Hong Kong-based outerwear specialist NCFHK is expanding its European footprint through increased production in Portugal, where it tripled turnover in 2024 and aims to localize 30% of its global manufacturing within three years.
Miguel Ferreira, sales director, and Thomas Leung, founder of the company
Founded nearly two decades ago, NCFHK—specialized in outerwear—has established a growing presence in Portugal over the last four years, operating a partner factory in Famalicão and an in-house atelier in Viana do Castelo for collection development and prototyping.
Currently, approximately 10% of NCFHK’s production takes place in Portugal, with the remaining 90% based in Bangladesh—the country where the company relocated its manufacturing after several years of operating its own facilities in China. The initial move to Portugal was intended to establish a sales office focused on Southern Europe. “But over time, we realized that we could produce on the European continent because we wanted to gain more market share,” explains Miguel Ferreira, NCFHK’s sales director.
The company’s medium-term goal is for Portugal to represent 30% of its global production. “Made in Portugal is about sustainability, speed, and flexibility. Flexibility is not easy in Bangladesh. It’s a country that relies heavily on textiles—much more than Portugal. Around 80% of Bangladesh’s GDP comes from textile exports. To make it work, you need to feed the machine quickly and at scale, which suits a specific kind of customer,” Ferreira adds.
To achieve the 30% target, NCFHK plans to optimize its production processes and invest in specialized technologies, including ultrasonic and feather-filling equipment. “It’s machinery we’re already familiar with and currently use in Bangladesh—equipment we intend to bring to Portugal because it boosts productivity, increases production capacity, and enhances responsiveness, without relying heavily on manual labor, which would further drive up costs,” explains Miguel Ferreira.
In 2024, NCFHK tripled its turnover in Portugal, growing from €250,000 to €750,000. The first quarter of 2025 already points to an even stronger performance.
Internationally, Europe remains NCFHK’s primary market, but the company is seeing increasing interest from regions such as Canada, the United States, and the Middle East, where it is beginning to gain visibility. Although the Middle East is a market where “they are willing to pay and invest in technology that nobody else has,” it remains “very nascent, because it’s a difficult market to enter. We need partners and consultants working with us to help us get there because it’s not a liquid market. In other words, I can’t just pack a suitcase and go knocking on doors the way I do in Northern Europe. It takes more diplomatic work—let’s call it that,” says Miguel Ferreira.
Innovation and obstacles
NCFHK is also exploring opportunities in the defense sector, though it acknowledges the market’s demanding technical standards and certification requirements. “We’re still in the prototyping phase, not least because it’s a more complex market—highly technical and subject to strict regulations. So everything must be certified and executed with precision,” says the sales director.
Among the company’s latest innovations, Miguel Ferreira points to developing materials sourced outside Portugal, such as “a fabric made from coffee beans in Taiwan that is waterproof without any kind of treatment.” While large-scale production has yet to begin, initial testing is underway with the goal of “producing in Portugal and delivering to brands,” and the first pieces are expected to launch later this year.
However, the shortage of skilled labor continues to pose a significant challenge for NCFHK’s operations in Portugal. The company advocates for streamlining immigration processes to better align with the sector’s needs. “We’re waiting for this green lane for immigrants to really take effect, because we have people ready to come to Portugal to work and enjoy better working and living conditions. That would help the national economy in every aspect. But we haven’t succeeded yet, because many bureaucratic blockages prevent it,” concludes Miguel Ferreira.
UK footfall down in November? Blame the Budget and bad weather. Those two important factors damaged shoppers’ desire to venture out, resulting in an albeit slender 0.8% year-on-year dip in footfall last month, with all types of destinations suffering. It was also the seventh consecutive footfall decline, noted the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC)/Sensormatic report
Image: Nigel Taylor
That meant visits to high streets were down 1.2% in November and down from a 0.6% rise in October; shopping centre footfall dipped 1.3% last month, down from a 0.9% dip in October; and retail park visits were down 0.4% in November, but were better than a 0.5% dip in October.
The BRC also noted that November’s Storm Claudia prompted many consumers to search online for Black Friday deals throughout November, leading some to not visit physical stores on Black Friday.
But there was good news, with some northern UK cities – including Manchester and Sheffield – continuing to buck the trend, “recording positive footfall for the eighth consecutive month”.
So with many shoppers holding off on store visits until this month, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “With the Golden Quarter in full swing, retailers are continuing to invest what they can to entice customers into stores over Christmas.
“However, as we approach the New Year, given the downward trend in footfall across recent years, we need a comprehensive strategy to revitalise our high streets and shopping centres, from better transport, affordable parking, to a reformed planning system to enable faster, better development.”
Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA for Sensormatic, added: “November may have been dominated by caution, but there are glimmers of hope. The Golden Quarter isn’t over yet, and with four of our predicted Top Five shopping days still to come, the festive season could deliver the lift retailers need. A last-minute rush may top off the year, turning caution into celebration. With the right balance of value, convenience, and experience, there’s still time to make December count.”
The world’s largest fashion retailer staged a stock-market comeback this week as Inditex SA’s push to differentiate itself from fierce ultra-low-price competition shows signs of bearing fruit.
Inside a Zara store – Zara
The owner of Zara, Bershka, and Massimo Dutti has seen its shares jump 14%, putting them on track for their best week in five years. Strong third-quarter results, coupled with accelerating November sales, were seen as evidence of the company’s resilience against weaker consumer sentiment.
This week’s surge put the stock on course for an annual gain, after what had previously looked like a lacklustre 2025. Inditex- whose second-largest market is the US- had been punished for its exposure to tariffs and a weaker greenback, amid concerns about softening consumer demand and intensifying competition from Chinese fast-fashion firms.
While its 10% rise this year trails the 50% jump for UK retailer Next Plc and the 19% gain at Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz AB, Inditex is now outperforming the broader European retail sector. Analysts have welcomed the firm’s push to steer its Zara and Massimo Dutti brands further into the premium segment as it seeks to outmuscle competitors such as Shein and Temu. “The strategy is not to chase ultra-low prices, but to deliver premium-looking products at a good-value price point,” Alphavalue analyst Jie Zhang wrote in a note.
After this week’s rally, Inditex is trading at a substantially higher valuation than peers at 26 times forward earnings- on par with luxury behemoth LVMH. The firm’s strong third-quarter earnings reinforce “the quality of the business and will make investors question whether the right peer group for this company is luxury rather than retail in our view,” said Deutsche Bank AG analyst Adam Cochrane.
Inditex’s latest trading update spurred upward earnings revisions and price target upgrades, with more bullishness among brokers likely to follow, as the current consensus 12-month forward price target doesn’t leave any room for further upside. “These growth levels should provide reassurance of the continued opportunity for outperformance, including into 2026,” said JPMorgan & Chase Co. analyst Georgina Johanan.
A partnership between Agromethod Labs and CITEVE is advancing hydroponic cotton cultivation, a project that could make Portugal the only country in Europe to host the entire cotton value chain, from fibre to clothing.
Agromethod Labs was founded earlier this year with the mission of developing more sustainable, future-oriented agricultural solutions. Its founder, Raquel Maria, a chemist by training with a long track record in academic research, explains that the impetus to create thestart-upstemmed from a personal concern.
“Academia allows us to change the world on a small scale. I felt it was time to bring that knowledge into the real world and have a greater impact on future generations,” she told Portugal Têxtil.
Although Agromethod Labs works across several fields, cotton quickly stood out, building on previous research, notably by researcher Filipe Natálio, currently at the Applied Biomolecular Sciences Unit (UCIBIO) of the School of Science and Technology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA FCT). “But we want to continue working on other types of crops and other seeds. Agromethod Labs is bigger than cotton,” she says.
Approaching CITEVE marked a turning point. According to the founder, the hydroponic cotton project “was very much on paper” and required initial investment and a solid technological partner. “CITEVE was decisive. It came along at the right time and finally gave us the opportunity to get started with something that we had already thought about extensively, but which was not yet in a position to move forward,” she says.
The collaboration has made it possible to implement a functional mini pilot, already with measurable results, and to prepare the next phase: a larger-scale pilot that will incorporate vertical farming to maximise the production area.
Advantages and challenges
Hydroponic cultivation offers significant advantages, notes Raquel Maria. “We can grow anywhere in the world, without reliance on sunlight and without geographical limitations,” she explains. It also enables continuous production. “We are no longer limited to a single annual harvest. We can get three or four harvests a year,” she says.
Early results also show improvements in the fibre. “We have obtained cotton with better mechanical properties and greater whiteness, which can reduce some stages in textile processing,” says Raquel Maria.
Even so, the founder of Agromethod Labs recognises that there are challenges, particularly in terms of costs, since this cultivation technique is more expensive. However, incorporating vertical farming in the new pilot could help. “If we double the production area, we can get closer to the economic viability we want,” she believes. Considering the higher costs and added value of the fibre, the raw material produced “in the initial phase will be directed to specialised markets,” she says.
The small-scale production carried out in a room at CITEVE has already made it possible to produce yarn from hydroponic cotton. The next symbolic goal will be “to make a T-shirt and be able to say that it was made with cotton produced in Portugal would be wonderful,” confesses Raquel Maria.
With expansion planned for the next six months, the aim will be to significantly increase production and take an important step closer to the market. According to the founder of Agromethod Labs, the Portuguese textile industry has already started to show enthusiasm. “There have been several expressions of interest. We are completely open to collaborating with Portuguese companies,” she says.
However, the ambition goes beyond fibre production. “Portugal could be the only country in Europe to have the entire value chain- from raw material to end product- in a single territory. That would be a milestone for the country,” concludes Raquel Maria.
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Politics8 years ago