A strategic venture strengthens the position of Nowocoat, high-techmanufacturer of sustainable and eco-friendly coating for professional and industrial use, in the Asian markets. The pandemic and current travelling restrictions have acceleratedthe establishment of a Southeast Asian office –a venture motivated by a goaltoincreasesustainability and awareness of the environment through presence, knowledge sharing and short reaction time.

Six years ago, when Nowocoat, Danish manufacturer of paint and coating, sold the main part of the company’s activities and began a newambitious journey, the starting point was a unique passion to set a new sustainable agenda in the coating industry and access the market with strategic ventures driven by presence, flexibility and innovation at all levels.

From day one,the focus was to form a well-founded team of innovative specialists on all positions and to set a specialisedteam to carry forward anaggressive growth strategyby focused development of green, sustainable solutions. And Nowocoat has succeeded. With innovative Green Tech products for concrete, metal and wood coating the company has attainedambitious breakthroughsand certifications which ensure a strong position as a sub-supplier to the kitchen industry, a large number of esteemed, Danish furniture brands –and not least international design companies which areknown to work with some of the most detailed and strict environmental guidelines in the world, like Swedish Ikea. Not only as Nowocoat –but also under the recognized brand, Lurrell Sustainable Solutions, which has been an integrated part of Nowocoat for the last 2 years.

Internationally, the Danish company is a small player among multinational concerns as Sherwin Williams, PPG and Akzo Nobel, etc.However, Nowocoathas succeeded in turning this position into competitive advantages by demonstrating an absolute focus on presence, flexibility, knowledge-and experience sharing with a growing number of customers in Denmark just asinternationally.And especially during the Covid-pandemic, thewish to be present and flexible speeded up the establishment of a Southeast Asian office to get closer to the steadily growing Asian furniture industryamong others.

The office in Asia is foundedunder the name of Lurrell Sustainable Solutions. It issituated in Vietnam –and includesa hand-picked team of experienced employees who know the Asian markets, the customers and not least the characteristic challenges of the Asian industries and workingconditions.

The design of the new set-up is based on the positive experience with working closely with individual customers as well as natural links between different business unitsand the Southeast Asian office willbe the gathering point of the company’s activities in Thailand, China, Vietnam and Poland which have many market-related similarities.As head of the office, Lurrell Sustainable Solutions has employed Ulrik Soll who has profound business and market experience and is a familiar face in the region.

‘By being present, having insight and a thorough understanding of production environmentand working conditions, we know that we can actively contribute to a higher degree of sustainability in for instance the Asian furniture industry by inviting to an open and human dialogue about how tostrengthen the environment as well as to improve local working conditions.’, says CEO at Nowocoat, Ole Enevold Jensen. He adds that the reaction time gained by having a local base is anothersignificant competitive advantage: ‘It is easier to secure continuityand drive when we are present inthe market –not least in a time when travelling back and forth is unsafe and irresponsible and does not contribute to getting control over the pandemic and returningto normal conditions.’

’With a combination of Danish and local employees,we create the best preconditions for reaching out to local markets and draw on the know-how establish by our Scandinavian team of specialists. This meansthat we can contribute to future-oriented solutions that include not only our product, the coating, but also focus on optimisingenergy consumption, disposaland overall green solutions to strengthen climate actionand initiatives for better working conditions.

According to the chairman of the board, Nina Reinert, the new base in Asia is one of several new initiatives set to continuously boost the ambitious growthof Nowocoat: ’Our innovative R&D team steadily works to develop eco-friendly products in line with Danish as well as international climate goals. Furthermore, we haveuntapped production capacity, unexploited growth potential and not least, we think that our alternative, Scandinavian can impact the future.’