São Paulo – Miriam Pires Papéis, a small producer of artistic ecological paper, was born exporting. That was in 1997, when the company owner, artist Miriam Pires, decided to make formal her artistic production of paper from natural banana, castor plant, pine apple, cane, maize and papyrus, operating in her back yard until then.
"We received a large order for paper from an importer in France and that was the push that was needed for me to open the company," explained Maria Helena Pires, Miriam’s sister, responsible for management of the factory. "We soon made contact with importers in the United States and Spain," she recalled.
According to Maria Helena, the three countries no longer stopped buying and the company grew on the domestic market, winning clients in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul. "Our clients include stationery shops specialized in sophisticated products, graphic arts and binding, most in São Paulo," said the businesswoman. The paper is normally used for production of wedding invitations, notebooks, diaries and even decoration objects like lamp shades, picture holders and boxes for packing.
Exports are currently responsible for 20% of company revenues and, according to Maria Helena, there are many opportunities abroad. "Our product is much appreciated abroad," she pointed out. "Six years ago we received a request for a price estimate for some Arab importers who visited us at a fair in São Paulo, but negotiations did not develop," she said.
The company offers banana and cotton paper in over 30 colours and ten textures, whereas the other fibres are used in their natural colour, not pigmented. The company has sold as much as 10,000 sheets a month, but, in general, monthly production is around 5,000 sheets, traded in several sizes and colours, some exclusively for specific clients.
As it is artistic and ecological paper, the only phase of production that involves mechanical processes is separation of the fibre for drying. The rest of the work is developed by six workers. The quality of the paper is guaranteed by the use of imported pigments, which lose colour less than those extracted from local vegetation.
According to Maria Helena, the demand for finished products generated the interest in establishment of a workshop for transformation of the paper into packages, cards and picture albums. "Production of paper at the factory and transformation into a finished product at the workshop would certainly open new business opportunities and possible partnerships," she said.
Contact
Telephone: (+55 62) 3241.2704
E-mail: pirespapeis@hotmail.com
*Translated by Mark Ament