Saplex, a manufacturer of garbage and freezer bags, has increased its turnover by 20% in 2022, to 84 million euros. The company owned by the Folch family recovered profitability, with earnings of 250,000 euros, compared to losses of 2.3 million the previous year due to the sharp increase in production costs.
The increase in these costs (electricity, raw materials…) in 2021 and part of 2022 was “brutal”, explains Cecilia MartÃ, Saplex’s General Director of Marketing, which is why they have focused a large part of their efforts on reversing a situation ” exceptional”. Now, with the return to profits and forecasts to continue growing, the company finds itself in a moment of “contained optimism”.
One of the keys to its expansion is in production for Mercadona, the leader in distribution in Spain and with intense expansion in Portugal. Saplex is the supplier of garbage bags for the Juan Roig group, which it markets under the Bosque Verde brand –it also manufactures for other companies-, which has helped it achieve a 52% market share for these products in Spain.
Hand in hand with Mercadona, Saplex has also grown strongly in Portugal, where it landed in 2019. The Portuguese market is “strategic” for the company’s international growth, where it has already exceeded a 7% share thanks to the 39 stores that the Valencian distribution group had at the end of 2022. France, Italy, the Netherlands, Peru or Colombia are other countries where the Catalan company sells its products.
The company will accompany the growth forecast for the coming years with an expansion of its production capacity in Canovellas (Vallès Oriental), where its facilities are located. It is currently in the process of adapting a new 4,000 m2 plant next to the existing one and located in the Can Castells industrial estate in the town.
“The new plant will house part of the production of garbage bags, as well as new silos and warehouses,” says MartÃ. Since the acquisition of the site in 2020, the company has invested more than 3 million euros in this expansion, “which will allow Saplex to ensure its growth for the next ten years.”
