STO grapples with the crisis crunch

In the current issue of the Stölzle Glass Group newspaper, CEO Johannes Schick speaks frankly about how the financial situation is affecting the Austrian-based international glass group: ‘For the past four years we have been able to increase continuously our sales by around 30 percent. Fifteen months ago we added production capacities to our main production facility in the Styrian town of Köflach (STO) and in our plant in Knottingley, England (STF) to meet a rising demand for our glass containers. However, we are now faced with a difficult economic situation. The current price war among retail chains, in particular among discount stores, combined with a noticeable consumer reluctance to purchase premium products, has caused the market for glass containers to slump.’

To meet the difficult market conditions, Stölzle have implemented cost-saving measures including reducing administration and production costs. At the same time, a concentration on the development of new projects by the group has resulted in growth of business in the prestige spirits, beauty, healthcare and consumer fields. The recent investment in additional production lines has allowed critical delivery dates to be met and assisted in this process. And both at Stölzle-Flaconnage in Knottingley and Stölzle Czestochowa, new investment in the already wide range of decoration facilities has resulted in the installation of sophisticated spraying machines, organic dyes, automatic acid etching, and hot foil stamping.

‘Times of crisis show swiftly whether a company emerges weaker or stronger,’ said Johannes Schick. ‘At Stölzle we consider it important to maintain our customer relations, service and quality, together with keeping all our employees actively informed about the market and our company situation. We are concentrating on what we do best: developing, producing and selling quality containers of glass for quality products. Our current performance is justifying our confidence in the face of this difficult financial situation.’

The international Stölzle Glass group has two hundred years’ experience of glass bottle production. Its head office is in Köflach and there are factories also in Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK.