The brand's private equity-backed owner, Gourmet Food Holdings, called in the administrators in December.

Sydney-based Graphitype Printing Services was the hardest hit of its print suppliers, facing a bad debt of up to $135,000, which was not insured.

It could have been worse for Graphitype: the labels business it sold in July was also exposed, with $60,000 outstanding when Rosella failed.

Morris told ProPrint that Graphitype won the $400,000 per annum Rosella contract in 2011. The Sydney-based firm initially produced self-adhesive and cut-sheet labels, but lost the self-adhesive work when it sold the division to CCL.

He said he had not been completely surprised by the Rosella collapse, because the client had been taking 90 days to pay.

Morris has agreed to continue working for Rosella in an attempt to recoup some of Graphitype's losses.

Graphitype still legally owns all the labels, which should help lessen the company's exposure, added Morris.

[Opinion: Do forensic checks before extending credit]

He said there was a silver lining to the administration because the massive publicity had generated an increase in Rosella sales.

Morris said the administrator had forecast a likely sale at a reasonable price after receiving more than 100 expressions of interest.

"We're very confident we will retain the contract [in the event of a sale] because we have a very good working relationship with [Rosella]," he said.

Morris said another factor in Graphitype's favour was the proximity of its Blacktown factory to the client's Seven Hills site, allowing for the rapid delivery of last-minute orders.

"They're difficult to deal with because they often don't know what they need until the last moment," said Morris.

Morris added that Graphitype was on track to break even this financial year, despite being burned by Rosella.

Other printers have told ProPrint that Rosella was a challenging customer, and the contract had been shunted from supplier to supplier over recent years.

ProPrint understands that The Van Dyke Press held the Rosella account for about 25 years before losing it in 2009, not long after the Aussie brand was acquired by private equity. Suppliers since then have included Abaris and Labelmakers, among others.

One previous supplier said this revolving door of suppliers could likely be blamed on the private equity owners.

[LinkedIn: Should the industry stop operating on credit?]

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