VIDEO: Innovation, Growth, Opportunity: This is SHOWA

We were the first to invent the PVC glove in the 1950s. After our first patented product, the SHOWA 610, we invented the first nitrile glove in the 1990s. Now with our EBT-biodegradable range of gloves, we have been innovating for more than 70 years.

With 6500 employees and eight locations across the globe, we continue our growth. In Fayette, Alabama, with an initial investment of 35 million dollars, our production capacity will go from 1.2 to 2.8 billion gloves per year. In Guatemala, six new-to-market gloves will go out of our factory in Puerto Barrios, among the 2.4 million gloves produced there.

This extension started pre-COVID and challenges are in front of us such as employee retention, wage pressure, supply chain disruptions and inflation.

But we see opportunity here. The global nitrile glove market was estimated in 2021 at 8.76 billion dollars. Its annual growth rate should be 5.7% until 2030. Opportunities will be supported by our EBT biodegradable gloves and the need to buy more sustainable alternatives. But also healthcare protection will grow, driven by the lessons from the pandemic.

This is SHOWA. Always innovating.