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Newsletter 04/2008
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Editorial
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Dear
Katadyn Friends
As
promised, here I am again as an exciting year draws to a close. Despite
the turmoil and the many uncertainties, we at Katadyn can look back on
an excellent business year. The year 2008 started with much turbulence.
Because of a fire in one of our ceramic drying rooms, it was doubtful
whether we would be able to ensure our supplies in the coming months. But
the immediate action taken to repair the fire damage and the great
efforts made by all our employees allowed production to be maintained
and delivery dates to be essentially met.
The
plunge of the U.S. dollar and the related rise in material prices were
another major uncertainty in our business this year. Costs exploded and
the dollar stabilized in mid-year at a record low. The only thing that
did not appear to follow this trend were
Katadyn Group’s sales, which continued to rise from one month to the
next. Longer production times enabled us to essentially cancel out the
higher costs and currency losses. Moreover, the expansion of our
ceramic furnaces allowed us to boost our burning capacity by over 50
percent.
We
face the New Year 2009 full of confidence. With our strengthened sales
teams in Switzerland,
Germany, and the U.S.,
we will invest additional energy in improving the global availability
of our products. I extend my very warmest thanks on behalf of Katadyn
to you all for your valued collaboration. Your opinions continue to be
important to us, since our striving for continuous improvement (Kaizen,
Kai = change, Zen = for the better) has been our tried and true
philosophy for years.
I
wish you enjoyable festive days and a Prosperous and Happy New Year.
Trix Ammann
CEO
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Did you know?
- We
never know what is going on upstream...
-
Tests on 10 brands of bottled water uncover 38 pollutants
Marketing
& Events
-
Boat Trade Show in Turku,
Finland,
October 17 - 19, 2008
- Indodefence in Jakarta
- No
more yearning for distant places - go round the world with trekking
specialist Hauser
Markets
& Customers
- Mexiko: Drip Filters increasingly applied to fight
blindness and diarrhea
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Starting in 2009, Décathlon will include Trek'n Eat
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Globetrotter Berlin: collaboration with
the Institute
of Tropical Medicine
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Katadyn Germany takes charge of CARE PLUS sales in Germany
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Katadyn US: sales rep in Nepal
with Katadyn water filters
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Katadyn supports hospital in Peru with 10 Drip Filters
-
Ocean Race "Portimão Global Ocean
Race": leader with Katadyn PowerSurvivor
on bord
Katadyn
in-house News
-
International Sales Team strengthened
Katadyn Trade Show Calendar 2009
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We never know what is going on upstream...
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Tests on 10 brands of bottled water uncover 38 pollutants
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Bottled
water producers often advertise their goods by showing the fresh
sparkly water of mountain streams. But reality is different: A water
test conducted in the U.S.
with the ten top-selling bottled water brand s showed that bottled water does not necessarily have
to be better than normal water from the faucet. In the bottles tested,
a total of 38 different pollutants were detected, including traces of
fertilizer, chemicals, bacteria, and pharmaceuticals. On average, a
single water bottle contained eight different contaminants. Since 1997,
bottled water consumption in the U.S. has doubled and
currently amounts to 40 billion liters. Cost:
over 12 billion Swiss francs – tap water costs 1200 times less. Moreover,
this rise in bottled water consumption is placing an increasing burden
on the environment, from costly production to problematic disposal. Good
health while travelling starts with travel preparation – and the right Katadyn product for safe
drinking water.
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Boat Trade Show in Turku,
Finland,
October 17 - 19, 2008
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Together
with our new distributor Virtaco, we for the
first time took part in the Boat Trade Show in Turku, Finland
in October. Interest in our hand-operated
and electrical desalination systems was very keen. Finland’s
boat industry is an important market segment, and exports have risen
sharply over the past years. Representatives of this industry pointed
out at the Boat Trade Show that for the first time you could spot more
sailing boats than motor boats churning around the waters off Turku, the
country’s second-largest port. This clearly indicates a trend toward a
more ecological way of enjoying our seas in our spare time. But no
matter whether you are traveling across the
waters by sailing yacht or motor boat: In case of a shipwreck, the
availability of pure fresh water may spell the difference between life
and death. Hand-operated
desalinators from Katadyn are
therefore becoming increasingly popular as part of the safety equipment
on boats and are being more and more chosen as an alternative to
additional on-board water tanks.
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Indodefence in Jakarta
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This
year again, Katadyn Singapore took part
in the Indodefence exhibition in Jakarta in a booth
shared with Victorinox. The fair was held
from November 19 – 22. The Indodefence is an
international defense trade show where the
major decision-makers from the various defense
authorities and companies of the region meet. At this year’s Indodefence, Katadyn Singapore set the focus on
our portable
water filters and our hand-operated
desalinators. Numerous
armed forces throughout the world apply our products for survival and
rescue missions. This is also true for the Indonesian army, which is
successfully using 7000 Katadyn
Mini Filters and recently ordered another 2000 Minis for
their special units. In addition, the Indonesian armed forces are
currently contemplating the purchase of hand-operated desalinators of type Survivor
35 for their safety equipment. At the exhibition, our local
partner impressively demonstrated how our water treatment systems
transform dirty, turbid water into safe drinking water in all but no
time.
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No more yearning for distant places - go round the world with
trekking specialist Hauser
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As
every year, German trekking specialist
Hauser invited guests to attend the Hauser
Information Days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany on
November 15 – 16. The trekking travel agency presented the magnificent
hiking and outdoor world to the participants with slide shows, live
reports, specialist discussions, hikes, and hands-on workshops. Katadyn Germany was also on
site, preparing tasty tidbits of our Trek’n Eat freeze-dried expedition food on Optimus stoves. The guests
were enthusiastic about the ease of preparation, the authentic taste of
the meals, the low carrying weight, and the reduced fuel consumption
during cooking.
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Mexiko: Drip Filters are
being increasingly applied to fight blindness and diarrhea
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With
more shipments of Drip
Filters to our Mexican partner Bioderivados,
the fight
against blindness and diarrhea is continuing
in the Chiapas region in the southeast of Mexico.
Our production is in full swing in order to offer the estimated four
million people living in this remote area access to clean drinking
water. The Drip
Filter consists of two plastic containers and three
easy-to-clean ceramic filter cartridges. You fill the contaminated
water into the top container, which trickles under the influence of
gravity through the filter cartridges and is finally collected in the
enclosed container at the bottom. There you can tap the germ-free water
through a small outlet faucet.
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Starting in 2009, Décathlon will
include Trek'n Eat
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The
rapidly expanding large French sports discounter Décathlon
will include our freeze-dried Trek’n Eat specialty food in its
product range starting in 2009. From next January, our tasty menus will
be available in 250 outlets in France and an additional 350 stores outside
the country. Not least among the factors that have contributed to this
success is the internationalization
of the Trek’n Eat brand. At
the top of next year’s menu of this Number One in France
will be scrambled eggs, milk rice, beef jerky, cream noodles with
chicken, and – for dessert – our popular mousse au chocolat,
which pleases even the most sophisticated gourmet palates. Simply add a
bit of water, stir well, and there you go!
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Globetrotter Berlin now collaborates with the Institute of
Tropical Medicine
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Integrated
in the Globetrotter
store in Berlin is an affiliate of the Institute of Tropical
Medicine Berlin. Katadyn was locally present for the
opening of the expansion on Saturday, November 22, 2008, offering tips
and tricks on drinking water during trips. Experienced travel
physicians will be pleased to advise (and
vaccinate) you there so that your next trip will be safe: Monday
through Friday from 3 p.m. through 7 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m.
through 3 p.m. No appointment required!
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Katadyn Germany takes charge of CARE PLUS sales in Germany
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Effective
October 1, 2008, Katadyn Germany took charge
of CARE
PLUS® product sales in Germany.
CARE PLUS is a renowned brand of first aid kits, sun and
mosquito protection products, apparel, socks, and accessories for
personal hygiene during trips. CARE PLUS holds a strong position in the
outdoor and travel markets and thus blends smoothly with our existing
product portfolio. CARE PLUS is a brand of the Dutch Tropicare company.
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Katadyn US:
Sales rep in Nepal
with Katadyn water filters
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Our
field sales staff know what they are talking
about when they advise existing and prospective customers to choose our
water filters. Ray Brooks, Katadyn sales rep in the U.S., has just returned form a unique
trek through the wild Mustang valley in Nepal. Asked about the
motive for his trip, he replies: “For me, it is very important to
thoroughly test the products
myself that I sell. This I prefer to do in regions that our
customers often dream of. The stories that I take back home and tell
our dealers strengthen our customer relationships and are the best
proof for the top-class quality of our products.”
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Katadyn supports a hospital in the Peruvian Andes with 10 Drip
Filters
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The
Diospi Suyana
hospital is located in Curahuasi,
a city in the southern Peruvian Andes at an altitude of 2600 meters
above sea level. Thanks to its proximity to the axis Cusco-Abancay-Lima, it boasts excellent strategic traffic
links. This region of the lost Inca high culture is inhabited by some
750,000 people, mainly Quechua Indians. A mere three doctors are
available for every 10,000 inhabitants of this remote mountain region (Germany:
33.5). High infant mortality and low life expectancy are the
consequence. Dispi Suyana
strives to offer these people extensive and sustainable medical aid. For
this purpose, the clinic has been equipped with fifty beds, four
operating rooms, an intensive-care unit, a laboratory, and an X-ray
facility. Katadyn is supporting the hospital’s water treatment efforts
by supplying 10
Katadyn Drip Filters.
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Ocean Race "Portimão Global
Ocean Race":
leader with Katadyn PowerSurvivor on bord
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Last
Saturday, the contestants of this year’s Portimão Global Ocean Race around the
world set off for their second lap, which is taking them across the
Southern Ocean toward Wellington,
New Zealand.
After the first 34-day lap from Portimão,
Portugal, across the
Atlantic to Cape Town,
the two
Germans Boris Hermann and Felix Oehme are leading
the pack with their yacht Beluga
Racer. Also on board is a Katadyn
PowerSurvivor 40E, the
smallest electrical desalinator in our
product portfolio, which is also the only one that can be manually
operated in an emergency. Thanks to the PowerSurvivor 40E, the sailing pros do not have to worry about
their fresh-water supplies, allowing them to focus fully on the
challenges of the next lap in the race. After all, what did Boris
Hermann recently say in an interview? “Compared with the South, the Atlantic is a walk in the park.” We wish the two good luck and much success!
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International Sales team strengthened
Roger
Walch will join the sales team of Toni Brandi
at the start of 2009. By hiring him, our intention is to develop the
international markets more selectively and intensively. Roger Walch will take charge of the Benelux countries,
southern Europe (except Italy,
which Toni Brandi will continue to care for), the Middle East, Israel, Slovenia, and the Balkans. We
are happy to welcome him to his new function and wish him all the best
and much success!
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Visit us at the following exhibitions:
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Boot Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf/Germany (January 17 - 25, 2009)
- OutDoor in Friedrichshafen/Germany (July 17 -
20, 2009)
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Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Salt Lake City/USA (July 21 -
24, 2009)
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Defence Systems & Equipment International, London/UK (September 8 -
11, 2009)
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Boat Show in Genua/Italy (October 3 -
11, 2009)
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Boat Show in Barcelona/Span (November 7 - 15, 2009)
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Swiss Water Talk
Mrs. Viola Frey
Corporate Communications
Birkenweg 4
8304 Wallisellen-Zurich
Switzerland
Tel +41 44 839 21 16
Fax +41 44 830 79 42
viola.frey@katadyn.ch
www.katadyn.ch
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