MEA Q3 2018

16 MEA MARKETS / Q3 2018 , COÉGA Sunwear provides UV50+ Sunwear for the whole family and is available in leading retailers across the GCC. Following their success inMEAMarket’s UAE Business Awards 2018 where they were awarded the title Best Protective Swimwear Provider 2018. We profiled the firmand spoke to COÉGA Sunwear’s Founder, MaureenHall who provided us with a detailed insight into their quality products. Promoting Sustainable Fashion Established in 2004, COÉGA Sunwear was founded with the COÉGA Pool Shoes and now, COÉGA Sunwear provides UV50+ Sunwear for the whole family and is available in leading retailers across the GCC. COÉGA Sunwear is an SME proudly homegrown in the UAE and all design, manufacturing and logistics are based in Jebel Ali. Local manufacturing allows for shorter lead times, flexible logistics, lower MOQs, and quick reaction to local market demands. All of their swimwear is made from high quality Carvico brand fabric which is imported from Europe. The fabric is certified as UV 50+ by the Australian government and can withstand the chlorine, salt and sun in Dubai. The team believe in making suits with durability and longevity thus promoting sustainable fashion. In addition to this, COÉGA Sunwear has a fine tuned in-house quality control process, monitoring production on a daily basis. COÉGA Sunwear has over 14 years’ experience and can customise products, from simple co-branding to exclusive bespoke designs that incorporate unique logos and graphics with sublimation printing. Their clients range from large retailers with stores in all major centres in the Gulf to famous hotels to small online and boutique stores. COÉGA Sunwear can cater to any size of customer. Maureen begins by explaining the techniques the team at COÉGA Sunwear employs to ensure that the outcome will be an overall success. “All of our clients start with dialogue. We need to understand the needs of our customers and where COÉGA can best UA180126 fit into their business. We also support our customers in every way we can. The fact that we are designed and manufactured locally not only gives us the ability to be hands on, it also enables us to make the whole design/delivery process as seamless as possible. “COÉGA Sunwear is positioned as a high quality, mid-priced brand both to the end users and to our customer (i.e. the retailers). Our swimwear provides UV protection but also serves a niche market by offering higher coverage items for those customers who choose to wear more modest swimwear. We provide unparalleled customer service, ensure orders are delivered on time, and give extra support in terms of training, marketing and visual merchandising whenever possible. We create a great product and strive to deliver the best customer service in the industry. In addition to this, we put the right merchandise, in the right place at the right time.” Helping COÉGA Sunwear to ensure that their products surpass the standards of their clients, is the talented group of individuals that form the COÉGA team. Maureen is keen to praise her team, touching on how they maintain a happy culture within the group. “Like many companies, our greatest asset is our people and being an SME, we need to make sure we keep our team happy. Everyone is always on the move in the UAE, so we are flexible when it comes to work hours and location. Also, we are aware of the different cultures so when Ramadan comes around, for example, we provide an iftar meal for the production workers. For us at COÉGA, it’s the small gestures that mean a lot.” Looking ahead to what the future holds Maureen highlights COÉGA Sunwear’s remarkable success in the MEA UAE Business Awards 2018 as well as the plans that lie in the pipeline for the award-winning firm. “COÉGA Sunwear was founded to provide high quality protective sunwear that is tailor made for the market and this is behind every decision, right from the design stage through to product delivery. To be recognised and receive the MEA award is fantastic reinforcement that we are succeeding at this. “Moving forward, we are always looking to future projects and there are many great opportunities coming in the short term to the UAE. In the long term, we are looking at expanding to other regions and looking for distributors who would be interested to bring COÉGA Sunwear to their market.”