The Wax Print is based on the Javanese batik print that was introduced to West Africa during the second half of the 19th Century. African soldiers, returning home after serving commissions in Indonesia, took these brightly coloured cloths with them and soon started a fashion in their own countries. Small local production started but demand exceeded supply because the traditional production process was slow and laborious. Several European manufacturers, including ABC, began experimenting to speed up the process in order to produce this cloth at more affordable prices.

 

The first ABC Wax Prints were produced in 1908 on the same site as today, which was constructed in 1812 as a conventional textile printing factory.   These photographs were taken in 1926.

 

ABC today

A Wax Print starts with the design. ABC designers constantly search for new ideas, travelling to Africa and talking with customers and distributors. The African influence is of paramount importance in a design, but the design itself is usually created in the UK. ABC has a database of over 35,000 designs. New designs are currently launched at the rate of about 200 per year.

When a customer chooses a particular design, that design is engraved on a pair of copper rollers. Printing a resin paste - hence the term "Wax" - on to both sides of the cotton cloth creates the Wax Print. The cloth is then dyed - either in Indigo or the now more popular Royal Blue - and the design appears on those areas of the cloth where the resin has not been applied. The cloth is then treated mechanically to produce the cracking effect, characteristic of a real Wax Print. Depending on the type and duration of this process, different effects of marbling in the colour can be achieved. Further colours can be added whilst the cracked resin remains on the cloth, and then again after all the resin has been removed. It is this combination of cracking, marbled colours and solid colours that illuminate the ABC Wax Print to such a fine degree.

Continued emphasis on developing new styles and colours has not altered the unique characteristic that each yard of ABC Wax is different and beautiful. Concentrating on innovative designs, brightness of colours and quality of cloth, ABC provides the most attractive range of wax prints available on the market today.

The Cha Group

ABC is part of the Cha Group of companies. Technical liaison with the many textile mills in West Africa and access to the extensive network of distributors has been a major strength.

The Cha Group has earned its identity as the most cost-effective and dependable source of African textile products, through fifty years' successful operation. They have established a unique reservoir of skill and technology, with a depth of experienced management, unmatched in West Africa or indeed elsewhere.

About 20,000 people are employed - the vast majority in Africa. The Group holds the major market share of the Wax print market.

The past decade has seen major reinvestment in machinery and efficiency by the Cha Group, putting in place continuous-process upgrades and technological advancements The Cha Group has created an organisation that anticipates and satisfies the needs of African consumers.

Move to Ghana

On December 21 st , 2005, His Excellency, President John A. Kufour officially inaugurated ABC's new production facility at our sister company, Akosombo Textiles Limited. Our decision to move production of standard wax to Ghana is based on the need to respond more quickly to the changing demands of the local African consumer.

This move has taken years of planning and an investment worth millions of dollars. New machinery has been installed at the Akosombo site and the workforce has been highly trained by ABC technical managers so that ABC's high production standards are maintained. Standard wax will continue to be designed by our design team in Manchester in order to maintain the look and style of ABC, but from 2006 onwards, production of ABC standard wax will take place in Akosombo.

ABC's other products such as Superwax and Hand Block will continue to be produced at our Manchester base.