Media release: Dream Circus baby pants raise the level of domesticity in the maternity package
MEDIA RELEASE: DREAM CIRCUS' BABY PANTS RAISE THE DEGREE OF DOMESTICITY OF THE MATERNITY PACK
NOTICE available for publication immediately
Dream Circus baby pants raise the level of domesticity in the maternity kit
The ribbed Relax pants from Dream Circus Oy from Varkaute will soon be part of the wardrobe of almost every baby born in Finland next year. Dream Circus has received an order from Kela for the 2022 maternity package, which was published today on December 9, 2021 by Kela.
The new package contains around 50 different baby clothes and care accessories. The products of Dream Circus are the black Rento organic stretch sweatpants and designer Riina Haapakallion's Lazy panda-patterned Rento organic jersey pants for babies. Dream Circus produces 32,000 of both pants models, i.e. 64,000 pieces in total. The pants are delivered in eight batches.
"This is our biggest order ever. It is a sevenfold increase in clothing production and is about two-thirds of this year's turnover. When the contract was confirmed in the summer, we hired four new employees. We are moving to bigger premises soon. In this way, we get the space the order needs for production and storage. The current production will continue, develop and become international alongside this," says Petra Ryymin, CEO of Dream Circus.
Relaxed baby pants belong to the product group of the new maternity package, outer, wool, indoor and bed clothes, other textile products and a clothing set. 43 offers were submitted for the aforementioned product group, of which 13 were selected. The purchase value of the maternity package is more than 5.5 million euros. About 70 percent of all maternity benefits are still distributed as packages. Approximately 40,000 packages are distributed annually. The maternity package will be 85 years old next year. Kela will start distributing the new maternity package only after this year's packages have been distributed. Due to the increase in the birth rate, the maternity package will change much earlier this time than in previous years.
The maternity package tender is governed by the Law on Public Procurement. Bidders must be treated equally and without discrimination. Kela cannot favor products based on, for example, their country of manufacture or the home country of the supplier.
The responsibility problems and the low degree of domesticity of maternity packaging products have been in the spotlight a lot in recent years. That's why Kela puts even more emphasis on quality and responsibility in the competition. Additional points are now brought by, for example, organic cotton and the fact that the product is easy to trace and the production conditions have been clarified. The order is quite a lottery win for Dream Circus, a small domestic clothing manufacturer. In recent years, the degree of domesticity of the maternity package in the production of products has been very low, as large clothing companies invariably manufacture the clothes of the package outside of Finland. Dream Circus is also an exceptionally small player in the maternity packaging competition.
All ehta by Dream Circus clothes are designed, designed and sewn in Finland. The products are made from organic fabrics produced in Europe and the products have the Key Flag. The choice of Dream Circus products significantly increases the degree of domesticity of the maternity package. In addition to Dream Circus' clothes, the new packaging includes products made in Finland, a baby's hair brush, bed box and mattress, and sanitary napkins.
All products in the maternity package must meet Finnish and EU safety requirements. Companies submitting a bid must also have a sufficient number of sales and reference customers.
"We thought about submitting an offer as early as 2019, but there weren't enough resources for that yet. The procurement procedure for the 2022 package started in August 2020 with a technical dialogue. The offers and sample pieces left for Kela in Varkaus in January 2021. We received information in May that we will be in the future. We signed the contract in June and started production. Now production runs smoothly and the first batch has already been delivered."
"We worked determinedly for this contract, it was not just a stroke of luck that we were able to get it. In our opinion, the maternity packaging agreement is a very important milestone for the Finnish clothing industry. Almost all other bidders were large, internationally operating companies. As a small, 100% Finnish company, it's great to be involved in an iconic, Finnish innovation and increase its degree of domesticity. I want to encourage other domestic clothing manufacturers to explore the possibilities of participating in public tenders."
Join the Circus!
More information:
CEO Petra Ryymin, tel. 045 168 1030, petra@dreamcircus.fi (9.12 – 14.12 contact primarily by email)
Chairman of the board Laura Kemppainen, tel. 045 256 6116, laura@dreamcircus.fi
Logo, images and other visual material from Dropbox here.
Dream Circus Oy started from the fulfilled dream of Kati and Laura, sisters from Savoia. The basic pillars of a company with growth momentum are joie de vivre, ecology, locality, domesticity and Finnish work.
All ehta by Dream Circus products are made from own organic fabric and designed and sewn in Finland. The products have a key tag and the Design from Finland and DO Saimaa labels. The brand is registered in Finland, Europe, Japan and the United States.
You can find Lazy patterned Rento pants in our online store here and black Rento trousers, on the other hand, from this link