NIKIN visited all the producers in Portugal. Spread over five days, we visited all our producers in person, made personal contacts and ensured that our standards were being met. We take a look behind the scenes in the blog so that you can get an impression too.
A week ago on Monday, it was time to go. The chosen ones from the production and marketing teams, who had landed in sunny Porto the day before, set off for the first factory. The distribution to two cars was not very spectacular; analogous to the offices in Lenzburg, they remained loyal to their team. Anonymous tongues claim that the product team kept getting lost. In fact, they arrived too late at the first factory: apparently there are two villages with the same name near Porto, both of which also have a street with the same name. What a start!
[ product-handles list="treebottle-glass-allover-pines, treesocks-standard-single, folded-polylana-r-ripped1, treesweater-basic-unisex, treeglasses-round"]
Day 1: The most diverse producer
First we visited Pedro outside Porto. He is one of our biggest producers in Portugal. In his spacious factory on a hill at the edge of the village, he produces TreeShirts, hoodies, jumpers and trousers for us. He convinces us with his open and welcoming manner as well as with the quality of the whole production process. Watch the video to see what the factory looks like from the inside:
Day 2: New yarn tested on site!
On the second day in Porto, we diligently visited other producers. The visit to Carlos, who produces our knitwear, was particularly impressive. He is currently doing tests for us with a new yarn made from recycled jeans. Who knows, maybe you will soon find it processed in one of our new collections!
Day 3: Dyeing clothes with coffee and onions
The third day in the car of the "Lenzburger Schenkelklopfer" got off to a lively start. That was the name of the marketing team in Porto. The product team, on the other hand, could not come up with a team name. "Probably too busy getting lost," said Social Media Manager Patrick with a wink. As on every day, we visited several manufacturers. Among them was a factory that colours products with organic material such as onions or coffee.. Robin, founder of NIKIN, was enthusiastic: "Of course, this is exactly the kind of manufacturer that suits us.
Day 4 and 5: Shoes, hangtags and goodbye, Porto!
The last few days have been all about the TreeShoes and the hangtags. The latter are the cardboard cards with a barcode that our producers attach to the clothes. They are also made at Porto in a small factory. Our vegan TreeShoes are created only 20 minutes away at another producer. Certain steps in the production of the shoe are still handmade, which was great to see!
Conclusion of our visit to Porto: it's worth it! Personal contacts create understanding, simplify processes and inspire new designs and methods. Moreover, we can say with a clear conscience: our manufacturers meet our standards and share our values.
