Winning at the PaddleExpo
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WHAT ’ S PALM ’ S PROCESS OF RECRUITING BRAND AMBASSADORS ? Very organic and often via way of recommendation or observation ourselves . But the principles matter . We look for those who share our attitude of paddling being a passion for sharing and enjoying with others .
The days of that being only champions , elite coaches or gnarly expedition paddlers are gone – although we still have and will always have those folk to push us and our gear . Now we are as likely to work with a weekend warrior paddleboarding to advocate around an issue like water pollution at a local beach .
We all still want to see heroes , but we also want to feel like we could belong – so we look for those people .
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What do you see as the primary key to Palm ’ s success within the paddlesport industry ? Cliched , I know , but staying true to our mission . We aren ’ t for changing ! A paddler started the company , is owned by the same paddler , and makes gear for paddlers .
Business and being environmentally friendly are sometimes a tricky balance . Living in Scotland , where COP26 has just taken place , what ’ s Palm doing to make itself eco-friendly , and what are the future challenges for Palm in that regard ? Some of our steps have been grand , like being the first to make recycled kayaks , and others less so . For example , last week , I shipped a box to a team paddler ; the machine we now have in the warehouse uses paper tape ; cut to preset lengths , with pre-applied water-based glue – it ’ s almost eliminated plastic tape from thousands of shipping boxes . It ’ s often in changes to scale operations like this we can make the biggest impact .
But we are a long way from perfect . We have started to look at B Corp accreditation , but it feels like scaling a mountain , as we have so many different sorts of products and sources of supply , but it ’ s a mountain we want to climb .
Our most valuable contribution to date , and one we are focused on continuing , is quality . If we can make a piece of gear last a few more years – either by repairing or simply being better built in the first place , we are helping . That ’ s another container not on the water , warehousing not required to be heated , and fabric not being dyed , and so on .
Our next point of focus is on the end of life . Paddlesports , in general , has a great tradition of gear lasting many years . Just check ebay ! But the onus on what happens to your PFD , kayak or neoprene boot once it is no longer useable is a responsibility we as a brand have to face .
How has the pandemic and Brexit affected supply problems with Palm , and what do you think the fall-out from this will be long term ? We set up a European warehouse , which , although planned , was not something we needed to invest in back when we could freely move goods between the UK and Europe . Now every manufacturing run in our Vietnam factory must be split into different orders and shipped separately . Many courier companies we have always used are still not fluid at moving shipments between the EU and UK borders , making it a headache to move stuff around . Administratively we have prepared for approvals , such as the UKCA standard applying to PFDs . It has no difference in criteria to the current ISO , so it is just another costly hoop we have to jump through . Brexit is proving hard on UK businesses who trade throughout Europe .
On the supply front , it would be remiss not to highlight that the supply issues you hear of on the news will probably not disappear in 2022 . Don ’ t worry , there will be gear , but it won ’ t be easy to say exactly when or who has stock . Every day we are juggling shipments delayed , increasing costs and suppliers unable to get raw materials . We are not alone in this , but we can be more dynamic by having our own manufacturing facilities in Vietnam .
From one point of view , there is a positive . Many of these challenges can be barriers to entry for those who buy in a container load of rip off or poorly made products and ship them in for quick sale .
Own manufacturing in Vietnam http :// palmequipmenteurope . com
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