Tell us about the company, how did it all start?
It all started with an excursion. It was the summer of 2003 and my husband and I decided to take a bike ride on the island of Ven outside Landskrona. We had packed a picnic and brought a box of white wine with us. It was a hot summer and after an hour or so of cycling and sightseeing it was finally time for a picnic, we settled down on the beach and started setting up the table. Everything was perfect except that the wine now had a temperature of +20 degrees and was largely undrinkable. We made some awkward attempts to cool it at the water’s edge but with no luck as the sea had the same temperature as the air. I wondered if there was a cooler bag for boxed wine – and posed the question to my husband. When I got home I started looking for a cooler bag for boxed wine on the market and there wasn’t one that I could find. I decided to make one myself then and there. The sewing box and measuring tape went out, and after several prototypes, I found a solution I was happy with and it is the one we still manufacture today.
What type of products do you sell and which market do you target?
Today, our products consist of items that are used in the kitchen or for table settings. We try to provide products that are unique and sometimes a bit niche. This is where our knowledge and experience from the hotel and restaurant industry has helped us a lot. We target well-stocked kitchen stores, but also lifestyle stores and online stores.
What identifies a good collaboration between supplier and store?
I believe that good collaborations are based on seeing each store as unique as they have different customers, assortments and geographical locations. The best is always when you can have a personal meeting, to understand the store better. For us as a supplier, it is important to train the stores on our various product offerings in order to simplify their interaction with the end customer. It is also incumbent that we are available to our stores at all times , to be able to answer their questions to make it easy for them to place orders.
What is the most enjoyable thing about running your business?
The answer is probably that the most enjoyable part of running any business is the mix of success and failure. It’s about the joy when a product comes to life and that the customers appreciate it, but also about the desperation when you receive 2000 cooler bags that have a pattern that has been sewn upside down. This creates a lovely dynamic that is a bit addictive, something I think I share with many who run their own businesses. The thing that has inspired me, and continues to inspire me, is that I have been able to meet so many amazing people over the years. We have shared experiences, helped each other and given each other encouragement – which makes my job as fun as it gets!