Puma’s 'flexibility' propels it to record year
The CEO of sports brand Puma has extolled the best year in the company’s history, “despite all the issues related to covid-19 and political tensions around the world”.
The German company is the latest to report sales increasing by a third in 2021 with €6.8 billion in revenue.
Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden said: “Our continued brand momentum combined with high operational flexibility are the main reasons for these achievements.
“Our strategy of working closely together with our suppliers and retail partners to manoeuvre through all the short-term issues and obstacles without hindering our mid-term momentum paid off.
He added covid-19 was affecting the supply chain and inflationary pressures were impacting costs but strong demand and good feedback from retail partners made him very optimistic.
In 2021, Puma announced a target to make nine out of 10 products with more sustainable materials by 2025. It introduced a shoebox design that will save 2,800 tonnes of cardboard each year. It launched RE:SUEDE to test a biodegradable version the Puma Suede sneaker, and Better Foam, a cushioning material for footwear partly made from sugarcane.
For a closer look at RE:SUEDE, see the latest issue of WSA, available now on our Magazine page.
