They’re 100 percent made in South Korea: Joya shoes can be made without the Swiss cross

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The founders of Zurich running shoe company On like to show off that they’re Swiss. However, as Blick reports, the company will abandon the Swiss cross due to production in Vietnam. But it’s not just On who’s being criticized for being Swiss, a shoe company in eastern Switzerland is also coming into the spotlight. The Swiss cross on Joya brand shoes is causing trouble for reader reporters. Because Roggwil TG’s Kybun-Joya produces in South Korea. Looking at the Joya Shoes website, many models feature a small Swiss cross in their design.

“Purely Swiss shoes are not that easy.”

Claudio Minder (43), who worked for Mr. Switzerland 2000 and is now the “shoemaker of the nation” with Kybun-Joya, confirmed to Blick: Joya shoes are 100 percent made in South Korea. But he does not accept a comparison with On: “South Korea is not a low-wage country, the minimum wage is higher than Germany and production costs are higher than Italy, where we produce half of our Kybun brand shoe models.” Joya’s production volumes are already too low for production in low-wage countries.

The fact that Joya shoes are still produced in Asia is related to the history of the brand. ETH engineer and kinesiologist Karl Müller III, whose son Karl Müller IV and Minder now run the family business, developed his revolutionary idea for health shoes in South Korea.

Minder states that there are also practical reasons: “Since there is no shoe industry in Switzerland, it is much easier to supply products such as leather, eyelets and many other things in other countries.” In total, Kybun-Joya works with 300 suppliers worldwide.

According to Minder, a South Korea location is under review. Kybun-Joya has a production facility in Sennwald SG, Switzerland, where its own Kandahar brand shoes (in its entirety) and various Kybun brand models are produced. According to Minder, significant investments will continue there. However, the shortage of skilled workers and the lack of suppliers make it not so easy to move the production facility to the country and therefore produce completely Swiss Joya shoes.

Will the Swiss cross disappear from Joya soon?

According to David Stärkle (44), managing director of Swissness Enforcement, the association is funded by the federal government and the Swiss economy, but Joya is still not off the hook. At least in terms of the Swiss cross on the shoe. For Swiss industrial products, not only must at least 60 percent of the production costs occur in Switzerland for Swiss cross to be permitted, but the basic production step must also occur in Switzerland.

The developments made by modelers and technicians at Joya are actually carried out in Switzerland. According to Stärkle, this only allows a reference such as “Swiss Design”, but not the use of the Swiss cross in the design. “The regulation in this regard has been in force since 2017,” says Stärkle. Other companies have responded to the Swiss requirements. Sträkle announced that he was now looking more closely at Joya’s case. In this context, it states that the use of incorrect origin information for commercial purposes may result in a prison sentence of up to five years.

Source :Blick