Pehart Group enters the Away from Home products market and launches the SOVIO brand

Pehart Group, a leader in the production and processing of household paper products in Romania and one of the largest tissue paper manufacturers in Southeast Europe, is entering the Away from Home products market. The Romanian company is launching the SOVIO brand, which will initially offer 18 products, including paper towels of various sizes and shapes, paper sheets for cosmetic and medical cabinets, napkins, and toilet paper in formats dedicated to Away from Home spaces.

The products from the SOVIO brand are intended for use in the health and medical care sector, restaurants, hotels, public institutions, the food industry, and industrial spaces, as well as in public restroom facilities. Pehart Group’s investment in the new conversion line, which has been operational since the end of last year, exceeds 8 million euros.

“One of the major business objectives for the past year was Pehart Group’s debut on the Away from Home market. SOVIO, our newly launched brand, adheres to the quality standards that our customers have come to expect. The paper has a high degree of purity and strength, and the technologies equipped in the conversion line provide the products with a high capacity for absorption, elasticity, and increased finesse. We use only FSC-certified cellulose in production, a fibrous blend of coniferous, deciduous, and eucalyptus cellulose, without any additional recycled material or mechanical fibres. And because it comes from forests specifically grown for paper production, it has no negative impact on the environment. At the moment, the SOVIO brand is intended for the domestic market, but in the medium term, we also consider the foreign markets”, says Gabriel Stanciu, General Manager of Pehart Group.

“The SOVIO brand offers a personalized approach to cleanliness, as it is designed to meet the needs of different customer categories. We consider the products grouped under this brand a culmination of Pehart Group’s nearly 200 years of experience. The SOVIO brand is also an example of sustainable practices in the industry. In addition to responsible and ecological cellulose sourcing, the machines producing tissue paper have been technologically upgraded in the last two years to optimize energy efficiency”, explains Ovidiu Hoza, National & Export Sales Manager of Pehart Group and manager of the AfH division.

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Moreover, in 2023, Pehart Group made significant investments of over 20 million euros to diversify the portfolio, increase export capacity, and enhance the energy efficiency of production lines. Portfolio diversification has been a constant trend in recent years, with the company launching wet tissue paper products under the Pufina brand, currently a niche segment in the market but on an upward trend.

Consistently focused on sustainability, Pehart invested 12 million euros last year to optimize the energy performance of production lines in its two factories in Petrești-Sebeș and Dej. The modernization and technological upgrade process for tissue paper production aimed at reducing energy consumption by 20% for each machine, with a company-wide energy resource savings reaching 10%. The process of upgrading production capacities will continue in 2024, with the goal of achieving premium product quality with optimized energy consumption.

“These are the stages of an ambitious development plan through which we aim to strengthen Pehart Group’s position in both the domestic and European markets. We aspire to continue investments in our factories, employing state-of-the-art technologies that help us achieve superior quality at competitive production costs. Moreover, we are aware that, both nationally and beyond borders, the premium quality of our products is the most effective promoter. We are confident that Pehart’s newest brand, SOVIO, will receive the same appreciation from customers in the Away from Home industry”, adds Gabriel Stanciu.

The company, whose history dates back nearly 200 years, is the oldest paper factory in Romania. Pehart Group produces approximately 40% of all paper products available in Romanian stores. Annually, the factories in Petrești-Sebeș and Dej produce 100,000 tons of tissue paper, with a processing capacity for finished products exceeding 75,000 tons. Currently, 35% of the total production is exported, while the rest is sold domestically.