Ecoprint’t team is growing: the focus is on export
Ecoprint is consistently moving toward international markets to offer its packaging solutions beyond Estonia. To support this step, a new Export Manager has joined our team, whose role is to develop cooperation in foreign markets and create strong, long-term customer relationships.
In this article, we introduce his background and experience and explore Ecoprint’s prospects in international markets.
Name: Karl Pedak
Position: Export Manager
Area of Responsibility: Finland, Sweden, Denmark
Tell us briefly about your background. What have you done before?
My career background has primarily been in sales management. Before joining Ecoprint, I worked for five years as an Export Sales Manager in the manufacturing sector. All my previous roles were in the IT sector, focusing on hardware and software solutions as well as various IT services.
How did you find your way to Ecoprint?
Five years in one role during a very volatile economic environment (Covid, energy crisis, supply chain crisis, economic downturn, the war in Ukraine) was an educational but difficult time, and I felt I needed a “change of scenery.” I was introduced to Ecoprint by a recruitment firm. The opportunity seemed very interesting right from the start.
What is your role at Ecoprint and what are you responsible for?
My position is Export Sales Manager. My task is to map out potential customers in foreign markets, establish contact with them, and reach long-term cooperation.
What appealed to you most about this role?
Endless possibilities—packaging is literally everywhere. All companies need it in one way or another. The role of Export Sales Manager and the increasing focus on exports offer the opportunity to contribute to Ecoprint’s growth on the international stage.
Which markets is your work currently most focused on?
Primarily the Scandinavian markets—Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. To a lesser extent the UK, Benelux, Germany, and Austria.
What motivates you most about this job?
I have a great deal of freedom to act. It is a creative job in its own way, which makes it interesting, and every successful client collaboration provides a great sense of achievement. Success breeds success, as they say.
How do foreign market clients differ from Estonian clients?
Based on my experience so far, the biggest difference is the time it takes to build trust. For foreign clients, Ecoprint is an unknown company from small Estonia. They want assurance that Ecoprint meets their quality expectations. To verify this, they often want to see various sample packages. We produce and send these to clients, and through that, the client’s trust grows, but the whole process takes longer as a result.
What do foreign market clients value most in packaging?
It is good to see that more and more feedback indicates that environmentally friendly and sustainable operations, as well as the materials used, are important to foreign clients. Another key criterion is the reliability of the partner. The portfolio of previous work is the first thing they look at, and they are often pleasantly surprised by how many beautiful packages are featured there.
What are your goals for the coming years at Ecoprint?
My primary goals are aligned with the company’s objectives—increasing the number of customers, turnover, and profit according to set targets. A secondary goal is to increase Ecoprint’s brand awareness in our main target markets, which in turn brings more business into the house.
How do you see Ecoprint’s role in the international packaging market?
Ecoprint has very good prospects for breaking through in the international packaging market, especially in Scandinavia. Each foreign market in Europe is individually larger than the Estonian market. Packaging is not going anywhere; rather, volumes are steadily increasing. An environmentally conscious approach to packaging is the keyword today and in the future. Different countries are enforcing environmental regulations at different paces, but they are doing it. At some point, it will no longer be a question of whether a sustainable choice is important to the customer—it will be their only choice. This is an ideal situation for Ecoprint.