A sustainable TreeCap, made in Europe. For a long time, this was high on our list of goals. From now on, our TreeCaps will be produced exclusively in Europe. A long-standing goal has finally been achieved, but it has been an incredibly long and nerve-wracking journey to get here. Find out more about the lengthy development of the new TreeCaps manufactured in Europe.
A sustainable TreeCap, made in Europe. For a long time, this was high on our list of goals. From now on, our TreeCaps will be produced exclusively in Europe. A long-standing goal has finally been achieved, but it has been an incredibly long and nerve-wracking journey to get here. Find out more about the lengthy development of the new TreeCaps manufactured in Europe.
Summer has definitely arrived - and when it's hot, it's important to protect yourself when sunbathing. The new TreeCaps are the perfect remedy and prevent your head from overheating. What's more, for every TreeCap, a tree is planted in a needy place in the world.
We are very proud to now also manufacture our TreeCaps in Europe. The cotton used is BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certified and the design was created entirely in Switzerland. We were impressed by the quality and production on site in Bulgaria and are therefore looking forward to a successful collaboration with our new European partner.
The first series of TreeCaps
The first series of our TreeCaps was one of the last of our products to be produced in Asia. Via a middleman from Austria, who sewed the NIKIN labels onto the raw caps, the caps finally made their way to us in Lenzburg and from there to the whole of Europe. We had an initial series produced and tested their popularity with our customers. The TreeCaps, whether snapback or 5-panel, were an instant hit, with almost more TreeCaps ordered in summer than Treeanies in winter.
Our criteria were clear from the start
It was clear to us from the outset that if the TreeCaps were well received, we would strive for sustainable and fair production in Europe as soon as possible. We also wanted to create our own designs and cuts for the caps. This means that we no longer have our logo sewn onto a raw standard cap, but that the design with cut and dimensions is completely determined by us and we thus offer "our own" cap that stands out from conventional standard caps.
The search began
"Unfortunately, the supplier I was thinking of also produces in China. So I'm at the end of my tether. I even searched all our Turkish contacts, as they know each other. But unfortunately without success..." - Excerpt from a dealer's email
We were shocked to discover that of the 60 or so "European" manufacturers and distributors we wrote to, around 99% do not produce in Europe at all, but in the Far East or America. Many of them even replied with the advice not to even try and to give up the search for truly European manufacturers. One of the criteria we set, European production, was already a major hurdle.
This 1% had to be found
We persisted and engaged a Swiss trading company to help us with our search. After a few weeks and a lot of research, a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared: A Turkish producer (on European soil) was found. We really wanted to be ready for the start of the upcoming cap season (spring/summer 2019) and as it was only summer 2018 at the time, we believed we still had enough time left to realize the cap produced in Europe.
Time began to run away from us
Of course, we were relieved that we were finally able to find a European producer, even though this manufacturer had never produced caps before. This was not a problem, however, as he was able to get help from other partners. It all sounded a little dubious, but as we were under a lot of time pressure and we really wanted to make progress, we took the risk and had samples produced to our expectations for CHF 1000. At the time, we were told that it would take between two and four weeks for the first samples to be delivered. Communication continued via the trading company, which passed on our ideas to the Turkish manufacturer, from the cut to the embroidery. We didn't hear anything for a long time and then we became impatient.
"We've been waiting quite a long time for the samples to be delivered. There was once talk of 2-4 weeks for the first samples. But it's now been months. We actually wanted to start production in December 2018 so that we would be ready for spring. It's all getting pretty tight now." - Excerpt from the email to the trading company
A setback, but we didn't give up
In the meantime, in order not to lose any more time, we started looking for producers. At the same time, we asked the Austrian trader from our first cap series to help us. He apparently had contact with a manufacturer in the Czech Republic who was also prepared to produce some samples for us. At that time it was already fall and time began to run faster and faster.
An unexpected glimmer of hope
Suddenly, we receive an email from one of the manufacturers we had contacted earlier, who replies to our inquiry and claims to actually produce caps in Bulgaria.
"Thank you for your inquiry regarding the snapback caps. We are familiar with this type of caps, but it will be difficult for us to offer a better quotation than Asian manufacturers. However, please give us more information regarding the quality, colors, etc. so that we can specify our offer." - Excerpt from the translated email from the Bulgarian manufacturer
Things are finally moving forward
A reputable and suitable manufacturer was finally found. However, one hurdle was that he only worked with conventional materials, polyester and acrylic. After a lot of back and forth, we were finally able to convince him to look for more sustainable materials. The material he was actually looking for was certified organic cotton, but we first had to make a compromise. We were then able to agree together on a certified cotton (BetterCottonInitiative; www.bettercotton.org), with the clear aim of switching to organic cotton soon, should the collaboration have a future.
We wanted to know exactly
A European producer who came pretty close to our expectations has now been found. But to be on the safe side, we wanted to check and make sure that our caps were really European, because apparently there are many companies that sell "European" productions but actually manufacture them in Asia. We asked the Bulgarian owner, George:
"Just to be sure, the production of these caps takes place in Bulgaria, right? Does your company have international certifications?" - Excerpt from the translated email to George
"Production takes place in our factory in Bulgaria. We do not have international certification, but we are SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit; www.sedexglobal.com www.sedexglobal.com) certified to guarantee good and ethical practices." - Excerpt from the translated answer from George
We also asked for a video to show us the conditions in production, as well as any other information about this company.
The samples finally appear here
It took a few weeks again and shortly before Christmas we received samples from Turkey and the Czech Republic, which were several months over the deadline, and a sample from Bulgaria, which arrived pretty much on time.
We examined the various samples closely according to our criteria and realized that our satisfaction with the first two samples was rather limited. The Turkish sample was not bad in terms of quality, but it did not respond to our wishes at all and it turned out that its production did not even take place on European soil. The Czech cap did not look promising and was far from our expectations.
We were only satisfied with the Bulgarian producer, who we noticed really made an effort to produce a good sample.
Our other decisions
Before we placed a large order, we decided to request a further sample from all three producers and give them as much detail as possible about our improvements.
Many of the samples were far from what we wanted and so further adjustments had to be made.
Time continued to pass rapidly and became increasingly tight. We had announced the release of the European TreeCaps for spring 2019 and as all three producers reported further delays, we had to decide on one of the three producers before the requested samples arrived. After weighing up all the factors, we opted for the Bulgarian producer. A spring release was already very tight, but now that we were focusing on just one producer, it sped up the process.
"Thank you for choosing our company. We agree that there will be some customization to the samples and we are waiting for the details from you. This morning I requested the color samples from the factory, mid-week we will have a deadline to receive them. In response to your question about a weekly shipment, I confirm that this is feasible. As soon as I have the price for the thicker fabric, I will send you our final quote. I hope to have the price before the end of the week." - Excerpt from George's translated response to our commitment
He was of course delighted that we chose him and from then on we started to build a good partnership, further adjustments were made to the cap and the material still has room for improvement, but is already much better than before. We can be very proud to be possibly one of the only brands that produces its caps in Europe.
A long and nerve-wracking journey with a happy ending
The road to this point has been hard and often depressing as we have been disappointed time and again. But we never gave up and always believed that a cap produced in Europe must be possible! We have made it, even though European production costs us significantly more than it would cost us in Asia, we are now offering our completely self-designed cap produced in Europe from sustainable materials and at a fair yet affordable price.
Visit to the TreeCap production facility in Bulgaria
After the long but successful search for a suitable European producer of our TreeCaps, we wanted to get a first-hand impression of production in northwest Bulgaria. The owner, George, gave us a tour of his facilities, demonstrated every single production step and left us with a really great impression. We look forward to a successful collaboration with our new European partner. Watch our visit in the video!
The visit to Bulgaria was a great success!
