Vasilios Papadopoulos, C.E.O. of MAXI S.A. talks about the partnership with Italian company RECARD SpA

Mr. Vasilios Papadopulos, CEO and chairman of the board of MAXI, granted RECARD an interview where he talks about the company’s history and future, analyzing the effects of the pandemic and outlining a perspective on tissue products and market development.

MAXI is a strong company that grew despite the economic crisis that dramatically struck Greece in 2008. How did the company face the pandemics at first, and how does it face it today?
Maxi was founded more than 30 years ago and has meanwhile established a leading position in the market. The milestone year in its history was 1988, with the company foundation firstly as a commercial business and soon after as a manufacturing entity. Over the years – with continuous investments in state-of-the-art equipment – we reached a production capacity of 68.000 tons p.a. of Jumbo Rolls from 2 paper machines with 20 converting lines downstream for producing Rolls and Folded products for the consumer and professional sectors. The dominant market position, strong financial base, the high production efficiencies achieved and, last but not least, the comprehensive product portfolio has enabled MAXI to weather the storm of the financial crisis without detrimental effects. Today, MAXI SA is a leading force in paper production and processing.
Focusing on our customers’ ultimate satisfaction, we continue with the sustainable development of quality products, investing in highly trained human resources besides our prime mechanical equipment.

During the last year and a half, how did the pandemics change the needs of the Greek and international markets on which MAXI operates?
Hygienic Paper demand has proven to be relatively inflexible in developed markets.
Any loss in the away-from-home sector due to lockdowns was compensated by an increase in demand of consumer product demand. Moreover Maxi strive to produce and supply products of the highest quality that meet our customers’ needs maintaining their dedication and trust. This quality market segment has also proven to be resilient during the pandemic.

How do you think Covid-19 had an impact on the tissue products? Do you see such changes affecting the future as well?
We focus on investing in new papermaking facilities, thus improving quality and efficiency all the time. This, coupled with our wide product range with a mix of branded and private labels, helps create the resilience in market changes mentioned previously.

According to your experience in the B2C world, do clients tend to prefer low-cost products or is high-quality still decisive in their choices?
We always keep to a mix of both. One product category offers bulk; another offers a loyal customer base. The answer, in our view, lies in the mix of these two.

Which one of your brands is currently the most successful among customers?
This would be our MAXI brand by far.

We design innovative solutions for a sustainable future

This is the third PM developed with RECARD (including the Papyros S.A. machine bought, installed and subsequently sold to a third party). What are the technical aspects and services that contributed to building trust in the Italian brand RECARD?
In our opinion and experience, RECARD offers, on the one hand, a unique combination of high technology for this kind of plant with great attention to detail. On the other hand, as a family company, it can offer a “personalized’ service that bonds customer and supplier in the long term. In short, we get a meticulously built, highly efficient machine producing high-grade tissue and a supplier who is always there for us in the long term.

The start-up of the PM2 (currently under construction) scheduled for October 2021 will allow MAXI to…?
…to cover all of Maxi’s converting department needs while serving our valued clientele for jumbo reels even better.

What does the years-long collaboration with an Italian company like RECARD mean for MAXI?
It means we have faith in the equipment and that the people in Lucca will be there to help us whenever needed.