Carma Labs fetes its 75th anniversary

Carma Labs last month celebrated its 75th year of distributing its lip balm to a rabid fan base, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker joining in on the company’s anniversary celebrations. Carma Labs was founded by Alfred Woelbing in 1937 — who sold the lip balm from the trunk of his car in the Chicago area. Today the company is a third-generation, family-owned-and-operated business that currently is run by grandsons Paul and 
Eric Woelbing.


The company’s flagship SKU, Carmex, generated more than $23.7 million in sales, up 3.3%, for the 52 weeks ended July 8 across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart), according to SymphonyIRI Group data.