Drinkware

Prime Line held its annual summer picnic last week at the company's headquarters in Bridgeport, Conn. The event was attended by more than 400 employees, including company founder and chairman of the board, Bob Lederer, and his wife, Gail.

Are you looking for a product that sends just the right message for an awareness campaign? Here are some suggestions.

In 2007, Eastman Chemical began marketing a tough new BPA-free plastic called Tritan. Business was good, says Lucian Boldea, a vice president at Eastman.

"We were able to make the statement that our product is not made with BPA and would release data to consumers to support that fact," he says.

BPA, short for bisphenol A, is a chemical that can act like the hormone estrogen. While environmental groups and the government still disagree about whether BPA or any estrogen-like chemicals pose a health risk, consumers are clear that they want Sippy cups and water bottles made of plastics they consider safe.

Bullet, a subsidiary of Polyconcept North America, recently announced the start of its customer appreciation event with a series of compelling specials to be offered August through October. The Price Bust Blitz, a three-month sale event, features popular items at a reduced price in both the United States and Canada.

Visstun, Digispec and CounterPoint, all based in Las Vegas, have integrated an online UPS freight quoting system into their websites, giving distributors quick and convenient access to UPS freight information.

It's been years since manufacturers voluntarily stopped using the plastic additive BPA in sippy cups and baby bottles. But now they have no choice. The FDA announced it has formally banned BPA from these products.

The FDA ban comes in response to a request from the plastics industry, not consumer advocacy groups. The American Chemistry Council asked for the ban as a way to reassure consumers that they had nothing to fear from plastic baby products.

Confusion about BPA in sippy cups and baby bottles "had become an unnecessary distraction to consumers, legislators and state regulators," said spokesman Steven Hentges.

A quick demo of the color-change effect on Norwood's Double Wall Mood Tumbler.

A video demo of the color-change effect on Norwood's Double-Wall Mood Tumbler.

With more than 970 thousand bars and restaurants in the U.S., individual locations must constantly market themselves in order to stand out and earn repeat customers. That makes the restaurant industry an all-you-can-eat buffet of sales opportunity.

Visstun, the Las Vegas-based promotional drinkware supplier, reached a milestone in June as the company celebrated its fifth anniversary. Visstun's high-definition, full-color plastic cups were first introduced at PROMOTIONS EAST in 2007.