A Finnish corporation based in Helsinki, UPM has several businesses including WNC’s UPM Raflatac which produces a variety of labeling materials with a focus on sustainability, according to Senior Manager Anna Hunt.

Nearly 23 years ago, UPM Raflatac’s leaders were looking for a home for their first factory in the Americas. They already had a distribution terminal in Fletcher and had fallen in love with the Western North Carolina area. WNC was the ideal choice for the new factory, and now serves as the UPM Raflatac Americas headquarters, because it is located close to the East Coast ports, it has the proximity and infrastructure needed to support customers in the Midwest, and it is a vibrant, growing community. Today, UPM Raflatac operates two WNC factories — one in Mills River and one in Fletcher — as well as a business office in Asheville, employing about 270 people in the region.

UPM Raflatac produces a variety of label material used by a plethora of companies to label and decorate their product packaging. These labels appear on items from juice and wine bottles to Amazon boxes to industrial products. Adhesive technologies allow some labels to easily wash off the packaging, enhancing recycling, and other labels, like safety warnings, to permanently stay put.

Focused on sustainability during all stages of production, a unique aspect of this company is that UPM has many investments in forestry. The corporation sustainably manages its own forests in an effort to safeguard and increase the multiple benefits that forests provide. UPM’s long-term view ensures they plant more trees than they harvest.

“UPM businesses such as UPM Raflatac are built essentially around forest-based industries,” Hunt said. “The wood, pulp, and paper, as well as other byproducts, are used as raw materials in different UPM products. For example, when wood from sustainably-managed forests is processed for pulp, the resin is used to make UPM BioVerno, used in Raflatac Forest Film,100% wood-based film label product.”

Product lines reflect the company’s sustainability commitment. UPM Raflatac is actively evolving their product portfolio to create labeling solutions with recycled raw materials and ocean-bound plastic, as well as making products that support the circular economy.

“There’s a shift toward more sustainable packaging across the board,” Hunt said. “For example, grocery stores and fast food chains are transitioning to linerless labels, while consumer product brands want more recycled content in their plastic packaging. Here, we’re committed to providing solutions that meet these needs and help brands meet their sustainability goals.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain issues that followed impacted many industries, UPM Raflatac was able to maintain a strong presence by serving diverse markets, as well as supplying essential industries such as food and pharmaceuticals.

To engage with the workforce, Hunt said UPM Raflatac focuses on a strong company culture to attract and retain talent in the WNC community. 

There is a strong commitment to balance employees' work, life, health, and well-being. UPM Raflatac provides training for employee development, career growth opportunities, and competitive pay and benefits. The company also lives its values of trust and be trusted, renew with courage, and achieve together.

The company’s commitment to creating a future beyond fossils is reflected in the attitudes of its WNC staff.

“UPM businesses are built on sustainable forestry and the potential it creates for bioeconomy innovations that will take us beyond fossils,” Hunt said. “And maybe it’s coincidental that here in Western North Carolina, we are blessed to be surrounded by forests. But as we look out the windows, it is a good reminder and motivator for us to run a business that provides for our customers, community, and society in a way that’s socially and environmentally responsible.”