2022 Top Suppliers: A Snapshot of a Recovering Industry

More than two years removed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we're all pretty sick of hearing terms like "pivoting" and "new normal," but there's a reason that those phrases have been thrown around so much.

It's exactly what business owners – and everyone else – had to do.

Within the promotional products industry, the last two years have brought changing demand for different products, canceled events, customers closing up shop, supply chain issues and changing regulations. It would be impossible to navigate those treacherous waters without doing a little bit of pivoting.

These circumstances clearly had an impact on industry suppliers, but, according to our 2022 Top Suppliers and Supplier Excellence data, things are looking good. According to our data, the Top 65 Suppliers totaled $6.4 billion in 2021 sales – a 23% increase from 2020, which finished at $5.2 billion.

Of those Top 65 suppliers, 55 saw revenue increases, compared to 18 last year; four reported revenue decreases, compared to 45 last year – and one of those companies still placed in the top 10. Five companies finished evenly, and one couldn't be measured.

If you've looked at previous editions of the Top Supplier and Supplier Excellence features, the top five companies will look familiar. However, this year alphabroder | Prime Line reported a 30.8% increase in sales, which was enough to claim the No. 1 spot on this year's list. Hit Promotional Products an Ennis Inc. held onto their respective second and third place titles. Those three were followed by 4over, which hadn't submitted information last year, but knocked Koozie Group out of the No. 4 position despite Koozie Group's impressive 17.7% revenue increases.

You also might notice a few companies are missing from this year's list: Discount Labels (No. 12 in 2021), I.D. Images (No. 15 in 2021), Vantage Apparel (No. 33 in 2021), Britten INc. (No. 39 in 2021), and Envelope Mart USA (Tied for No. 46 in 2021). Additionally, HPG submitted as one entity this year as opposed to submitting through individual brands.

Those changes made room for new and returning names in the Top 65, though, like Showdown Displays (No. 18), PromoMatting by Americo (No. 27), OTTO International Inc. (No. 38), Calibre International/High Caliber Line (No. 43), Gordon Sinclair (tied for No. 48), Diamondback Branding (tied for No. 58), Landway Outdoor Apparel (tied for No. 58), Xpres LLC (No. 62), Fisher Space Pen Co. (No. 63) and Royal (No. 65).

There is plenty more to get into, but we'll let the data do the talking for us.

Download the full 2022 Top Suppliers and Supplier Excellence Resource here.

In this resource, readers will see a detailed analysis of this year's findings, followed by a Top 65 chart, individual product category breakdown and company profiles featuring senior executives.

Finally, the resource also includes the full results of the 2022 Supplier Excellence Awards, an annual celebration of the industry's best supplier companies as voted by you, the readers.