SWEDBRAND Group, the packaging partner to some of the world’s most iconic brands, today announced the opening of its brand-new converting plant in Poland, Swedbrand Poland Sp z o.o., for premium customized rigid boxes for luxury products. Supported by a global production network of owned and partner-run facilities, the state-of-the-art Gdansk plant is operated by experienced staff and is able to deliver significantly reduced cost and time for intra-Europe delivery. The facility is managed by Bogdan Putko, who has 35 years of experience in the Polish packaging market, and is known and respected by many of the world’s most famous brands for his deep knowledge and expertise in all areas of packaging production.
While we have excellent premium packaging capabilities in China and Viet Nam, we began looking for opportunities to initiate production in Europe as well about two years ago - said Zaid Bunni, co-founder of the SWEDBRAND Group. This seems prescient today in light of the disruptions brought on by the pandemic and the instability in Asian markets. We are especially pleased to have Bogdan join our team and bring his extensive knowledge of both packaging and the Polish printing/converting environment as we built out our new factory.
Bunni points out that the Gdansk factory, which is a highly automated state-of-the-art converting operation for premium rigid boxes, brings a number of benefits to brands requirement rigid box production for use in Europe.
Plant manager Bogdan Putko adds, We’ve seen dramatic increases in both time and cost for shipping from China to Europe. While manufacturing time and labor costs are somewhat higher in Poland, it can take four to five weeks just to secure a 40-foot container in China, and then five to seven weeks to ship it to Europe. In addition, just in the 
last few months, shipping cost has increased by a factor of four or five, from US$2,000 for a 40-foot container to as much as US$10,000. Our shipping cost per truckload from Poland to Germany, for example costs between €850 and €1,300 and can be accomplished in as little as three days.
For brands, these reduced shipping costs mean a highly competitive overall cost for the premium rigid boxes that are important in projecting their brand image and increasing shelf appeal for their luxury products, while protecting often fragile contents. In addition, being able to get product to the shelves by up to a month earlier than previously possible results in a significant revenue opportunity for brands and retailers.
We have just completed putting the finishing touches on our factory and are now entering full production phase - Putko added. We also offer brands a unique opportunity for a virtual factory tour in light of pandemic conditions that are still restricting travel. The virtual tour is designed to showcase all aspects of the factory and provide brands with the confidence that we can provide reliable and timely service. In addition, the Gdansk factory addresses the need of many of the world’s most well-known brands to diversify risk by moving all or some of their packaging converting from Asia to Europe.
Bunni adds: We also made the strategic decision to outsource the offset printing required for production of these outstanding rigid boxes since Poland features many very high-quality printers who have plenty of excess capacity. This helps better support the Polish printing industry while keeping our overhead as low as possible.
Based on information from SWEDBRAND Group
Alfa-Print Sp. z o.o.
ul. Świętokrzyska 14A
00-050 Warszawa
