Riders visit Mormaii's base in Garopaba
By Infront Moto Racing on 11th Sep 09
CANELINHA (BRAZIL), 10 September 2009 Two days prior to the Honda GP of Brazil, the final round of the 2009 FIM Motocross World Championship, series' sponsor Mormaii welcomed some of the riders taking a tour of the wetsuits and sunglasses factory in Garopaba.
GP winner Goncalves of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and team mate Simpson, 2008 Women's World Champion Lancelot of Kawasaki Racing, Aprilia Racing team mates Priem and Bill, Buildbase CCM Racing's Church and a healthy group of international media headed to Mormaii's base at beautiful Garopaba in the morning when they met the company's Founder and President Dr. Morongo, joining them in the tour.
The factory's tour started off from the wetsuits department where Dr. Morongo showed how Mormaii's gear is manufactured from the row material to the final products as the tour went through all the stages of the production. Every month Mormaii produces about 10.000 wetsuits, the most difficult item to manufacture, as they the 80% handmade. The production of lycra items instead is five times bigger.
Dr. Morongo showing a Mormaii wetsuit under construction
The group then moved on to the eyewear factory where the official FIM Motocross World Championship sunglasses as well as a wide variety of other Mormaii glasses are manufactured. Again the attendees could have a close look at the eyewear production, watching how the frames and the lenses are produced and put together to create the fashionable Mormaii eyewear collection. About 60 employees work in this department and produce around 3000 pairs of handmade and hand-painted glasses a month.
Simpson has a closer look at the glasses' manufacturing process
As most of the Brazilian workers, Mormaii's employees receive health and personal insurances directly by their employer; in case of severe illnesses Mormaii has an helicopter at the workers' disposal to take them to other bigger hospitals outside Garopaba. Every year each employee gets 45 paid days for vacation and each day they are taken to work by a shuttle bus covering various areas of Garopaba. Something like 50% of the population of the city works in Mormaii, the biggest factory in the surroundings. The employees work 5 days a week with the working schedule going from 8 to 12, then from 14 to 17 – the company offers them lunch and two coffee breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The day continued with a visit to the Mormaii Official Store and a typical Brazilian style lunch at the Mormaii Beach House. The well known restaurant is located in Dr. Morongo's former house by Garopaba's beach where the Brazilian started off the company in 1979.
Goncalves leaving for an helicopter tour
Eventually a helicopter tour of the surroundings took a selected group of riders and media to discover the surroundings and to watch the whales staying in a bay nearby.