Interview continued...
K.: Would you like to tell us a little about the company’s new products?
S.F.: There is a saying that if you need to spend 5 drachmas to be first, you need to spend 15 to stay first. Thus, every year the company enriches its range with products aimed at the most specialised part of the market, without, of course, leaving the rest. This year we completed the series of Hydrojet fins, a well-designed and very successful fin, suitable for many years of hard use, which is also in great demand in foreign markets.
Other new products are the line of spikes which includes tridents and pentanes. For their construction, we use “nails” from MUSTAD and what makes them stand out is their enormous strength, which is ensured by a metal carrier on which the “nails” and the socket are attached, which, it is worth noting, is made of stainless steel. This creates a solid construction with unimaginable resistance to use and a very good price.
K.: Do we have anything new in spearguns?
S.F.: No, we didn’t bring out a new speargun. However, we improved the Strike and released a new rubber with a compound that we made. It is 16 mm in diameter and has performed very well in our tests. We also brought out a range of boots, gloves and snorkels.
K.: When we went through the suit cutting and sewing department, we saw a new model on the production line. Is this a new pattern?
S.F.: The new suit we are preparing is called COMFORT, and its design is indeed new. The new pattern is due to Grigoris Kasotakis who studied, as a user himself, the points that trouble the diver and we improved the design to eliminate any discomfort. We removed e.g. the seam present in all suits around the diver’s neck, making the suit smoother and easier to wear. It is made of very good quality 4mm thick ultra-elastic neoprene, with or without a zipper, and will be on the market at a very good price.
K.: Can we find out the price or is it still too early?
S.F.: We estimate that its retail price will be between 45,000 and 50,000 Drachmas.
K.: I would like if you could tell us a little about the future plans of the company regarding the production of new products.
S.F.: Among our plans is the design and production of a new rubber-powered speargun that will combine the properties and quality characteristics of Strike with the design that the European and Greek market demands today. With this rubber we intend to open new markets abroad.
Also, a range of silicone masks, some of which are now in the final stages of moulding and we may have them ready for next season, and silicone snorkels. At the same time, we are also preparing some cheaper products for the other part of the market that we mentioned earlier.
K.: Are you considering moving into long-bladed fins for freediving?
S.F.: We intend to move into long-bladed fins but not immediately.
K.: To close our discussion, we would like you, if you can, to give us some numbers to get an idea of the size of the market. How many pieces does a successful type of diving equipment sell in our country?
S.F.: I will answer you by giving you data from the sales of the spearguns. Well, the Arrow sells 9,500 to 10,000 pieces a year, the simple Strike with the 7 mm spear 5,000 pieces and the Strike with the Tahitian-spear, 3,000 pieces. The air-powered gun sells 10,000 pieces and the Junior sells 14,000 pieces.
This is where our conversation with the director of BALCO ended and a little while later, driving on the national road, I was trying to imagine what will happen in the market when the calm “giant” who lives inside the 7,500 square metres starts implementing his plans.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I shall finish here today. The interview was accompanied by a number of photographs of the interior of the Balco plant. I shall leave those for next time, at the weekend.
Here is the first photo as an "appetiser":
a) In the foreground, pieces of rubber of different composition and hardness. At the rear, the big presses that will hot-mould them. Final product the Hydrojet fins. Right next door, smaller presses produce the rubber parts for the company’s masks.