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COMPANY PROFILE ISABELLA<br />
VIEW FROM THE TOP<br />
These days, Isabella is a forward-thinking,<br />
ambitious, and modern company that<br />
is working hard to take full advantage of<br />
the current uptick in the camping and<br />
caravanning industry. To learn more, we<br />
spoke with company CEO, Morten Kjeldsen,<br />
to get his views on the current state of play.<br />
How is business going for Isabella right<br />
now? How have the last few years been?<br />
Business going very well at the moment, we<br />
have succeeded to develop new products<br />
that suits the caravan people. The last few<br />
years we have grown in all markets we are in.<br />
▲ Isabella founder Søren Odgaard, who sewed his first tent in 1957.<br />
HISTORY LESSON<br />
There are few interesting things you should know about Isabella. First of all,<br />
the name came from Søren’s fascination with the classic car, the Borgward<br />
Isabella. Secondly, the company began only making ridge tents until in the<br />
1960s Søren saw that camping on two wheels was becoming more popular. He<br />
decided to follow this trend and in fact created the A-measurement system<br />
for caravans in 1967. Another thing you should know (and you already will<br />
if you’ve had the pleasure of using an Isabella product) is that the focus on<br />
quality is the same today as it was when Søren first started the company.<br />
Isabella prides itself on getting the details right, which has led to the company<br />
coming up with many much-needed innovations in the awning sector<br />
throughout its history. Take for example its Isacryl material, a spinneret-dyed,<br />
textured-weave, durable acrylic material that is used to create its awnings,<br />
giving them impressive water ingress protection, breathability, climate control<br />
and fade resistance. Or its CarbonX chassis that it introduced in the 2000s,<br />
which allowed awnings to be made far lighter than ever before without<br />
compromising on strength or durability. Quite simply, the company has always<br />
followed the initial ethos of its founder and aimed to offer products that solve<br />
the problems campers have and give them an extension to their camping living<br />
space that will last a lifetime.<br />
How important is the company’s long<br />
history in relation to how it is today?<br />
Our story is living in us. We have always been<br />
working on good relations with our suppliers<br />
and dealerships, and that is still a great part<br />
of our daily work.<br />
What are the most important recent<br />
developments the company has made?<br />
On the product side we are developing<br />
into the motorhome market right now,<br />
this is where the growth is the biggest. On<br />
the internal side we are back to where we<br />
came from, working with our core with the<br />
campers in mind.<br />
Do you predict the current boom in the<br />
camping industry will continue?<br />
How have you capitalised on it? We think<br />
that the business will slow a bit down, now<br />
everybody can travel again, and this will<br />
have an effect, but we are on a higher level<br />
than before. We are in constant process of<br />
developing new articles for the market, and<br />
we will continue doing this to keep or even<br />
grow our market share.<br />
What are Isabella’s plans for the future,<br />
without giving away any secrets, of<br />
course?<br />
Isabella will also in the future be a part of the<br />
caravanning business, and we will reinforce<br />
our current brands within the group.<br />
www.campingtradeworld.com | 45
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