Antonio Martins (Cartri): "Bet on France"

At a time when all the pala brands are releasing their new models for the 2022 season which is fast approaching, Padel Magazine had the chance to exchange with Antonio Martins (General Manager of the Cartri brand).

You obviously know Cartri, a Spanish brand specializing in the design of palas for 6 years but also of equipment dedicated to padel.

Its main factory is located in Spain and the brand wants to be close to its customers, making quality its priority.

A positive year

In this first part of the interview Antonio Martins took stock of the last 6 years of Cartri in the padel market.

“The results of these 6 years are incredible. When I started playing padel I never imagined that I would achieve such strong development. I think the latter is due to the seriousness that we have been able to bring to the market. We have succeeded by manufacturing our rackets in Spain and maintaining the same prices in all countries.

At first we only designed products for other brands, but given the growth of padel, we decided to launch our own business and no longer work for other companies.

At the international level, our development has been very good, in particular thanks to the relationships that we have been able to forge in recent years. I am very satisfied with what we have achieved because we are now part of the Top 15 pala brands. ”

Sweden and Argentina fond of Cartri

The founder of the brand focused on the global presence and the most promising markets for his products. Spain, of course, but also Sweden, Argentina ...

"Sweden is one of the countries where we sell the most palas. And the country that surprised us the most is Argentina.

Indeed, although we know all the economic difficulties of the Argentinian market, we sell a lot of palas in this country. Argentines are very sensitive to the quality of our products because until last year our manufacture was 100% Spanish, which has given us great recognition in the market. We are seen clearly as a premium brand.

The Scandinavian countries are very important targets for us and Argentina too, because it is a bit like the cradle of padel. The key markets at the moment are France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil.

We are currently present in 27 countries. We would like to reach 40 in 2022 and then control this development so that we can still supply our distributors without problems."

Bet on France

"I think that France in a few years will be a market which will catch up with Spain. Historically, it has a great influence on tennis and little by little, many players of this sport will move towards padel as in Spain or other countries.

France is a great sports country, with all the qualities necessary to become a great padel country (infrastructure, players, proximity to Spain and Spanish population in the French territory)”

Although padel in France has already experienced a boom, I think there is still a lot to do, it is currently only at 30% of its development capacity. Many good players come out of the shadows and make themselves more and more known, especially in the female category with players in the Top 30, I am thinking for example of Alix Collombon and Léa Godallier.

It is a market on which we want to bet and in 2022 approach certain players to enter this geographical area more easily.

It remains very complicated because the market is closed, to say the least, but I think that we have enough seriousness and quality products to enter France more seriously ”.

Part of the delocalized production

An important change of the Spanish brand is of course the relocation of part of its production to Asia (the models of the Premium range are still made by hand in Spain).

The CEO explains:

"We were forced to review our manufacturing and location for an obvious reason: costs.

Indeed, following our development and the different markets that we are entering, it is impossible in some countries for people to buy a racket for 300 euros. 2021 was the first year we started manufacturing palas in Asia.

We have a factory in China but we control the quality in Spain at our premises. So we can guarantee the quality to the end consumers. The manufacturing methods are the same as in Spain and this allows us to continue producing quality material ”.

The Ladies put forward for 2022

To conclude this conversation Antonio Martins confided in the novelties of the brand and its objectives for the next year.

“As many know at Cartri we produce all types of material, ranging from palas to textiles including sports bags.

For 2022 we will be releasing a new clothing collection which is in my opinion the best we have made so far.

We have also widened our range of pala but we are also very proud to have released a special collection for Beach tennis and Pickleball, sport very widespread in the United States and which is exported more and more in Europe. ”

“Regarding the sponsorship of players - players, mour goal for next season is to bet heavily on women by composing a TEAM CARTRI of 8 players.

For the record, I am very attached to them because at home there are only women: my two daughters are called Carlotta (CAR) and Trini (TRI), hence the name CARTRI. In my company there are a lot of women and ditto in my factory in China. I am very attached to this idea of betting on women ”.

Team Padel Mag

The team Padel Magazine has been trying to offer you the best of padel since 2013, but also surveys and analyses to try to understand the world of padel. From the game to the politics of our sport, Padel Magazine is at your service.