ADVERTORIAL
In a tough macro as well as industry environment, Sylvamo has knuckled down and created a strong independent entity, says Gerald Demets, the company’s Director of Sales, Marketing and Innovation EMEA. All the while, it’s kept a keen eye on the customer
With a razor-sharp CUSTOMER FOCUS
OPI: What has been the early feedback from your customer base since the spin-off in October 2021? GD: It’s been very positive. We have always had a very strong partnership with customers and they appreciate working with us. We are now an independent, publicly traded company that is highly aligned with its strategic channel partners. This is hugely important to us. We have extremely positive cross-regional synergies and also best-in-class commercial and operational teams. Overall, we are confident we can generate a robust cashflow and create long-term value for our customers.
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PI: It’s been about six months since International Paper’s global papers business became Sylvamo. Can you tell me a bit about this new entity and what it stands for? Gerald Demets: Sure. We think of Sylvamo as ‘The World’s Paper Company’. We believe in the promise of paper to educate, communicate and entertain and our purpose is to produce paper that customers need in the most responsible and sustainable ways. We operate in Europe, Latin America and North America. We have a mill in Saillat, France; and export from Brazil to serve our European customers. Our regional headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium. In terms of products, we focus mainly on our REY and HP brands in Europe. Rey is what we call ‘The Conscious Choice’. It’s sold in more than 40 countries and perfect for customers that value sustainability and social responsibility, both topics which are becoming increasingly important. Our HP Papers, meanwhile – we are HP’s global supplier of those – are distributed to 75 countries. It’s an ideal brand for the e-commerce and retail channels and we work very closely with HP to link this range to the complete HP value proposition of printers, toners and papers.
OPI: You have one operational mill in Europe. What can you say about your current footprint and how well it serves your customer base? GD: We are a global paper company and we believe we can leverage our international footprint to serve our customers in an efficient way. OPI: So there’s enough flexibility in terms of getting the product you need when you need it? GD: It’s something that differentiates us from other players – the multi-mill system and the fact we operate across different continents.
Gerald Demets
OPI: There have been secular declines in paper consumption over a number of years. How do you address this situation? GD: In Europe, we have a comprehensive focus on uncoated woodfree papers and those include cut-size brands for the office. This segment has been much more resilient than others.
