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Svivlo – the award-winning reel brand that challenges backlash – has been turning heads in markets across the world. Now it’s time to get serious about sales and distribution, says company founder Patrik Zander (below, right).
Where is Svivlo in its development now?
PZ: We currently have two reels on the market, launched in late 2023 and mid-2024. They are now in anglers’ hands globally from Australia to Kuwait to Surinam. Structurally, we are established in Sweden, Germany, France, North America and South America. The focus now is distribution: building the right retail partnerships with those who want to sell anglers what they actually need, not just what they ask for.
What is its next stage of development?
Structured expansion. More markets, more retail presence – but paced to protect how the product is understood. We’ve learned that wide distribution with the wrong partners does more damage than slower growth with the right ones.
What sort of partners/distributors are you looking for?
Partners who’ve noticed that the industry keeps adding settings and calling it progress while anglers keep getting interrupted, losing lures and re-tying line. We want partners ready to have a different conversation. Not ‘how far does it cast’, but ‘what does this reel actually cost your customers over a season in interruptions, in lost gear and in line left in the water.’ That framing separates the right partners from the rest quickly.
What can you offer your partners?
A product that takes responsibility. Much of the category sells specs and leaves the angler to manage the consequences. We built a reel that holds its set-up, handles normal variation without demanding correction and reduces the real costs that come with a system designed to put failure on the angler. For the right retailer, that’s a genuinely different sell and a different kind of customer relationship.
Where are your main export markets?
Sweden is our home market. Our structured export markets include Germany (covering DACH), France, North America and South America, specifically Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Beyond that, we have a growing number of retailers globally, often reached through organic demand.
What export markets are you targeting?
We are expanding across mainland Europe with selective, country-by-country entries. In APAC, priority markets include Australia and Japan, with Malaysia and Indonesia on the roadmap driven largely by direct angler demand. North America continues to develop steadily. In all cases, the key factor is whether the retail environment supports proper understanding of the product. We target market where demand is generated.
What are your plans for Svivlo? Where do you want to be in three and five years?
I want anglers evaluating reels differently. Right now the default question is about specs. I want the standard questions to be: how often does it interrupt my fishing, how many lures does it cost me, how much line ends up in the water? If Svivlo has helped shift that standard, we’ve done something that lasts.
How has the last year been for the brand?
It has been about validation across markets, cultures and experience levels. The experience remains consistent. We have also become more selective about partners. The right retailers naturally connect fewer interruptions, reduced gear loss and lower environmental impact. That alignment gives us confidence moving forward and we are optimistic about the next 12 months. We also have a number of strong partnerships forming for 2026, which will further strengthen our position on the market.
What are the main challenges facing the business currenty, and how are you coping with those?
The category defaults to specs and that’s a strong current to swim against. We’ve also experienced active resistance from within the industry including attempts to limit our retail access and our visibility at key trade shows. I’ll leave it at that. What it tells us is that the product is being taken seriously by the people with the most to lose from a different standard taking hold. That’s not a comfortable position, but it’s a meaningful one.
Has reaction to the brand surprised you?
What stands out is how quickly the conversation moves past casting. After a few casts, experienced anglers start talking about how little they’re interacting with the reel – and what a season actually costs them in lost lures and wasted line. Those two are directly connected. Fewer interruptions mean more completed casts, less gear lost and less line left in the water. Anglers who fish frequently have always felt that cost, they just didn’t expect a reel to address it.
support@svivlo.com
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