- Full name? Michiel Das
- Job title? Managing Director Europe
- Tell us a little bit about your new role at Sambro.
With a long background in the toy industry, I am excited to support Sambro and the team in Amsterdam to guide and develop the company to the next level.
- Tell us about Sambro’s growth in Europe to date.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen an impressive and sustainable growth in Europe. We’ve managed to establish strong business relations with the most important retailers in Europe like Action, AS Watson, Lidl, Aldi, Carrefour and many others.
- What’s planned for Sambro Europe in 2024?
We are planning to expand our presence in Europe further. We are aiming to grow our salesforce, which will enable us to be closer to the market and our customers. Sambro will be identifying many opportunities in key territories for further expansion in the coming months.
- What new ranges/licenses/contracts can we expect in 2024?
Over the last 2 years, we have re-structured our licensing strategy, resulting in very strong partnerships with the key players in the global toy market such as Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, Paramount, and Universal. Our new product development for this year is of course, reflected in each of the relevant brands, with some very exciting announcements to come.
- What is driving growth in the European toy sector?
Over the last 15 years, the toy landscape changed drastically due to the rise of ecommerce. The overall importance of ecommerce will still be big, but it looks like the rapid-growth is slowly beginning to settle down. As a next step, I do believe that the industry is starting to look more into long-term partnerships with the mass retailers and to hook into their non-food offering.
- What will retailers and consumers want to see in 2024?
Consumers and kids will always want to see new product, innovation and feeling a sense of wonder and surprise by the new toys they get their hands on. All of this at an affordable price is crucial. Both the retailers and us as a supplier are very aware of these demands and trends and therefore are working incredibly hard every single day to get such “newness” into the consumer’s hands. Our business focus remains to be value-led toys, developed under strong licenses.
- What are you most excited about for the next 12 months?
I truly look forward in working together with such a talented group of people at Sambro to achieve the ambitious goals we’ve set out above. Next to that I want to develop a team in Amsterdam where the industry will look at and think…..”I wanna be part of this!”
