Santi del Solar, New Shopping Basket CEO.
On November 2nd, 2017 Shopping Basket appeared once again in the media. This time, on the business Spanish newspaper: Expansion. The newspaper, which is the leader of its kind in Spain, interviewed Santi del Solar who, since March 2017, is the new CEO at Shopping Basket. Del Solar talks about the acquisition of the company, as well as the strategic plan for the next 5 years.
Download the interview in Spanish here and read its translation in English below:
The new CEO at Shopping Basket aims to triple sales
Shopping baskets and carts for Retail / The entrepreneur Santi del Solar designs a five-year strategic plan after purchasing the company in March 2017.
Their products are present in the supermarkets of 50 countries worldwide, but they are not on the shelves.
Shopping Basket, the manufacturer of shopping baskets and carts for retail has begun a new stage after being purchased by Santi del Solar. Mr del Solar was a bank executive who had previously participated in a dozen companies within several sectors and now he is the new CEO at Shopping Basket.
Del Solar has acquired 65% of the company’s capital, which was previously owned by the family Subirós. The 35% belongs to a foreign investor, whose name has not been revealed.
Based in Barcelona and founded in 2008, Shopping Basket obtained last year a turnover of EUR3,5 million and earned 433.471 EUR. Sales increased 12% in relation to 2015 and exports represented 90% of the total amount. Middle East, Latin America, and Europe were the main markets.
SB’s baskets and carts are present in retail chains such as Carrefour, Lidl, Auchan, Migros, Esselunga, Maisons du Monde, and Tommy. Some Spanish chains, such as Dia and Bon Area are Shopping Basket clients too.
Not only are Shopping Basket products in supermarkets and shopping centers, but also in toy stores, drugstores, cosmetics stores, and sporting goods stores.
Long-term investment
The new owner explains that the key factors to acquiring the company have been “the executive team, the geographic diversification, the wide range of products, and the soundness of the business”. “The investment in Shopping Basket is long term, aiming to make this company a reference worldwide” – claims Del Solar.
Shopping Basket manufactures its products through an alliance with a third party. “It is a differential element towards our competitors” which allows “complete control of the production value chain” – states Santi del Solar. “Quality is one of the key factors of our company and it is only achievable if we take on the full process of manufacturing” – concludes. In this regard, Shopping Basket is a minority stockholder of the company Class Plastics, whose production plant is on the outskirts of Barcelona.
The company has designed a five-year strategic plan, with the challenge of reaching in 2022 a turnover of EUR12 million. Three times more than the expected EUR4 million for the current year. According to Del Solar, the plan will focus on the following main points:
- Customer experience,
- The opening of new markets
- Development of new products
- Complete integration of the value chain
At present, Shopping Basket plans to launch three new products in 2018, with an inversion of EUR1 million, thus expecting a 20% increase in sales.
In addition to organic growth, the company is considering expanding by means of acquisitions. “In order to extend our portfolio or to consolidate markets”, – states the owner of Shopping Basket.
From tools rental to drugstores
Alumni of Esade and Columbia Business School, Santi del Solar is Shopping Basket’s majority stockholder and the sole administrator. After investing and managing businesses of all kinds. One of them is the tools rental company Rentechnika, which was purchased two years ago by the French multinational Kiloutou. Santi Del Solar also took part in Instronic 2000, which specializes in audiovisual and multimedia technology integration. In addition, he was a stockholder in Hielos de Victoria, an ice cube manufacturing and distribution holding. The new owner of Shopping Basket has also invested in e-commerce, through the companies Farmaconfianza.com -which sells products for drugstores- and Deskidea, which sells office supplies. Within the food sector, the entrepreneur has invested in the bakery and patisserie Artesanal Pastisseria dels Monjos. In some of these projects, Del Solar has majority stockholding and, in some others, minority stockholding.
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