BRAZIL - In 2020 Impress celebrates 20 years since the installation of its plant in Brazil. The German brand that invented rotogravure for decorative papers with more than 90 years of history, arrived in the Latin American market in 2000, only to become a few years later a leader in the segment of decorative surfaces in the region.
“Before the plant was set up in Brazil, all products sold in Latin America were imported from the Spanish unit, since we did not have a local production”, explains João Martinez, CEO - Managing Director of Impress Decor Brasil. “In a period when local industries still depended heavily on the supply of European products, in addition to facilitating the logistics issue within the continent, the Brazilian unit provided that Latin companies - from Argentina to Mexico - had their demands met in a more personalized way, including in relation to the creation of new designs.”
In this way, the Brazilian design team has become a reference in surveying trends over the years, including exporting concepts and information to the European market. “Today we have the technology and local expertise to explore the development of any type of material that the customer needs”, emphasizes Martinez.
Today Impress's production capacity in Brazil is over 150 million square meters per year of finish foil and decorative paper.
But it did not stop there. In 2013, Impress went even further, with the implementation of a new business unit in its factory, starting to offer the complete service of printing and impregnating its decorative surfaces. “Eliminating high investments for our customers and providing much more practicality for their daily lives, we soon had to purchase a second impregnator. Currently, we work with almost 100% capacity taken throughout the year ”, says the CEO. Changes that also required the expansion of the staff, which went from 50 in the early 2000’s to around 150 this year, also impacting the economy and development of the municipality of Araucária (PR).
Throughout a rich trajectory of successful developments, many designs created by Impress became references in the segment of decorative surfaces in Latin America. We are talking about two structures made of oak wood patterns, which have consolidated themselves as some of the most requested among panel manufacturers over the years, whether for MDF, MDP, or high-pressure laminates: Roble Alsace and Santana Oak.
Two decades of evolution translated into customer loyalty and partnerships that, like Impress, have only grown over the years. “Even in times of crisis, Impress has always relied on the market at hand. All these changes in the scenario leave us very hopeful and we already have ambitious plans in the short and medium-term, such as the acquisition of a new printer and a new impregnator in the next three years”, reveals Martinez.