Alina Oprea • 12 October, 2023 at 10:27 AM
FAN Courier has invested €1.8 million in a photovoltaic panel installation, and the electric vehicles in its fleet will soon be charged with green energy produced "in-house", said Adriana Manu, FAN Marketing & Communication Director Courier, for Economica.net. The company with the largest market share expects that in a courier market growing by at least 10% this year, according to its own forecasts, it will register a 15% increase in turnover, up to €250 million at the end. 2023. In this context, the future electric vehicles in the FAN Courier fleet will be charged with green energy produced "in-house".
In 25 years of courier service, leaving in 1998, only with "Furia Verde" owned by Felix Pătrășcanu, one of the shareholders, FAN Courier has become the market leader and aims for a 15% growth, higher than the market (estimated to be 10% for 2023), neutralizing the carbon footprint by 2040 and powering future electric vehicles from its own photovoltaic park in which it has already invested €18 million.
"Sustainability is a strategic development direction for the company, and last year we established the Sustainability and Impact Department to balance the needs and interests of all parties involved: environment, employees, shareholders, suppliers, customers, etc. A very important objective assumed by FAN Courier is the neutralization of the carbon footprint by the year 2040, being the first Romanian company to sign The Climate Pledge. Besides, currently, a pilot project of non-polluting deliveries represents electric mobility, FAN Courier being one of the courier pioneers that invested in this area", explains Adriana Manu.
Even though it has not yet switched to electric vehicles, FAN Courier has invested €1.8 million in the installation of photovoltaic panels at its headquarters in Ștefăneştii de Jos. According to estimates, they will cover approximately 40% of their own consumption, and the surplus energy will be distributed in the public network.
After the pandemic, which gave a considerable advance to online commerce and default couriers, FAN Courier anticipates a minimum 10% advance of the courier market in 2023.
"The year 2020 has created a different type of behavior among consumers, behavior that is maintained, to a very large extent, even in the years after the pandemic. Such a rapid shift from traditional to online commerce was probably not anticipated even by the players in the e-commerce market, and this massive increase in online sales has also boosted the courier market, with which it is closely related. Consequently, the prospects are optimistic, because, in Romania, online trade is far from being mature, therefore, the expansion of online trade generates the growth of the courier market", says Adriana Manu, FAN Courier marketing & communication director.
One of the big advantages that contribute to the development of express couriers, the development of mobile applications, alternative delivery options that have become extremely flexible, same-day or within-time delivery, and effortless interaction with customers through technology, all these contribute to simplification and development of the activity which, indisputably, will lead to the growth of the market.
"The estimates we have at the moment are within the target proposed at the beginning of the year, against the background of the growth of e-commerce and, implicitly, of consumption. Thus, on a courier market growing by at least 10%, according to our forecasts, we expect at the end of the year a 15% increase in turnover, up to €250 million", concludes Manu.