ETSA News

ETSA interviews Harald Goost of Bierbaum-Proenen, on joining ETSA in 2024

Foreword: In late 2023 ETSA held a series of meetings in Brussels with Harald Goost of Bierbaum-Proenen, an esteemed firm in Germany which (as of 2024) has recently joined ETSA as a supplier member. Mr Goost was in attendance at the ETSA Board and Suppliers meeting in late November of 2023 where leaders of the ETSA companies had the chance to meet with Mr Goost directly. However, in celebration of Bierbaum-Proenen joining ETSA, we interviewed Mr Goost on Bierbaum-Proenen, the chief workings of the company and where he sees the cooperative future with ETSA in the context of the textile services industry. In the interview below, Mr Goost not only describes the important work Bierbaum-Proenen is undertaking, but where he sees the future both in the context of Bierbaum-Proenen and the greater Textile Service Industry. We encourage you to read the entire interview with Harald Goost below.

Question: Mr. Goost, can you briefly describe Bierbaum-Proenen's primary services and areas of expertise in the textile industry?

Bierbaum-Proenen is a manufacturer of professional clothing. Our strength lies in the manufacture of PPE, of clothing for industry and trade as well as for the medical and caring professions. On the one hand, we see what users want. They want the same functionality, the same look and the same feel that they know from leisure or outdoor clothing. On the other hand, we have known the requirements of our main customers, the textile services sector, for many years. Almost our entire product range is orientated towards ISO 15797. We therefore see our strength in bringing these two worlds together: the requirements of the users and the requirements of the textile services industry.

Question: What are Bierbaum's primary goals for the next 3-5 years, and how does being a part of ETSA align with these objectives?

As a company, we have ambitious goals. We want to grow on a European level by offering our customers a great product range with high added value. In our opinion, the main growth areas are in the PPE segment and in sustainable clothing solutions. In these two areas, ETSA brings together the expertise of strong market players and provides an important platform for networking. We want to participate in the association's working groups, share our expertise and learn from others.

Question: How does Bierbaum-Proenen plan to engage with other ETSA members to foster collaboration and mutual growth

ETSA is a strong group that brings together the European textile services industry. ETSA makes a major contribution to communicating the interests and needs of our industry. All this is important. Regulation is a problem and a strong association can help to ensure that our industry is not over-regulated. I think this is in the common interest of all members and we should support the association as much as possible.

We would like to work closely with ETSA and its members in three areas in particular: PPE, sustainability and communication.

We see PPE as a growth segment. Especially in this area, there are many opportunities for the textile services industry. Sustainability has become a compliance issue that we need to pay close attention to. The textile services industry has already a circular economy model in place and this is crucial when it comes to providing safe and hygienic clothing. This important role is not sufficiently recognized or appreciated by the public or by policy makers. Communication therefore plays an important role. This is where we want to provide support.

Question: Sustainability is a major focus in many industries, including textile services. Can you discuss Bierbaum's approach to sustainability and any recent initiatives or achievements in this area?

At BP, we do indeed focus very much on sustainability. We produce in North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia and we pay great attention to the social standards there. Since 2010, the Fair Wear Foundation, a multi-stakeholder initiative, has regularly audited our production sites. We have now been awarded the Leader status for the tenth time in a row. We operate at a very high level and are improving every year. We have developed an ambitious roadmap for ecological sustainability which clearly sets out the milestones we want to achieve each year. We want our entire product range to be CO₂ neutral and 50% of our range to be recyclable by 2030. We are making progress on this every year. We are currently working on two new circular collections. We are convinced that, together with our partners in the supply chain, we have found a promising and practicable way to recycle fibers. As already mentioned, sustainability is increasingly becoming a compliance issue and therefore requires comprehensible and transparent business practices. For years now, we have been publishing an annual ESG report in which we provide information on all the steps we have taken in this regard to date and will continue to promote in the future.

However, I would like to say that I am concerned because we are seeing so much over-regulation in this area. The green transformation of the economy is necessary. This is clear and most players are committed to this goal. However, many companies feel overburdened by the enormous bureaucratic requirements that go hand in hand with this ‒ and not everything that is required really helps to promote sustainability. There are better ways achieve this goal. In my opinion, this is also something that should be discussed in associations and interest groups.

Question: Are there any upcoming events or announcements from Bierbaum-Proenen that ETSA members should look forward to?

In March of this year, we will be organizing a Sustainability Forum in Cologne that will bring together many partners from the textile chain and key players from the field of sustainability. There are many new regulatory provisions at EU level and more are on the way: Green Deal, digital product pass, circularity, CO₂ footprint, CSG reporting - to name just a few keywords. All of this will pose major challenges for our industry. With the Sustainability Forum, we want to create a platform for dialogue, opinion-forming, know-how transfer and networking. Furthermore, we will be launching a new circular collection towards the end of this year, which really takes a new and holistic approach. This is a further step towards a more sustainable BP product range.