Results were also boosted by the sale of other products such as toilet paper rolls, napkins, sanitary towels and other hygiene products.
For the positive performance of the brand, which belongs to Sociedade Industrial e Comercial, Importação e Exportação (SICIE), it contributed to the increase in production at the factory, located in the municipality of Viana and the 'lifting' of the restrictions imposed so far by covid-19.
A large part of the diapers, the brand's best-selling product, arrives in DR Congo and Congo Brazzaville, although not directly from Suave. "We have never been direct exporters of our products to these countries, which represents a disadvantage for us as a factory because it does not allow us to better control the destination of our products and obtain greater income", admits Sameer Jaffer, Suave's CEO, to Expansão.
What happens is that some retailers, even informal ones, buy diapers in distribution stores that the brand has in the province, especially in border areas.
Thus, and as a way of combating this problem, the group intends to open stores in Lusaka (Zambia), Brazzaville (Republic of Congo) and Kinshasa (DR Congo) this year, the newspaper said.
Suave has a production capacity of 1200 million disposable diapers per year (for children and adults), in 15 assembled production lines. However, at the moment production is at 65 percent of capacity, which corresponds to 780 million units per year. In addition to diapers, toilet paper rolls, napkins, sanitary towels, wet wipes and other hygiene products are produced.
Employing almost 2000 workers, the plans also include the implementation of a third production line, which will coincide with the opening of distribution stores abroad.
