About us
Founded in 1980 on the initiative of Valter Ferreira Arcanjo as a sole proprietor (and one of the current partners), in a 20m2 office located in the heart of the city of Coimbra, it had only one employee and its sole activity was the sale of swimsuits.
VFA (Valter Ferreira Arcanjo, Lda.) Is an SME dedicated to the production and sale of articles and equipment for swimming pools, swimming and construction and assembly of locker rooms.
Owner of the brand Golfinho Sports®, the company leads the Portuguese national swimming equipment market. Headquartered in Coimbra - Portugal, it has an area of approximately 8,000 m2 (including facilities, parking and leisure area and swimming pool) and a total of almost 50 internal and external employees. Operating in a recent and fully equipped factory, in terms of functionality and safety, VFA invests in top technology and in the training of human resources as a way to optimize production processes and guarantee the quality of the final product.
Through rigorous practices in the quality control of its products, VFA achieves its maximum credibility, with certification according to ISO 9001, by TUV, a German international certification entity. Thus, VFA consolidates its position in the global market, offering its customers the guarantee of a certified product, complying with the most demanding standards in quality control.
In order to guarantee support to customers and resellers, there is also a strong focus on the after-sales team, seeking to ensure any necessary assistance and monitoring.
VFA continues to grow and constantly improve, both in terms of technological innovation and in terms of diversity of products and solutions it offers its customers, with a production capacity of around 90% of the articles it sells.
Launched in 2019, Catalog n.8 is organized in 10 sections where it is possible to find a great diversity of products that meet the needs of the current. In this new catalog, in addition to the products already implemented in the market, new product categories were introduced and reorganized, from which we highlight aquatic fitness and aquatic rehabilitation.
In addition to the full range of products to support swimming training and other water sports, VFA has all the necessary equipment for setting up sports facilities for swimming. The locker rooms’ production and assembly section is equipped with the latest technology and is committed to constant improvement and to a careful choice of raw materials and finishes. This section, which produces items for changing rooms and sports facilities in phenolic fiber and pvc, is supported by the company's internal commitment to electropolishing all the stainless-steel parts it sells. Once again, the right choice of raw materials and suppliers is necessary to guarantee the safety and quality of the final product.
Still regarding competition material, the production of all types of equipment to support competitive swimming and maintenance of these facilities stands out: pool robots, starting blocks, platforms, floating lanes, training chronometers… The bet on the production of this type of articles seeks to satisfy an increasingly larger and more demanding market.
Another big bet is the production of personalized items, with production of internal design or adaptable to the customer's specifications, seeking to maintain the maximum quality in the materials it sells and offering customized solutions.
With a large investment in the screen printing and sublimation printing area, VFA is prepared for a large-scale production of personalized articles. In addition, it also offers a wide range of options where it is possible for the customer to have his brand in articles of guaranteed and certified quality. Picture: 35,37
Considering the new needs of an increasingly demanding market, the brand has been investing heavily in the manufacture of articles for Aquatic Fitness and Aquatic Rehabilitation. Once again, relying on experience in the market and with analyzes carried out by qualified professionals, VFA has products already implemented in the market, but is betting mainly on new articles that aim to complement existing gaps in these two areas.
Another novelty in Catalog 8 was the aquatic modality - Aqua Cross Training® by Golfinho Sports®. This is a new modality for all types of population. Golfinho Sports® has developed equipment to support the modality that aims to be general, broad and inclusive and that provides the realization of a wide range of integrated and systematized exercises in order to promote the general physical development of its practitioners. Owner of the AQUA CROSS TRAINING brand Golfinho Sports® presents a wide range of articles that will make this sport a constant challenge, always prioritizing true respect for the individual ability of each practitioner. Combining resistance to technique, AQUA CROSS TRAINING by Golfinho Sports® promises to provide challenging classes that will take all practitioners to test their own limits!
With a product development department, VFA constantly seeks to improve its products, but also to develop new solutions. The goal is to satisfy the needs of an increasingly demanding market in product quality and efficiency, based on real tests and testimonies, as well as judicious technical analysis and a background of years of experience in the area.
In addition to all the investment in the development of competition equipment and support for infrastructures, VFA, wishing to be always at the forefront, decided to equip itself with instruments that can assist it in the development of more and better equipment, which move towards existing exercising needs. Among these instruments, electromyography is included, which allows obtaining data and information on recording the electrical activity of muscles. The knowledge obtained through this analysis, will help to inform the users of our equipment about the benefits of them, whether in the scope of training, fitness or rehabilitation.
With approximately 50 employees, distributed by departments that integrate an organized structure, VFA has a set of internal and external professionals, qualified and in constant training.
A sales department, composed of employees with years of experience in the area, is available to accompany customers and resellers, as well as work on new market necessities.
With the Golfinho Sports® brand already implemented and a leader in the Portuguese national market and with the aim of incessant search for new customers and markets, VFA bets on the export of its products, targeting large international and national resellers.
The Golfinho Sports® brand is regularly present in the largest international fairs in the area since 2013, with the goal of constant expansion and implementation of the brand in the market. Already registered at national and international level, the brand seeks to be a leader in the areas in which it operates. Reaching the highest export capacity in 2018, around 46%, VFA has continued to increase its exports and already has regular customers in about 30 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
At a time when we are preparing to double our space and production capacity in order to improve responsiveness, we are also looking to expand into new countries and markets. Thus, the big bet is to implement the brand and find new customers in these new markets, continuing to offer products of certified quality and adapted to the environment in which they operate.
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