Kleenex tissue display in Neenah, September 24, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — For many, it’s iconic product known around the world, becoming synonymous with facial tissue.
We’re talking about Kleenex, and its impact on the papermaking industry in Northeast Wisconsin, and in the Fox Valley, where the brand is marking 100 years in business.
The celebration begins inside the Experimental Mill in downtown Neenah. Mark Berburgt is the operations manager.
“I’ve been at the X-Mill for 29 of my 32 years. And then to have the X-Mill be part of Kimberly-Clark for 100 years, and really, we’re on the site of the birthplace of Kimberly-Clark. The Globe Mill was our original facility was onsite,” said Mark Berburgt, Kimberly-Clark X-Mill Operations Manager.
Berburgt says the X-Mill focuses on research and engineering, performing about 250 new tests each year.
“We do trials. Product development for Kleenex, Cottenelle, Scott Bath, Viva Towel, Scott Towel, Cottonelle Flushable Wipes are some of our main products,” he said.
“We make it better by adding lotion to the surface of it. We add different treatments in order to make new, exciting different things. We have been able to bring different chemistry involved, in order to make better products,” said Brenda Coulter, Kimberly-Clark Family Care Innovation Director for Research and Engineering.
Brenda Coulter says celebrating a century of the brand is more than a milestone.
“100 years of Kleenex, is a pretty remarkable thing. Not many brands have survived that long,” she said.
Plant officials say what began in 1924 as a cold cream remover has evolved into a product used in about 175 different countries, because you don’t grab a tissue, you grab a Kleenex.
“You grab a Kleenex,” said Berburgt.
“That’s quite an honor I’ll say. Knowing that the products that were developed right here in this facility, are still standing that test of time, and are so recognized around the world. That you’re taking a Kleenex,” he said.
Kleenex is one of about a dozen different brands made by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
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