João Paulo Ferreira

He was born in Mozambique, but came to Portugal as a boy. First, he took a sports course, where he learned about exactitude, respect and discipline. But it was with the struggle of day-to-day life, namely his mother’s difficulties to put food on the table for her three children as a single woman, that he learnt great lessons about resilience and resistance. But things change. Today, João Paulo Ferreira is Country Manager at Haier Europe. A household appliance company that is helping to make a name for itself in Portugal and the Old Continent. Between goals and hard work, this is the faithful portrait of the story of a man who, curiously enough, started out with no ambitions, but in no time at all achieved great success.

You were born in Mozambique. At what age did you leave the country? How were those years, what do you remember?
Yes, I was born in Lourenço Marques in 1967, and after the 25th of April Revolution the situation began to get very complicated for the Portuguese. First to South Africa and then to Portugal, where my mother had her roots. February 1978, that’s when I arrived in Lisbon. 

And when you came to Portugal, what kind of country did you find?
A very cold country, because in February it rained a lot and it was very cold for someone who had just arrived from a country with tropical temperatures. Portugal was a very harsh country for people coming from abroad and life wasn’t easy for the many families that arrived with one hand in front of them and the other behind, with their lives completely torn apart. The former colonies had a very advanced standard of living compared to Portugal, and adapting wasn’t easy. Portugal was a poor country, especially in smaller settings, such as the one we found in Marinha Grande. Those were very difficult times for a mother who, all on her own, had to struggle to put food on the table of her three children.  

You have worked in several companies and has a career that many would envy. When did you realise that you were born to lead, and specifically in this sector?
Fortunately, I can say that I have a career that makes me proud, mainly for having 37 years in this market and still managing, humbly, to walk with my head held high, and being welcomed and respected by clients, partners and colleagues. I have always liked to help friends and colleagues, striving to build bridges. The business side has grown over time, but leadership depends more on who is led than who leads, because to be a good leader, you need good people to lead. To lead a group of people, for me, is to treat others with respect and try to clarify, exemplify and naturally convince people to follow a path that they believe is the best, the most effective and the most ethical. I read this quote once, which I think is fabulous: «In business, 100% of customers are people; 100% of colleagues are people, so if you don’t understand people, you understand nothing about business». Getting people to do what needs to be done, making them believe they are doing the best for everyone, is really the hardest part, but also the most exciting and rewarding. 

«The vision has been clear from the outset: to climb onto the European podium, to be the first choice in the smart home sector»

You’ve been at Haier, one of the largest household appliance groups in the world, for 12 years. What has this challenge meant for you?
Yes, 12 years in the group, which used to be just Candy Hoover, but which a little over three years ago was acquired by this colossus of household appliances that the Haier group is. Every experience during my journey has been rewarding and important. The Haier Group brings a higher level of requirement, because we have three brands that have to be complementary in a multi-brand strategy, which requires a different type of behaviour. Obviously, it was with immense pride that I was able to continue to lead the group after the acquisition, as it brought more responsibility, but also the joy of bringing a new brand to the Portuguese market, especially as it is a premium brand, with the weight of being the No. 1 in household appliances in the world, although completely unknown in our country. Something in which I have some experience, given my working background. 

What plans is Haier making today for the coming years, in terms of investment and expansion, in Portugal and the rest of Europe?
The vision has been clear from the outset: to climb onto the European podium, to be the first choice in the smart home sector and to create complete ecosystems in it. For Portugal, we obviously have the same goals and we have been fighting for them since day one, and the results have been showing signs that we will achieve them within the planned timeframe. 

What commitments has the group made to sustainability and social responsibility?
This is an area in which we can never truly be satisfied, and in which there is, and always will be, much to do. Creating greener products is clearly a reality today, but the way in which they are produced is also increasingly important. Creating more environmentally friendly factories, with care paid in terms of consumption, using renewable energies and recyclable materials, are aspects that the whole industry is practising, always with the premise of trying to surpass the metrics outlined internationally by the various signatory countries of the Paris Agreement. Internally, we are developing our own plan, at a European level, which will force us to be increasingly ambitious in this area, and also to take the lead in sustainability. 

For a year now, the world has been experiencing serious difficulties in terms of scarcity of materials. How has Haier managed to deal with this difficulty?
Recent times have been particularly complex due to some shortages of components necessary for the production of household appliances, but not only that, inflation has risen, which has forced the search for solutions in an attempt to mitigate the impact of these factors. Haier’s size clearly helped a lot in terms of negotiating capacity, but also in its own capacity to produce and place on the market. Working with forethought was, perhaps, the greatest advantage we achieved, because we did not stop when we were faced with the pandemic. We took decisions. If at that time we had stopped the whole forecast, or if we had taken on the responsibility of continuing to receive items without knowing whether we would be able to sell them normally, it would not have gone well. It wasn't easy. All the same, fortunately, it went well.

«Connectivity and Artificial Intelligence are among the most important pillars in our strategy today»

What is Haier’s current relationship with Artificial Intelligence? Why is it something so important to the company?
Connectivity and Artificial Intelligence are among the most important pillars in our strategy today. The future will include smart homes and increasingly interconnected ecosystems of products and services. Artificial Intelligence plays an important role here in the sense that it helps us get to know consumers’ consumption habits better and enables a more personal and dedicated interaction, living up to a more tailor-made approach, that is to say, capable of creating products and services based on the needs and desires of each consumer.  

How many employees does Haier currently have and how can the household appliances they make improve the daily life of our homes, but also the retail sector and large companies?
The group, worldwide, has more than one hundred thousand employees, and in Europe around ten thousand. In Europe, in the last year, we have opened some new factories: in Romania and in Turkey. Since these platforms are completely new and are made with state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and robotisation, we can say that they are some of the most advanced factories ever. And therefore, they increase production capacity and the quality of the products. The new dishwashers that are about to enter the market are the result of one of these factories. The focus on quality is now a company standard, for all products, regardless of the brand. Highly technologically advanced products, connectable and with a good dose of Artificial Intelligence, to satisfy the needs of consumers.