It has been almost a year since Standard Carpets entered the market as a supplier of synthetic turf yarns and carpets. Sportsfields.info caught up with General Manager Tushar Bhandari to get a better understanding of their agenda.
These are busy times for Bhandari, the General Manager of Standard Turf, the synthetic turf division of UAE based Standard Carpets. As a company, Standard Carpets has made the strategic decision to act as a yarn supplier to tufters in North-America and Europe while offering their branded Standard Turf finished products to the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. Needless to say, this has meant a lot of travel for Bhandari. “We supply our yarns to many of the leading manufacturers around the globe,” he says while explaining his temporary presence in the US. It is a significant achievement, given the fact that the company has joined the market only recently. “Every company needs to have several suppliers in case something goes wrong in the supply-chain. By focusing on quality and fast delivery, we aim for a spot high up the list with alternative yarn suppliers,” he says justifying the development.
Bhandari enjoys doing business in the US. “Here, everybody wants to have the highest grade product and we appreciate that focus on quality as it aligns with our vision.” He offers the North American and European markets only his yarns. “With those markets already having matured, our goal is to become the main alternative supplier of yarns for tufting companies. We are not selling Standard Turf products in Europe or the US. We have an understanding with our yarn customers that they will not have to compete with our branded products in their own markets. Our Standard Turf branded products are only available for the Middle East, Africa and Indian Subcontinent regions. Here, the demand for quality products is still growing, while the number of tufting companies in the area is limited. And certainly none of those has the high tech equipment we use for producing our materials.”
Built on trust
While Standard Turf as a brand is relatively young, its parent company Standard Carpets, a family-run business that trades in over 60 countries and produces 24 mln sqm carpet every year, has been involved in the synthetic turf industry for many years. Bhandari has been as well. He joined the company in 2007 when Standard Carpets was still a white-label producer for some of the biggest synthetic turf brands. “I already knew a lot of stakeholders and we used our personal connections to strengthen the trust-factor in North-America and Europe.” The company also made sure it invested in quality equipment to be able to produce a quality that is on par with what the overseas markets have grown accustomed to. “The extrusion lines we have in Dubai are the same as those that are being used by the big synthetic turf yarn producers elsewhere in the world. The products that are coming out of our lines are competitive in terms of quality and performance,” he points out. Recently, the company expanded its yarn production capacity by installing another extrusion line at its state of the art plant.
Tushar Bhandari, General Manager Standard Turf
“All our machines are from the best machine builders in Europe and North America and are the latest of the latest.”
Answering a need
It was the Covid pandemic that handed Standard Turf its opportunity to vertically integrate its facility. “For many years we used to do commission tufting. Companies would send us the yarn and backing and we would do the tufting and coating on their behalf. As Standard Carpets was planning to invest more in carpets, the decision was made to acquire another plot and backwards integrate into synthetic turf yarn extrusion.” The plant was fitted with modern equipment. “All our machines are from the best machine builders in Europe and North America and are the latest of the latest.” This explains why Standard Turf can commit itself to the high quality they pursue and the fast turnaround time for orders. A massive solar rooftop generates enough renewable energy to meet more than one-third of the electricity consumption of the new plant, thereby exceeding the company’s wish to generate at least 24% of its electricity need. Late last year, Standard Turf also joined the EMEA Synthetic Turf Council (ESTC), the custodian of the synthetic turf industry in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Much attention to R&D
With the decision to become more visible in the market for synthetic turf products (for sports), the company decided to also make significant investments in its research and development capacity. Maintaining the high quality and level of integrity for its products is of vital importance to the company. “We test all our products for UV stability and wear resistance, while raw materials are tested for the presence of lead, mercury and VOC content. Our inhouse lab has its own Lisport unit as well as a weatherometer and products are tested around the clock.” In terms of their finished turf products, Standard Turf benefits from having all stages of production under one roof. “This allows us to lower our lead times and monitor the quality at every stage. Vertical integration also affords us more flexibility and speed to make enhancements and trial new innovations. Because our yarns have been tried in-house, we have instant feedback on the runability and performance of our products.” This also serves the North American and European customers who buy their yarns from Standard Turf.
Aiming high
Recently, Standard Turf became an FIH Certified Manufacturer. “We started off with developing a hockey product, as this is one of the most difficult carpets to produce. Hockey turf is a very sensitive product. Also, we are now the only FIH Certified Turf Manufacturer in a region that is full of hockey playing nations.” Bhandari is well aware that India came third in the hockey tournament during the Paris Olympics. “And there is Pakistan too. Together with India, they are the top of the world.” Asked about the likelihood of a FIFA Quality status for one of its football products, he says: “Turf is a commodity product. It is not the branding that is aspirational but the trust. And trust you don’t build in one day. We certainly recognise the value and significance of a FIFA Quality status for a product.
However, we prefer bringing our customers to our factory so that they can see with their own eyes how much effort and emphasis we put into achieving quality. We are not a big brand yet, and building a brand is something that will take time. But we are confident that we will get there.” Apart from synthetic turf for hockey and football, the company also produces synthetic turf for cricket wickets, golf, tennis and padel.
And going by the trajectory Standard Turf has managed to show at the end of their first year, that moment will be here sooner rather than later.
