When Eve Yen arrived in Ontario 15 years ago from Taiwan, she had an idea to start her own business manufacturing hot towels for restaurants. Today, Diamond Wipes International manufactures more than a million hot wipes a day for big-name hotels, restaurants and cosmetic companies.

The privately held company employs more than 120 people and generates between $15 million and $20 million in annual sales.

"I came from Taiwan where hot towels are very popular in restaurants," said Yen, founder and CEO of Ontario-based Diamond Wipes International. "They serve you a hot towel to freshen up before your meal. When I visited the United States, I noticed it wasn't done here so it was a great opportunity to start a business."

Everything about Yen's initial investment was modest, from using seed money raised from a manufacturer and family to the 1,700-square-foot facility, two employees and one machine, which produced 80 cases of her product each month. The company has since expanded to include a 100,000-square-foot site in Ontario and a 60,000-square-foot site in Bucyrus, Ohio.

Combined, they produce more than 10,000 cases of product each month, including the branded wipes Yen offers through her contract packaging service.

"I began with a business plan and the goal of breaking even within the first year," she said. "Within six months, we had a product and we broke even within the first year. Our very first bag of hot wipes was sold to a Japanese restaurant for $1.95. Today, we have 1,500 different formulas we do on wipes."

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Frank Bellino / The Business Press

Diamond Wipes founder and CEO Eve Yen stands near the assembly line that makes more than 1 million wipes a day at its Ontario facility.

Instead of importing her product, Yen and her vendors developed a stronger towelette that was all-natural, biodegradable and microwaveable. In an interview with The Business Press, Yen said it was important to her that as an immigrant she not import her product but "instead produce a quality product and employ people in her adopted country."

Her company then began lining up national restaurant chains as customers such as Tony Roma's, Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse, and other leading brands and food services distributors. The company's product is now distributed to more than 2,000 clients worldwide.

But contract packaging is the fastest-growing sector of Diamond Wipes.

In addition to restaurant wipes, the company also provides the kinds found in hotels that are used to apply everything from shoe polish to removing makeup. Yen says the company also produces the wipes for major cosmetic makers including Avon, Revlon and Estee Lauder, and they can be found in large chain stores such as Wal-Mart and Target.

Yen attributes her success to branching out beyond supplying restaurants with towels, especially in the midst of a recession.

"Our restaurant business is off," she said, "but overall, we are not down, we are up. We didn't put all of our eggs in one basket."

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Frank Bellino / The Press-Enterprise

Eve Yen, CEO of Diamond Wipes in Ontario, stands near her assembly line that makes more than 1 million hot wipes a day.

She said with several new products being introduced business should be up 15 percent this year.

"With flu season here we have introduced hand-sanitizing wipes that we are selling through retail outlets and to school districts," she said.

The line of Diamond Kids Anti-Bacterial Wipes consists of individually wrapped moist wipes that are good for backpacks and lunch boxes, the company said in a press release. It's not only about keeping kids clean but also about reducing the risk of illness by preventing the spread of germs.

"You never know if your kids will wash their hands once they leave the house," said Yen. "Slipping one of our wipes in their backpacks will encourage kids to practice sound hygiene in a convenient and fun manner."

She said the kid's wipes will be available at leading retailers throughout North America. The wipes will retail for $3.99 for 12 and $12.99 for 50.

In 2007, Yen launched Diamond Wipes International's sister company La Fresh Group, which features 10 employees and manufactures specialized towelettes moistened with makeup remover, sun block and disinfectant. The product is sold through national retailers and is a variety of easy-to-pack wipes aimed at travelers.

She said the product continues to gain in popularity among consumers who don't want to hassle with the airlines' 3-ounce-container rules. On the company's Web site ( www.wipes123.com), the La Fresh wipes are priced at $15.99 for 30 individually packaged packets, including a travel case. La Fresh packages with 15 individually packaged packets are priced at $3.

The company also produces hand-sanitizer gel, anti-bacterial wipes, baby wipes, adult washcloths, health-care wipes, barbeque wipes and automotive wipes.

"Our long-term goal as a company is simple," Yen said. "It's to produce professional, good-quality wipes that people want to buy."

To achieve her goals, Yen invested heavily in new manufacturing equipment in the company's Ontario plant. She declined to say how much the upgrades cost Diamond Wipes.

"We needed to be able to accommodate the market by increasing our capacity," she said. "As we broaden our market, the challenge is going to be producing a quality product quicker, while saving on our labor costs to keep our prices competitive."

Yen admitted that her company's prices are slightly higher than her overseas competitors, but her products are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency, which adds to her costs. She said her distributors have found that companies and customers are willing to pay slightly more for Diamond Wipes because of their quality.

"We are poised to keep growing," she said. However, Yen said to grow even larger, she might have to take her private company public.

"We have been thinking about it," she said. "Everything is possible. People have even asked about buying (us) out, but I don't think we are there yet. I think it's possible to grow 20 to 30 times larger than we are right now."