a spinning company was established in the city of Americana, in the interior of the state of São Paulo.
The company currently has four industrial units and supplies over 5,000 clients all over Brazil.
Contact
Site: www.linhabonfio.com.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 3359 3333
E-mail: vendas@bonfio.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
