Celebrating 15 years in Fiji
ATF Magazine Feature – November 2011
“We first established a presence in Fiji back in 1996” says David Marshall, CEO of Image Label Systems. “We had been exporting to the Pacific Islands from our Australasian factories for several years prior to that. When we decided to set up a facility in the Islands, Fiji was the logical choice.”
Fifteen years on, and Image Label Systems are firmly in place as the leading supplier of label solutions to the garment industry in Fiji.
“It hasn’t always been smooth sailing” Marshall says, “but we’ve been determined to stay the distance.”
“We’ve always had confidence that the industry in Fiji has a significant role to play in the sourcing programs of Australasian brands.”
Marshall says that Fiji has been the fifth largest source for apparel imports into Australia over the past 5 years, and, he says, it’s not hard to see why.
“Fiji is easy to do business with, given its close proximity, language and time zone similarities, and communications infrastructure.
And the industry there offers high quality production with low minimums and fast turnaround.” And, says Marshall, Image Label Systems’ activities on Fiji are consistent with its long term business strategies.
“Our objective is to provide seamless support to our customers’ wider sourcing decisions. That means being on the ground wherever our customers choose to do business, delivering the same quality and consistency our customers enjoy across all points of their sourcing programs.”
“It would be easy to focus solely on where the larger volumes are, however we don’t see that as a complete solution. Fiji is a viable sourcing alternative for Australasian brands; that’s why we’re there.”