In 2008 Steiff teddy bears decided to slowly repatriate the production of their teddy bears from china back to Germany.
The homecoming of Steiff bears, famous for their "button in ear" comes 6 years after Steiff decided to join the trend of manufacturing in China.
In talking to the head of Steiff sales in the UK JustTeddies have learned that Steiff will not put a price on reputation or on quality.
Steiff products being made in China had dampened Steiffs seemingly untouchable reputation as the worlds highest quality teddy bear maker.
Interestingly quality is not the only problem that Steiff had over in China, employee loyalty was also questionable. This was noticed because it can take up to 3 years to train someone to manufacture to Steiff quality and efficiency standards. The main problem in China is that the work force moves much more than in the UK or Germany, workers often simply move jobs a couple of times a year depending on which factory is paying the highest wages at the time. This is clearly unacceptable when producing high quality Steiff products.
Another problem is the Steiff products are targeted for counterfeiting, a serious problem for whom the main culprit is China.
We should state that it was only ever the baby and infant range of Steiff that was produced in China for example the "My First Steiff" seen above. Limited edition Steiff bears, classic Steiff bears and Steiff animals have always been made in Germany.
At JustTeddies we have also found that their will be new designs to the Steiff baby range items once manufacturing begins in Germany again.
