In Its New L.A. Site, the Rudholm Group Leads a Sustainable-Label Shift

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Rudholm Group’s care labels | Photo courtesy of Rudholm Group

Rudholm Group’s care labels | Photo courtesy of Rudholm Group

As of Thursday, October 15, 2020

By the end of 2019, the Rudholm Group had added a Los Angeles–based printing operation to its list of centers around the globe. The Sweden-headquartered manufacturer of notions, labels and packaging set its sights on Los Angeles as part of a United States expansion plan that began four years ago with the opening of its New York City development-and-sales office. Now, the Rudholm Group has brought to Los Angeles a more sustainable approach to this segment of the apparel supply chain by offering recycled care labels and barcode stickers.

“The Rudholm Group has been around since 1953 in Europe. It has been in the manufacturing business for a very long time in the packaging and trim-manufacturing business,” Dennis Lau, director of the Rudholm Group USA, explained. “It was in the business plan since day one to expand from New York to Los Angeles at some point.”

The Rudholm Group attained its Global Recycle Standard certification as all of its care-content labels created in the United States are made using 100 percent post-consumer-waste recycled polyester. Its stickers are also Berry Amendment compliant. With its stateside production established in the Vernon neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Rudholm Group was able to offer more-responsible stickers and care tags to its clients in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rudholm was also able to gain business by manufacturing products concerned with personal protective equipment.

“We were able to work on a couple of PPE-related products like barcode stickers for isolation gowns, which were a couple of million pieces,” Lau said. “That was unforeseeable, and it was good support for our revenue.”

With its responsibly made care labels and barcode stickers—which are available printed in color on recycled paper and recycled PET, Rudholm’s vision for the future is to add more offerings to its roster of made–in–Los Angeles, ecologically sound products. Noting that Rudholm can accommodate businesses throughout the United States, Lau hopes that the company’s location in Los Angeles will serve as an asset due to California’s reputation as an ally to eco-friendly advancements, with the business expanding to potentially include paper-printed products, which would be produced in partnership with the Forest Stewardship Council.

“We can serve all of America from Los Angeles, that is for sure,” Lau said. “Sustainability had become a huge topic maybe four or five years ago. The Rudholm Group, as a Scandinavian-owned company, has always been far ahead in that regard. It’s always been the vision. It has also seen its biggest growth in the last couple of years.”