Royal Italian luxury

Offering high-quality products is always important, but for Italian textile company Frette the secret to success lies in solving clients' problems.

Since 1860, Italian textile company Frette has supplied linens to luxury hotels and prestigious public and private residences in Italy and abroad, as well as royal courts, embassies and government residences.

Originally established in Grenoble, France, the company became official purveyors to the Italian Royal Family in 1881 and its linens are used in such high-profile hospitality establishments as the Four Seasons George V in Paris, the Savoy in London, the Plaza in New York, the Peninsula in Hong Kong, and Raffles Singapore.

Frette even created a piece known as the Tablecloth of the Holy Virgin for the altar at Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome, and its table linens were used in the banqueting rooms onboard the Titanic, and are still used aboard the Orient Express today.

EF Gulf now distributes Frette's linens in the UAE. IGS previously had the rights to distribute Frette's linens. "IGS was given the opportunity to develop the Middle East market and, by partnering with Frette, IGS has been able to provide outstanding linen products to the hospitality industry in the region," she adds. "Sharing the same business approach and philosophy was instrumental for our two companies in deciding to pursue an opportunity to work closely together."

Advertisement

IGS developed and implemented a customer-centric strategy for bringing Frette's products to market in the UAE. The concept revolved around delivering quality service that was based "not only on product, but also on an efficient approach to solving clients' problems, as Trabelsi explains:

"Although Frette's product line was known to be of outstanding quality, the company was never represented properly within UAE. Therefore, the initial, overall feedback from the market was not encouraging. IGS approached the market first and re-established a trust of Frette products among clients.

While Frette was already represented around the world in markets such as Japan, Chile, the UK, China, South Africa and continental Europe, it was vital that in the Gulf, the brand was positioned as a potential point of difference for properties looking to deliver the ultimate in luxury in all aspects of their operations.

"All hotels want to differentiate themselves in terms of the quality of their services so as to earn respect and attention from the guests," says Trabelsi.

"Our aim was to introduce Frette into all quality hotel chains that aspire to gain an edge over the competition and offer to their discerning clientele an enhanced sense of comfort."

A world of difference

A number of major international hotel chains have fallen for Frette's charms and, while the company currently enjoys a 35/65 split between hospitality business and retail customers, the hope is that in the next three years this will balance out to a ratio of 50/50.

Indeed, Frette currently serves more than 6500 five-star hotels and fine-dining restaurants worldwide.

"Frette has a massive presence in the US, where all the major hotel groups buy Frette linen.

"The company also owns a warehouse in New Jersey to cater to US clients, as well as a warehouse in Hong Kong to cater to Asian clients, and of course one in Europe, to cater to the European, African, and Latin American markets," says Trabelsi.

"Thirty-five percent of the distribution going to US-based clients, 40% to Europe, 10% to Asia, 10% to Latin America , and 5% to the Middle East.

"We aim to grow in the Middle East so that it comes to represent up to 12% of the worldwide turnover," she adds.

Frette has also had a global agreement with the Ritz-Carlton Group for the last four years, supplying linen to the group's properties in five different continents, and Trabelsi reveals that this contract has recently been renewed for a further four years.

"We supply a wide selection of clients, and all our clients share the same passion for Frette-branded linen as they understand how associating themselves with such an historic Italian brand can benefit their business.