The Labisan Press Centre
Everything journalists, podcasters, and editors need to write about Labisan. The 95 year story in one page, plus downloadable assets and a direct line to the founder.
Press contact
For interview requests, sample boxes, and fact verification:
Maria Labisan, fourth generation steward, responds within 24 hours.
Brand fact sheet
October 1931, Salzburg, Austria
Andreas Labisan (1897 to 1968), Austrian apothecary and chemist
Maria Labisan, 4th generation, family member since 2003
Austria, under EU GMP standards, never licensed
April 2026, after 95 years of apothecary only distribution
Supplied lip protection to Austrian guides on the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition support team
2 SKUs: Protective Lip Balm with SPF 20 (22 percent zinc oxide), Graviola Capsules 22:1 fruit extract
UK, Austria, Germany, Spain, US, Australia, EU at large
The 95 year story in 5 paragraphs
Labisan began in a small ground floor apothecary on a side street off Linzergasse in Salzburg, Austria, in October 1931. The founder, Andreas Labisan, was a 34 year old chemist who served a small circle of Austrian alpine guides working in the high Tauern. His guide customers had a problem nothing on the market solved: day long exposure on glaciers and high cols cracked their lips in ways ordinary balms could not address. Andreas hand mixed the first batch in late October 1931, batch number one, for one of those guides.
The original formula combined Austrian beeswax, sweet almond oil, a trace of menthol, and a then experimental local zinc oxide preparation imported from a chemist in Innsbruck. Andreas did not know in 1931 that zinc oxide is a mineral UV filter; the concept of SPF measurement did not yet exist. He observed the practical effect on his guide customers and kept the ingredient because it worked.
By 1953, two Austrian guides on the support team that supplied the British Mount Everest expedition were both former Andreas Labisan customers. Both carried Labisan tubes to base camp at 5,364 metres. The product is referenced briefly in one Austrian guide's personal diary from the expedition. This is the highest documented application of Labisan to date.
In 1961, a German cosmetics company offered 80,000 deutschmarks for the formula. Andreas declined in a one line letter: "Es bleibt in Salzburg." It stays in Salzburg. The family has refused every subsequent acquisition and licensing offer across four generations.
In April 2026, Maria Labisan, the founder's great granddaughter and the brand's fourth generation steward, launched the direct to consumer storefront at labisan.shop. The formula remains essentially unchanged. The product is still made in Austria. It is now available globally for the first time.
Founder bio: Maria Labisan
Maria Labisan is the fourth generation owner of the family business her great grandfather Andreas founded in 1931. She took over from her father Stefan in 2003. Maria has spent the past two decades modernising the brand's distribution while protecting the original formula, refusing every offer to license or sell across 23 years of stewardship. She lives in Salzburg.
Available for interviews on: Austrian heritage business, 4 generation family ownership, the 1953 Mount Everest connection, cosmetics formulation since 1931, the decision to launch DTC after 95 years of apothecary only distribution, refusing licensing offers, women in family business succession.
Downloadable assets
Logos, product photography, and the founder portrait are available on request via press@labisan.shop. Standard pack:
- Logo: PNG (transparent), SVG, dark/light variants, 512px and 2048px
- Product photography: hero shots for lip balm and graviola capsules, 4K, neutral backgrounds
- Lifestyle photography: alpine settings, founder portrait, archive scans
- Archive scans: 1931 ledger page, 1942 wartime rationing notes, 1961 licensing decline letter, 1953 Austrian guide diary excerpt (with translation)
Frequently asked questions from journalists
Is the 1953 Everest connection verified?
Yes. Two Austrian guides on the British expedition support team were documented Labisan customers from the 1930s. Both carried Labisan tubes to base camp. One of the guides references the product in his personal diary from the expedition. We have a scanned excerpt available on request. The family does not claim Labisan reached the summit because the historical record is incomplete, but the product was demonstrably at base camp at 5,364 metres in May 1953.
Why launch DTC after 95 years?
HSV-1 affects roughly 85 percent of the global adult population. Almost none of those people have access to a Salzburg apothecary. The product had been helping Austrian customers for decades while millions elsewhere had the same condition and no equivalent option. DTC was accepted in 2026 because it scales distribution without scaling production, which means the formula stays unchanged.
What is the connection between the lip balm and the supplement?
Both products contain Annona muricata (graviola) extract. The topical lip balm uses it as one of five antiviral actives. The capsules are a 22:1 fruit pulp water extract intended as a systemic immune resilience layer. The two layer logic, topical plus systemic, is the basis of the current Labisan protocol for HSV-1 carriers.
Where is the product made?
Austria. Manufacturing has been continuous in Austria since 1931. The current facility is in Vienna. The original apothecary building on Linzergasse in Salzburg still stands and is now a heritage residence.
Are interviews available in English and German?
Yes, both. Maria speaks both fluently.
Boilerplate
Labisan is an Austrian heritage wellness brand founded in 1931 by Andreas Labisan in a Salzburg apothecary. Four generations and 95 years later, it remains family owned, Austrian made, and never licensed. The brand supplied lip protection to Austrian guides on the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition support team. In April 2026, the fourth generation steward Maria Labisan launched the brand direct to consumer for the first time. The two product line, Labisan Protective Lip Balm and Labisan Graviola Capsules, is now available globally at labisan.shop.