Newsletter headings of "Mercury"

Elena Ivanovna, Vitebsk carpets cele­brated its 120^th anniversary last year. The fact that the company has been successfully operating for such a long period is definitely a sign of ­quali­ty. Tell us, what is the key to such a stable successful work for many years?

Of course, for such a long, more than a century-old history, the company has always sought to move forward, develop, and even in very difficult times, implemented the most incredible ideas. But the generation of an idea, its successful implementation, and the adoption of related decisions is impossible without the most important thing – a team of like-minded professionals. At each stage of the company's history, the enterprise was managed by a team relevant to the time of its existence, maintaining the fine balance between adventure and reasonable professional risk, able to build a consistent action plan easy-to-understand for both employees and customers.

Currently, under free market conditions, only those manufacturers succeed that can adapt to the needs of the buyer in the shortest possible time and influence the market development by releasing both single and mass pro­ducts, and also have a diverse product range. Therefore, it is important to build a clear and timely communication between the manufacturer and the buyer, and get feedback from consu-mers.

Company's success depends on its most valuable asset – its people: employees, customers, partners, shareholders.

Even about 20 years ago, carpets, both on the floor and on the walls, were an integral part of any home. In recent years, there has been a trend towards minimalism in interior design: from the layout and arrangement of furniture to decorative elements. Can you tell us what role does the carpet play in the interior scene today? What are the today's carpet production trends, and how do you manage to follow them? What should be considered in order to get a really competitive product that is ­inte­rest­ing for the buyer?

In fact, carpets are becoming popular again, while the demand for carpets both on the floor and on the walls is growing. For, thanks to modern technologies and design solutions, carpets can be creatively used as decorative wall mats or murals and the interior environment centerpiece. There are many creative solutions in this area. For example, products decorated with ethnic drawings or patterns look very attractive and inspiring.

At the same time, it is important to keep in mind the practical dimension. After all, sound and thermal insulation is a relevant feature for almost any room. In this case, the carpet is the fastest and most practical solution compared to other floor coatings.

And a special line of relief carpets introduces engaging tactile and even orthopedic properties. The most popular in this line are children collections – not only bright and nice to the touch, but also contributing to the development of many valuable skills: logical thinking and coordination, color perception, memory, fine manual skills, and creativity.

But the main functional carpet characteristic is comfort. After all, carpets not only lay emphasis on the interior style, but also create the atmosphere to meet the customer's needs.

As for trends, these are mass phenome­na, ideas, and profiles that are born out of the needs of a large number of people. In the modern high-tech world, two main trends can be identified. First of all, there's a need for a person to always stay online, and secondly, there's a desire to feel "protected" from digital ­influence, to feel connected to nature. Since the carpet is in many ways the final part of the interior, which is designed to form a particular perception of space, when designing collections, we take into account such a division in trends. That is why today it is not difficult for consumers to choose classic or modern carpet designs suited to every fancy.

At the same time, in order to compete successfully, it is not enough just to "keep up with the trend", because many buyers choose a carpet not only in appearance, but also thoroughly study its technical features and qua­lity characteristics. Therefore, it is very important to monitor global trends in raw materials and new technological solutions, which, just like fashion, change annually. There are a lot of new ideas, many of which are implemented incredibl­y quickly. As a result, an innovative product, different from competitors, appears. It is important to "keep your finger on the pulse" and introduce novel­ties to the market.

And last but not least is high quality, because customer loyalty is very easy to lose. Therefore, we always strive to maintain high standards, which is confirmed by the certificates of compliance of the quality management system with ISO requirements, fire safety, the EAEU Declaration of Conformity, the European Oeko-Tex certificate.

What are the competitive advantages of carpets from Vitebsk?

Being the largest manufacturer and exporter of carpets in Belarus, our company combines two completely different carpet manufacturing technologies. This is our distinguishing charac­teristic. Few carpet manufacturers can boast owning not just one, but several technologies.

Tufting coverings are made at the up-to-date facility with a unique printing technology that simplifies the picture printing process as much as possible. At the same time, almost photographic image quality is provided.

The second no less important direction is the manufacture of woven carpets: high-pile "Shaggy" carpets, mats, "Shinill" carpets, products with combined pile and many other types. The use of modern ultra-soft yarn in the production has become a distinctive feature of the enterprise that significantly increases our competitiveness.

What is the production capacity today? What technologies and ­materials are used? What are their specific features?

The company produces over 20 million square meters of carpet products annually. The vast majority of carpets are made of polypropylene or polyamide thread. However, in recent years there has been a tendency to search for new types of raw materials.

We have started to conduct thorough research and experiments with new polymers on a regular basis. For example, acrylic thread is of synthetic origin, but cotton can be added to its composition. Today, this material is regularly used for a variety of purposes. The development of acrylic fiber production technology has made this polymer material as close as possible to the texture of natural sheep wool.

Another example is polyester thread. It looks much more natural. Although synthetic fibers are not as environmentally friendly as natural ones, polyester is one of the most eco-friendly ­synthetic fibers: its environmental friendliness is much higher than, for example, of nylon. The amount of energy used to create one kilogram of nylon fiber is twice as much as it would take to produce the same amount of polyester. In addition, polyester is easy to recycle. In fact, most of the polyester for the modern carpet industry is made from recycled plastic, plastic bottles. And this has a positive effect on the environment, helps to reduce the number of landfills and save resources.

Further to the environmental performance aspect, I would like to note that in 2020 the company's products successfully passed the European ­Oeko-Tex®Standard 100 certification. The Oeko-Tex certificate is only issued in the absence of prohibited and harmful substances. In addition, during certification, a check is carried out for the presence of substances that are recognized as harmful, but are not pro­hibited by law, such as, for example, some types of pesticides.

If the product has the Oeko-Tex label, you can be sure that every component of this product, i.e. every thread and other accessories, have been tested for the presence of hazardous substances and, therefore, the product is harmless to human health. In many cases, the limits for Oeko-Tex testing go beyond national and international requirements. The criteria catalog is updated at least once a year and supplemented based on the relevant scientific insights or legal requirements.

According to the results of the last year, JSC "Vitebsk Carpets" was recog­nized as the winner of the "Best Exporter of the Year" contest. What were the results of JSC "Vitebsk ­Carpets" operation in 2021? How is the export direction developing in general? In which markets "Vitebsk Carpets" are already represented today, and which ones are you planning to discover? What are the measures to expand the geography? How has the pandemic affected the work in the export direction?

Being an export-oriented enterprise (the share of exports is more than 90 percent), Vitebsk Carpets JSC manufactures products that are in high demand in Russia, Ukraine, ­Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, as well as in Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Estonia and Latvia. In 2021 alone, goods worth over USD 50 million were shipped outside Belarus. The export supplies growth rate reached 118 percent, and we managed to preserve quite a high level of exports per employee, which is double the light industry average.

Today we export products to 15 countries. There are plans to expand the export geography. There are potential customers in a number of European and Asian countries, as well as co­operation proposals from the USA and Canada.

The world has been changing rapidly in recent years, and it is obvious that 2021 has become indicative for those who failed to learn their lessons in connection with the pandemic. The global transition to e-commerce is still underway.

It would seem that carpets are the ­products that should be difficult to get used to in the online retail segment, ­because when choosing this type of flooring, "live" visual and tactile perception is more important than ever. However, the launch of our own online store and promotion in social networks indicate the opposite – catchy advertising and attentive feedback stimulate the consumer to buy a carpet of any size. By the way, customers from ­Canada found the products they were interested in in our online store and were satisfied with the quality.

Is there any market-based product differentiation, i.e. individual, special orders for specific countries? Or are customers' requirements and needs generally similar in all export regions?

Customers' preferences are generally quite similar, but there are clear differences between countries in terms of color choices. In Asia, for example, deep green, ruby and brown designs are in demand. In addition, tactile sensation is very important for buyers in this region – the carpet should be dense and resistant to deformations.

Europeans are more inclined to Scandinavian coloristic and minimalistic design. Additionally, the focus on environmental friendliness and care for nature is of high priority when choosing a product.

And what is the situation on the domestic market? How did the acquisition of JSC "Brest Carpets" affect your activities?

Despite the fact that the domestic market is very limited, the distribution network of more than 20 branded stores allows us to study the market in detail, the needs and wishes of customer­s, so that to identify the most pro­mising production development areas, form the demand, create an attractive ­product range, and improve the quality of services.

In 2020, we took a confident step towards deepening consumer confidence by creating a production site based on the "Brest Carpets" facilities. We purchased weaving equipment and industrial facilities – ready-to-go technology for the production of Belgian quality carpets. It is important to note that the production sites in Brest have expanded our technological capacity: Brest equipment makes it possible for us to develop niche products heading towards a more expensive segment. Today we can say with confidence that the Brest Carpets brand will be preserved as a sub-brand of our company and will have its further development in the premium segment.

What are your development plans for 2022: further modernization, new designs, materials? What are you ­going to surprise and delight your cus­tomers with?

Paying close attention to the changes taking place in the market, we try to move forward and adjust the assortment in accordance with consumer priorities. Expanding the range of products offered, we do not stop at the classic products only. For example, the current market trend is an increase in the share of small-scale carpeting mats, door and bedside mats, as well as bath mats. At the same time, for such a product format, it is often possible to choose a base – standard or anti-slip. In this connection, in 2022 we plan to upgrade the equipment and produce marketable carpets on an anti-slip basis, which, without a doubt, will be successful in the domestic market and abroad.

And a question from an average buyer: how to choose the right carpet so that it pleases the eye for a long time and decorates the interior? What should one pay attention to?

There are a lot of reviews and guides on this topic on the Internet, but they are all quite large and represent an opinion limited by the imagination and experience of the author. Therefore, when choosing the products of ­"Vitebsk Carpets", one should first of all assume the fact that the carpet should complement the interior and make it feel like home. Our product range will definitely meet the required color and texture preferences. And we do guarantee the quality, safety and durability of our products!