Major new garden furniture player in Europe

On 1 October Hafin, the Netherlands manufacturer of plastic garden equipment, took over its Belgian counterpart Lawn Comfort, which then became part of the Hafin holding company, i.e the Finha Group. The company’s desire to achieve growth is taking shape at a faster rate as a result of this takeover.
The two brand names, Flair and Lawn Comfort, are being stocked side by side. Hafin is using Flair to focus on the lower price level in the European market, and the new organisation is breaking into the somewhat more luxurious middle segment by means of the Lawn Comfort brand. The new company is reinforcing its standing as one of the leading performers in the garden furniture segment in Europe through positioning Lawn Comfort next to the Flair brand.
As a partner, Lawn Comfort is established in the French, Spanish and German markets and has a good logistical infrastructure. Hafin offers a broad range of products under the name of Flair and has a strong production and distribution set-up in the Netherlands, France and Germany.
The acquisition also finds expression on the organisational side: the commercial division will in future operate from Hafin’s offices in the Netherlands, France and Germany, a solution which is designed to provide improved service to customers and business associates in their own region.
The products marketed under the Flair brand name are not affected by the takeover, since the parent company intends to hold on to its four product lines (garden furniture, garden equipment, fencing and planters), as well as domestic and special-purpose items of furniture. The aim is to put a greater emphasis on innovation within these product lines.
The Finha Group intends to continue to grow still further in the future, with the goal of taking over as market leader in Europe. Purchasing Lawn Comfort was the first step in this process. A sales figure of around
€ 40 mio is expected for the year 2004, based on an overall manufacturing output of 2.5 mio units produced by 30 injection moulding machines.
Hafin serves the lower price level with the Flair brand…..
…..whereas Lawn Comfort serves the medium-priced segment.