Portuguese shoes set to overtake Italian in terms of price and quality

Portuguese shoes are neck-and-neck with Italian shoes in terms of quality and price.
According to the President of the Portuguese Footwear, Leatherwear and Related Articles (APICCAPS), Luís Onofre, Portuguese footwear manufacturers are gaining ground with the Italians in the international market.
Speaking at the Milan shoe fair MICAM, Onofre believes that Portugal could soon take the top spot from the Italians in terms of international shoes sales in the luxury market.
Speaking to the online website ECCO, he said, “In Italy, shoe prices are much higher because the manpower is very expensive”.
Luca Zanasca, who heads the Italian luxury brand Roberto Festa agrees and said that the high taxes in Italy were the main cause. Nevertheless, he stressed that the high price of Italian shoes is also explained by the high quality of Italian shoes which bolsters the Made in Italy brand.
Quizzed on the need to up the salaries of Portuguese shoe manufacturers following the Italian example, the APICCAPS president said that wasn’t “the way to go”.
Luís Onofre said that the minimum salary in Portugal would rise at the start of next year and that income had to be in line with production.
“We can’t set the bar too high in terms of prices because if we do we won’t be competitive” he said adding that in Italy they enjoyed “double or triple the salaries because they had double the production.”
Portugal currently enjoys the second highest level of shoe exports worldwide in the mid-price range at €26 against €48 for Italian shoes in the same category.