The acquisition of Challenge Label – Kelowna has Jet Label co-owner Darrell Friesen very excited.
“We now have the capacity and equipment to make the best label in Canada and for our customers that means they will receive the product they are very happy with. The printing is perfect every time. The quality is unmatched and the image is incredibly vibrant,” said Friesen.
Earlier this year, Friesen and co-owner Rod Froment made the decision to purchase additional digital press equipment. They have now invested over $5 million in the past 4 years to buy the state-of-the-art machinery which will enable them to continue to grow their label manufacturing company.
“We identified a significant need in western Canada for a digital label house that also could provide excellent conventionally printed labels and we quickly realized this was something Jet Label wanted to be able to provide,” said Friesen. “The machinery we have now has capabilities that are light years in advance of the conventional equipment we have which has always been the industry standard in terms of quality and efficiency.”
Jet Label manufactures labels and printed tape from its 40,000-square foot manufacturing facility split between two buildings located in southeast Edmonton. Their diverse client list includes: grocery stores such as Safeway and Sobeys, international forest product companies such as Canfor and West Fraser, consumer product companies such as Bee Maid Honey and Arctic Chiller, industrial application companies such as Acklands Grainger, Gregg Distributors, and All Weather Windows. Jet Label also supplies parking and boarding passes and baggage tags to most of the major airports in Canada. The Edmonton Police Service has also been a long standing customer of Jet Label.
Jet Label can now provide their clients with the most superior product in the most efficient and cost effective manner available.
“The Challenge Label purchase has put us on the map as the most complete label printer in Western Canada and the largest,” said Friesen.
With the purchase of Challenge Label and additional digital assets, Jet Label has already added five more employees and three more will soon be hired. By October 2016, the company’s complement of staff will be 74.
Annual revenue is projected to climb from $16 million to $20 million. Jet Label has operations in Calgary, Vancouver, Prince George, Kelowna, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. An ambitious move for a local company that started from scratch 17 years ago with two employees.
Friesen is quick to explain that he never anticipated Jet Label to expand to where it is today.
“We picked up some momentum and we just kept on rolling,” he said. “In 17 years, we’ve gone from being the smallest label company in western Canada to the largest. The addition of Challenge Label and our new digital press combined with the continued commitment of our valued customers will help us to remain Western Canada’s number 1 choice for labels and tags.”