2
Business View Caribbean
Trinidad Label Company Limited
Company takes advantage of opportunities while
also sticking to what it does well
Sometimes a company succeeds and thrives because
its leaders have a game plan that they adhere to rigor-
ously no matter how circumstances may change, and
sometimes unforeseen opportunities arise that com-
pel the leaders of a company to shift gears and take
advantage of serendipitous happenstance. Trinidad
Label Company Limited (TLC) in Laventille, Trinidad is
one company that falls into both categories.
TLC was established in 1996, by its founder Stephen
Santos, as a small label manufacturer. Santos had
bought labeling equipment from another business
that had recently folded. His aim was to supply identi-
fication, pricing, and bar code labels for clients in the
retail trade, including supermarkets, pharmacies, etc.,
throughout the English-speaking Caribbean. In order
to supply his customers with, pre-printed, self-adhe-
sive labels, TLC became a representative for Avery
Dennison Monarch, a leader in the labeling industry.
“I started off with that as my main product,” says San-
tos. But in 2001, things changed when TLC began sup-
