This summer AWANTYS is celebrating ten years since its independence. Managing Partner, Carsten Wolansky offers an overview of how the company has evolved since that day.

How has business changed for AWANTYS during its ten years of independence?

Since the management buy-out in 2011 we have been consistently striving to translate our new independence into tangible added values for our customers which are seeking the development and production of customized primary packaging solutions.

We are now able to adapt our product portfolio much more effectively and flexibly to meet our clients' needs since we are no longer bound to a global group. Being outside the processes of a larger group AWANTYS can now react more quickly to client requests and can provide a more personal service. This is driven by the fact that our staff's average period of employment exceeds ten years, therefore this level of experience allows us to be agile in the production of turnkey solutions.

Another important change has been the reduction of overhead structures which allow us to deliver our projects at a competitive price level. AWANTYS's business and client base has been growing continuously since 2011 and this is a clear indicator that our customers clearly value the benefits that we can offer.

What do you perceive as being the most significant achievements during this time?

From my point of view, there are a number of major milestones that AWANTYS has been able to achieve since its independence.

Firstly, the internationalization of AWANTYS’ client base. Following the management buy-out, we had to leave all our major clients from outside of the DACH region at our former group. Since then, the fact that AWANTYS has been able to develop and produce projects for renowned international players such as COTY, LVMH, BOGART or DIPTYQUE is a key achievement.

The completion of our product portfolio. As part of a group we had to work accordingly and were restricted to certain components and technologies. As an independent company, we have been continuously complementing our product portfolio and we can now offer packaging solutions from plastic, metal, glass and wood, in addition to all known decoration technologies. This agility allows us to realize a broad range of projects ranging from mono-material single components to multi-material packaging designs and turnkey solutions for fragrances.

The development and industrialization of sustainable packaging solutions. In the light of the evolving climate crisis, the implementation of sustainable packaging solutions is more important than ever before. Since 2011, AWANTYS has introduced several such solutions in reusable stone (AWYSTONE) and porcelain (AWYWHITE) as well as in its proprietary non-petrochemical bio compound RCM-1801 (AWYVERDE) and in post-consumer resins (AWYCYCLE). Reference projects such as LVMH's Loewe perfume, Jardines de Sabatini, which features a black marble closure, illustrate that these innovations are well accepted by the market.

What is your vision for AWANTYS for the next decade?

We will continue to supply our existing customers with the quality products to which they are accustomed in addition to strengthening our position as a provider of customized packaging components. This is our main objective for the 2020s - to provide turnkey solutions from both conventional and sustainable materials to markets outside the DACH region.

In order to realize this vision, we have started to establish our own Paris-based sales team for the France and Southern European markets which will also strengthen our French-speaking project management capacities.

In addition, AWANTYS is investing heavily in its R&D lab and diversifying its supply chain in order to provide an optimally tuned product portfolio to its clientele. We are convinced that in combination with our production footprint in Eastern Europe, this is the optimal way for AWANTYS to continue along its growth path through the next decade.

—Carsten Wolansky Managing Partner (pictured)