PromZ Vak 4 · 2026 · English edition

The secret of Prodir

the packaging. Porotti names quality, design, and reliability as the elements with which Swiss production makes the difference. During difficult periods, customers sometimes stayed away temporarily, but they returned. Not because Prodir had become the cheapest, but because they knew what they were getting.

Don't lower prices in panic

Because, yes, a Prodir costs more than an average promotional pen. Especially in a market where budgets are under pressure and distributors are once again bringing up price more frequently, that is a difficult position.

Yet the company refuses to move downwards in a panic. According to De Kleyn, stopping investments is just about the worst thing you can do in difficult times. Anyone who tries to buy orders by simply lowering prices erodes not only their margin but also the value of their brand. And once that value is gone, it is difficult to recover. So Prodir continues to invest. In new molds, materials, design, marketing concepts, and products that no one knows for sure beforehand whether the market is waiting for.

That does go wrong sometimes. The DS4 looked great and offered plenty of opportunities for communication around its square shape. However: ultimately, a pen must also feel comfortable in the hand. In that case, the design took precedence over the functionality too much.

That is the difference between design as decoration and design as a discipline. A beautiful product is not automatically a good product. And an innovative company sometimes has to accept that it is too early, or has simply made the wrong choice.

Sustainability without fairy tales

When it comes to sustainability, too, Prodir does not choose the easy marketing route. Residual material from plastics production was already being reused before recycled plastic became a selling point. Around 2009 or 2010, the company introduced a pen made of PLA, years before the market seriously demanded it. Interest only really picked up around 2015 and 2016.

During the COVID-19 period, a pen made of PHA followed, a biopolymer that can return to nature under the right composting conditions. Technically, that was anything but simple. The material does not behave exactly the same in every production run, whereas Prodir specifically wants to deliver consistent quality and colour.

That is where the honest tension surrounding sustainability lies. A high proportion of recycled material makes exact colour reproduction more difficult. A more innovative biopolymer makes the pen more expensive, while the customer sees hardly any difference on the outside. Everyone wants to be more sustainable, but not everyone wants to pay for it.

Prodir does not gloss over that contradiction. Sustainability must be demonstrably embedded in the material, production, supplier selection, and certification. Not just in the story surrounding it. That makes development more expensive, but also more credible.

From pen to brand tool

Prodir knows that the volume of writing instruments is changing. Large orders still exist, but companies are increasingly ordering what they need at that moment. Moreover, digitization is leading to less writing.

The pen is not disappearing, but Prodir wants to be more than just a pen brand. With notebooks and the metal MC-01

From nib to wind turbine

The ball in a refill seems like a small detail, but it requires extreme precision, wear resistance, and smooth operation. Prodir is now using that same material knowledge for a completely different application: ceramic ball bearings for wind turbines. There, the balls must withstand high loads, friction, and varying conditions for a long time. A striking example of diversification: specialized knowledge from the stationery industry is finding a new purpose within sustainable energy.