On March 3rd-5th, 2022, Hape gathered its suppliers together in this sunny spring to review the development of 2021 and look forward to the cooperation and development prospects in the new year.

Over 20 representatives from 13 suppliers attended this 3-day summit, including senior strategic partners who had worked with Hape for 20 years and passed down the partnerships over three generations, and mature partners who grew from small workshops undertaking small orders with an amount of only RMB100,000 and now had realized an annual output value of RMB250 million, as well as those new partners who embraced Hape’s environmental philosophy and committed themselves to protecting blue skies and clear waters for next generations. Those suppliers gathered together, reviewed the orders in 2021, and discussed the challenges they confronted as well as possible solution plans. Top executives and managers from Hape had carefully listened to their introductions.

On the second day, Hape’s founder and CEO Peter Handstein attended the meeting. Because of the epidemic, they have been isolated from one another for the past year. At the meeting, Peter delivered a speech with great excitement.

First, Peter expressed his heartfelt thanks and extended a warm welcome to the partners. In the face of a complex international situation and the new targets in 2022, Hape would work with suppliers to address these challenges and stride ahead together.
Peter emphasized that Children are the end consumers of toys. Although they only account for about 30% of the world’s total population, they represent 100% of the future of mankind. Therefore, having sustainable development and developing environmentally-friendly toys has been an inescapable responsibility of ours. To make these happen, we would need the joint efforts of the whole society and the industry. Then, Peter reviewed the history of Hape’s entrepreneurial development. From the initial two members who came to China, till today a factory consisting of over one thousand staff including more than 150 20-year veteran employees, Hape has always upheld the people-oriented approach, because of this, Hape was able to uphold its original “Love Play Learn” aspiration in the face of economic crises, worker shortage and the pandemic, and dedicated to creating children’s favorite toys.

In addition, Peter emphasized again that the stable partnership had been essential for business success. In Peter’s hometown in Germany, there was a popular proverb “Only team cooperation can help one weather a storm”. Someone might ask “Peter, do you worry that your partners copy your design and then overtake Hape?” Peter replied with a smile, “I never have such concerns”. If more suppliers or even competitors decide to produce environmentally friendly toys, it will be good news for him, because one enterprise alone can’t stop global warming. The more followers there are, the closer we are to recover blue skies and clear waters. Hape will never feel afraid to be surpassed because the most important experience left to HAPE after over 30 years of development is how to become a leader. Hape shall support the growth of all suppliers, just as they have supported HAPE for so many years. Partners are HAPE’s most important asset. Peter’s speech won bursts of applause of the guests, and the representatives of all suppliers spoke to express their approval and admiration. During the Q&A session, Peter had in-depth exchanges with all supplier representatives. Participants first discussed the trend of the “toy” market for elder people. Peter believed that aging population is a challenge for human society in the coming decades. We need more investigation and research to explore this market segment. Some suppliers asked about HAPE’s expectations and requirements for them. Peter said that there was no absolute answer to this question as every supplier had been different. The needs of customers are so different. Some customers would like to pay more for high-quality products, while others need products with a large quantity of parts and accessories. Suppliers should firstly get aware of their own advantages, and see what solutions they can provide to customers, as what customers demand is what Hape needs.

At the end of the meeting, HAPE presented excellent supplier representatives with well-designed commemorative trophies and certificates. Peter shared the life story of Mr. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA and called on all participants to build on past achievements and open up new prospects: “The most important thing is still to be done”. In the next five years, Hape would like to work with all suppliers to achieve the goal of an annual output value at RMB 5 billion worldwide”. For this purpose, Hape shall deepen its strategic partnership with suppliers in an all-round way based on the principles of “cooperation, trust and transparency”. We will stand side by side and march forward hand in hand!