Tedim, tissue and cleansing: story of an excellence from South Italy

Born in 2006 as a producer of single-ply napkins and toilet paper, in a few years Tedim succeded in the market, first in Campania and then in the whole South of Italy, supplanting national brands thanks to the excellent value for money of their products. The exponential growth of the business and the product range allowed the company to enter the detergency, home care and personal care sector in 2016. Tedim, who last year invested in three OMET TV 840 lines, has grown with an ambitious vision and an effective and forward-looking management: their story is told in this interview by Nunzio Moccia, Product Marketing Manager of the company.

Mr. Moccia, tell us about Tedim’s grow path and its most important results.
Tedim was born in 2006 with the paper production and converting. At the beginning we had few machines, and we produced only single-ply napkins and toilet paper under the Corona brand. Gradually we expanded the range by introducing new brands: Inpiù, Expert, Volè for the paper unit; Dinamo, Lusso, Biancofà, Elle for the cleansing sector we entered in 2016.

What did allow such a rapid growth in rather difficult years for the general economy?
Good products and private labels. In 2006-2007 the market was dominated by a few national brands. We launched our own brand in Campania, and we were the first. People liked it because we offered high quality and affordable prices compared to the national brands: our exponential growth was starting. This allowed big profit margins and we could increase production and create new brands.

From a commercial point of view, what’s your positioning on the market?
We only sell in Italy and in particular in the South: Campania, Sicily, Puglia, Basilicata and Lazio. We have not yet reached other regions or countries: these are our next objectives.

How is your production organized today? What are your main product lines?
In recent years, the strong increase in production led us to purchase new machines and we had to move to a new plant of 20 thousand square meters in 2016. Now we are working with three OMET lines for single ply napkins (purchased last year), an OMET line for two-ply napkins, one industrial line and two lines of toilet paper/kitchen towels, one for rolls and another machine to make a particular napkin of half a meter size, with different packaging.

What reasons did led you to invest in several OMET lines?
We purchased 4 OMET lines in the last 3 years to satisfy our increase in production. Our older machines had limited performance. OMET lines have an excellent daily productivity, at high speed.

What do you appreciate most about OMET brand?
Certainly the productivity, and the strong structure of the machines. Thanks to their features, we have been able to satisfy the growing market demand. With the two-ply napkins line we had to contact OMET service and they have always been effective and available, promptly solving any kind of problem. This is very important for a converter: we often talk about the product, but sometimes it is thanks to the service if we decide to continue a collaboration.

What growing prospects do you see for your company?
We certainly expect an increase of our presence on a national level. The goal is to develop our brands, by avoiding outsourcing and investing in communication and marketing to establish our most important brand, Corona, in other regions. In Campania and in the southern regions the market is quite saturated so we are expanding in other areas, first with the sales network and then with the production.

How do you face market changes and innovation?
We rely heavily on innovation. Corona has undergone a restyling of brand, packaging and quality of the product. Today some of our products have a more delicate texture, they are more resistant and softer, and we have also focused on aesthetics to improve the visual impact. It is always a private label product, but we have invested heavily in quality.

How do you see the tissue sector at the moment and in the future?
I think that paper market hasn’t any risk of crisis and instead is registering a growth that offers important opportunities to operators. The work is continuous and the market is solid, there are no swings that can prelude a crisis. But I see development opportunities outside our traditional territory.