Installed in February, the two machines mark Meamstyle’s largest investment in recent years and represent, according to Pedro Mendes, sales representative and second generation of the company, a leap forward in quality and productivity. «They have the particular feature of combining 2D flat print with 3D», making it possible to create «details and textures in the prints», he explains. The machines, representing an investment of €900,000, use «less ink, less fixing spray and are faster, which means shorter production times and better prices», he adds.
According to Pedro Mendes, the decision to invest arose from «a market need», as the existing solutions «were becoming a little outdated». Since February, the company has recorded monthly growth in its printing activity and has already achieved 50% of the target set for the first year. In addition to meeting its own production needs, the new printing unit provides services to third parties, producing for other companies in the sector, particularly for the merchandise market, with customers in the restaurant, music and hospitality sectors.
The investment in new printing capacity also accompanies a strategy to strengthen commercial activity. Meamstyle took part in Première Vision in Paris for the first time, following a break of around eight years from international trade fairs, having previously exhibited in New York, Amsterdam and London.
«We need to attend the trade fair to find new contacts, new customers. The market is very volatile, and so we need to bring in more customers to achieve greater balance», notes Pedro Mendes. Maria do Carmo Mendes, CEO of Meamstyle, adds that although the company regularly receives commercial enquiries, a physical presence allows it to showcase its offering more effectively. «We are contacted every day; every week we have new enquiries. But being here and showing what we do is different from being contacted by email», she stresses.
Participation enabled the company to establish contacts with several European and international markets, namely the Netherlands, France, the UK, Belgium and Canada. With around 95% of its activity destined for export, the UK and Italy are currently the company’s main markets, while it also has customers in Sweden, Canada, the US and France.
Room to grow
Meamstyle currently has spare production capacity and intends to fill it by attracting new customers and increasing orders. «At the moment, we have more capacity than we need for the work we have on hand, so we want to fill production», reveals the company’s sales representative, estimating that there is scope to produce at least 50% more than current levels.
The potential annual volume, however, depends on the type of product being manufactured. For basic products, the company could reach between 500,000 and 600,000 garments per year, while specialising in more elaborate articles reduces the number of garments that can be produced. «Making one thousand elaborate garments is equivalent to making five thousand basics. It varies greatly depending on the type of product we make», he points out.
The Barcelos-based company is mainly sought out to produce garments with greater technical complexity, with «more cuts, more seams, more details, more pattern work, more labour-intensive things», describes Pedro Mendes. «Everyone comes to us for what nobody else wants to make», stresses Maria do Carmo Mendes.
With 78 employees across three units in Barcelos, Meamstyle employs 46 people at its main facilities, focused on knitted fabrics, 26 at a second unit dedicated to woven fabrics, and six at the printing facility. The company keeps garment manufacturing, digital printing and packaging in-house, relying on suppliers in the region for processes such as embroidery and other applications.
It currently works 100% in private label, after its own Meam brand was put on hold in 2021. Created 20 years ago, the brand had showrooms in Paris and London and stores in Lisbon and Braga. «It is on stand-by. It did not make sense. As manufacturers, we always have difficulty having a brand. We are on the production side», explains Maria do Carmo Mendes. The CEO stresses, however, that «I never regret having had Meam. It gave us a huge amount of knowledge, experience and product development expertise. Today, we have the ability to develop whatever the customer asks for because we had the brand».
Recovery after decline
In 2025, Meamstyle recorded a decline in turnover compared with the previous year, a performance that Maria do Carmo Mendes places within a process of adapting to market changes. «The market changed quickly. We expected it to take a year to adapt, but it is taking more than a year. It is only now beginning to stabilise. And the product changed, the consumer changed, everything changed», states the CEO.
Maria do Carmo Mendes does not directly attribute the difficulties experienced to global economic factors. In her view, «it really is a lack of creativity», arguing that the market repeatedly presented the same products and that «consumers lost the desire to buy».
The first half of 2026 was «a little above» the same period in 2025, and Meamstyle now expects a positive development through to the end of the year, following a period marked by investment in customers and product development.
