Cartamundi takes over Play-Doh manufacturing

Belgian Cartamundi and American toy giant Hasbro have struck a deal to manufacture the sculpting clay Play-Doh. Soon, a Cartamundi factory will handle the well-known toy’s manufacturing process.

“Very proud”

Hasbro’s Play-Doh manufacturing currently takes places in Turkey and China, but soon it will move to a Cartamundi factory in the United States. Only two years ago, the Belgian company acquired two factories from the American multinational and one of those will now also take care of the Play-Doh production. CEO Chris van Doorslaer is ravished his company will handle Play-Doh, alongside other properties like Monopoly. “Play-Doh’s addition will strengthen our collaboration and is fully in line with our strategy to grow alongside our customers”, the CEO told Made in Kempen.

Cartamundi’s factory in Massachusetts already hired another 30 people since its acquisition and Play-Doh will create another 20 job openings, up to 480. Ever since Cartamundi took control of the factory, it grew 13.5 %.

“We continuously evaluate our global sourcing strategy and optimize our production”, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said. “We do not own factories ourselves, but we have an international network of partners to do that for us. This allows us to make deals whenever there is an opportunity.”

Market leader

Cartamundi has been the global market leader for card manufacturing for quite a long time, but wants to become the market leader for boardgames as well, which is why it acquired two of Hasbro’s factories in 2015. “This is a milestone for our company”, Van Doorslaer said back then. “This acquisition will enable us to become a global market leader when it comes to boardgame manufacturing.”

Hasbro was willing to sell its manufacturing plants so that it could focus entirely on brand development.