Danish toy maker Dantoy (Hobro; www.dantoy.dk) has invested in developing products made of bioplastics due to customer demand, and will start selling these toys in 2018, according to its CEO Marck Matthiasen. Dantoy’s announcement comes after its compatriot Lego (Billund; www.lego.com) revealed it has started producing pieces, such as plants and trees, made from sugarcane-sourced PE. These “sustainable” bricks will be available this year – see Plasteurope.com of 08.03.2018.

Matthiasen told Danish newspaper Nordjyske that one of the reasons Dantoy’s pre-tax profit in 2017 declined to DKK 90,000 (around EUR 12,000) from DKK 1.1m the year earlier was due to the investments in new machinery to make itself competitive. He said bioplastics toys such as plates, cutlery and tractors with tilting ladder would be available on store shelves from April. The Danish toy manufacturer presently has seven products made of bioplastics and plans to expand the product line, he added. Currently, the company's toys are mainly made from PE and PP.

Dantoy, which has a 15,000 m² factory in Hobro, northern Denmark, has been manufacturing toys for more than 50 years, and has exported them to 50 countries. Its largest market is Germany, which generates around 18-20% of total revenues, and is one of the reasons a new sales office was set up there recently, Matthiasen said. Around 75-80% of total revenues come from international sales, he added. The new office is in Bad Honnef / Germany, and is also responsible for Switzerland and Austria, and a spokesman told Plasteurope.com the Hobro location services all other countries.

Matthiasen noted that one of the things making Dantoy a unique toy maker is that it is one of the few companies that still manufactures its products on the European continent.