Lalupate Ltd. was established on 15.11.1993. Lalupate is a Nepali word and means ‘Pointsettia’ (red Christmas flower), which is one of two national flowers in Nepal.
Background
From 1992 to 1993, Riitta Reinilä-Strömmer, founder and managing director of Lalupate, stayed with her family in Pokhara, Nepal, where she and her husband were employed in a Finnish development aid project. Their lovely home in Pokhara had a garden with hauntingly beautiful poinsettia trees whose charm Riitta couldn’t forget: the red Christmas Flower in her company’s logo is a reminder of the happy times in Pokhara.
While staying in Nepal, Riitta’s creativity and appreciation for handicrafts grew into an idea to start importing Nepalese handicraft to Finland. She wanted to import products that were of high quality and manufactured in a process that respected the environment. After a few years of operation, Riitta realised that the high demand for and limited supply of high-quality handmade paper in Finland would be a sound basis for concentrating on paper and paper products and to cut down on other components of the product mix.
Lalupate Ltd. and Studio Himalaya
Between 1994 and 1995, products imported by Lalupate were available for buyers at wholesale and in Lalupate’s own Kaunis Kumari retail shop in the Helsinki city centre. Since 1998, Lalupate operated the Studio Himalaya retail shop at various addresses in Helsinki city centre before relocating to Herttoniemi in Eastern Helsinki in 2007.
Ecological urns and caskets are the most sold product group for Lalupate, which has been busy designing, importing and exporting them since 2002. Lalupate’s largest product category includes handmade paper from Nepal and Japan, which can be used for invitations, various cards, interior decoration, bookbinding, conservation and art.
Principles
Lalupate’s most important partners are in Nepal and Japan. Lalupate’s main mission is to design ecological papers and paper products and have its own manufacturers in Nepal produce them from natural materials as well as import the products to Finland. Lalupate caters for both wholesale and retail customers, as well as customers in other European countries.
The cornerstones of Lalupate’s operations are sustainability and fair trade. In Nepal, Lalupate has its own manufacturers with whom Riitta meets annually for negotiations and quality control and to provide hands-on training on the manufacture of new products. It is obvious that she knows her manufacturers and their working environment thoroughly. From Japan, Lalupate imports paper via a Canadian partner. The paper is of top quality; after all, we all know how diligently the Japanese strive for perfection.
RRS Design
One of the greatest challenges for Lalupate is to meet the high requirements it has set for the quality of the products without compromising their natural and unique essence.
Products designed by Riitta Reinilä-Strömmer are unique. Product ideas are generated through her own needs and her customers’ requests. All products are made of ecological and natural materials, and knowing their special characteristics is the basis for the design. Riitta’s extraordinary design skills are the result of her career in Nepal and of her close cooperation with the locals since 1992. While most of Lalupate’s products are manufactured by private producers in Nepal, Riitta tailors products in her own workshop in Helsinki.
Targets
Lalupate wants to provide its customers products and materials that are not available elsewhere. It bases its design on high-quality and ecological products as well as ethical manufacture. In addition to its products from Nepal, Lalupate has stocked top-quality papers from Japan since 2007. Their exquisite quality is suitable for conservation at museums, national libraries and art schools as well as all types of bookbinding and art.