Personalization of products marks Sampedro's customers' preferences

Sampedro has noticed “a greater tendency to personalize products, particularly with embroidery or monograms made on the loom”. Diogo Gomes, Sampedro's managing director, explains that “a few years ago customers bought more plain items, but now they want the hotel's image to be reflected in its textile products”.

Sustainability is another factor that has been “increasingly noticed”, with customers questioning “the country of origin of the raw materials, but also the durability of the products they buy”. Products in 100% cotton, with a count of over 200 threads, are the most sought after by the hotel segment, along with 500 thread count satin, which, according to Diogo Gomes, is Sampedro's “best seller”.

Currently, within the hotel segment, 34% of Sampedro's turnover is dedicated to the national territory and the remaining 66% to international clients. While the hospitality textile industry in Portugal “has been badly affected by the pandemic” - with Sampedro reporting a 58% drop in sales to the hospitality sector in 2020 compared to 2018 - Diogo Gomes says that the company has already returned to 2018 turnover levels: “In the hospitality segment, we closed last year 25% above that figure,” he says.

The aim now is to “double sales to hotels by 2030”, which is why Sampedro has strengthened its sales team “especially in the hotel segment. As Diogo Gomes says, “we are currently hoping to supply a client who recently approached us about opening a hotel in Singapore and another that will open at the end of this year, the beginning of next year, in one of the most emblematic squares in the city of Porto.”

See the interview here.