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O C G S h o w D a i l y Fe b ru a r y 4 & 5 , 2 0 1 4 8 TUPPERWARE STILL INNOVATING WITH PLASTICS When many consumers think of plastic, Tupperware comes to mind. Thanks to the company's direct sales strategy, the famously kitschy Tupperware parties that were popular in the 1950s and still go on today; perhaps no plastic brand occupies a bigger place in American pop culture. But Tupperware's design team is not stuck in the past. David Kusuma, Vice President of Product Development and R&D worldwide at Tupperware Brands Corp., said the company's inno- vation continues. Speaking at the Society of Plastics Engineers' first China conference, held Dec. 11-12 in Shanghai, Kusuma shared with attendees how Tupperware is experiment- ing with plastics as it looks to the future. "Plastic as a material remains Tupperware's focus," Kusuma told Plastics News in an interview after his talk. "Plastics is one of the most versa- tile materials. You can go from soft to hard, from high temperature to low tem- perature. I mean, it has a wide range of possibilities." He said the company is not out searching for new materials. "We look more at the product solution and the material is part of that in order to solve that problem." Pressure from consumers and exciting new innovations have led the company to look into bio-based plastics. Tupperware has launched several biomaterial products in the past to test the market. "They've all been well received," Kusuma said. "We have a consumer base that is very much expecting us to go into this area." But he added that the company is not completely sold on biomaterials. "I should mention," he continued, "that in life-cycle assessments that we have done, some also point to the fact that not all biopolymers are necessarily earth-friendly. … It turns out its carbon footprint could be higher than other raw materials. So you really have to look at it one at a time." Speaking of environmental issues, Kusuma challenged the perception that plastics are bad for the environment. "We consider ourselves to already be very environmentally friendly because our products are designed for long use. We've even done lifecycle assessments on our products vs. limited life products, and there is a really big difference in less use of ener- gy [and] less carbon footprint," he said. Tupperware products are known for their durability, and Kusuma said customers pass down their sets from generation to gen- eration. In some markets, Tupperware prod- ucts have a lifetime warranty. The company has done well devel- oping products for specific local markets, he said, including kimchi containers in Korea, kimono keepers in Japan, and masala containers in India. One example of a highly successful product Tupperware launched was cheese containers. The containers fea- tured a semi-permeable membrane that helped manage the moisture content of the cheese in a refrigerated state. "The science is very simple," Kusuma said. "It is basically moving moisture from an area of high vapor pres- sure to an area of low vapor pressure," But simple science translated into big sales. "It quickly became the No. 1 prod- uct in Europe, our most mature market at the time, for a while," he said. As for current projects, Kusuma remained coy. "I'm excited about a lot of things. Can't talk about many – that's the problem." He did mention that Tupperware is currently working on proj- ects requiring material solutions and multi-component molding. In his presentation to conference atten- dees, he gave a peek behind the scenes to share several projects that the R&D team is researching. Each was related to the four strategic target issues for consumers that the company has identified to help focus the company's design direction: health, organization, money and environment. One research project that piqued the interest of attendees was how to apply the lotus effect in plastics. The lotus flower leaf has self-cleaning and water-repelling capabilities that have long fascinated researchers, including those working on plastic applications. Kusuma said the idea of self-cleaning kitchenware is alluring, but he is unsure about the quality of the results. "You can achieve it provided that you like the results," he said. "You have to qualify it. You heard questions of dura- bility, it is a big issue." He shared the example at the conference to see if others were working on the same problem. Judging from the audience response, there were more than a few. "It's one of the interesting topics, but there are so many of them and there are a lot more innovative things that are a lot more real," he said. He said Tupperware aims for a 50 percent success rate in projects at the R&D stage. "We have a very detailed R&D strat- egy and we just tackle it one year at a time," Kusuma said. TWO LEAVES TEA WINS AWARD Two Tea Leaves Company won an award at the North American Tea Championship for the second consecutive year. Paisley Brand Tea Organic Chai took second place in the Black Tea Flavored category. Last year, Jasmine Petal green tea won a first place in the Packaged Single-Service Class category. Paisley Brand Tea Organic Chai com- bines high-quality black tea with tradition- al Indian spices like clove and cinnamon. "We are crazy about our new Paisley Chai, so we're delighted it has gotten this acknowledgment," said Marketing Coordinator Christy Garfield. Paisley Brand Tea is a new range of teas from the company. It is high quality, organic and fairly traded tea in simple paper tea bags. While Two Leaves is known for its sachets of premium, organ- ic, whole leaf tea, the company recently set out to offer paper tea bags that cham- pion the company's high standards. "At Two Leaves we take tea person- ally, and that's reflected in our creation of Paisley Brand Tea," said CEO and Founder Richard Rosenfeld. "Paisley Brand Tea is everything we want in a sim- ple paper teabag: it's bright and multilay- ered, organic and fair trade, and brews up fast and strong." Tea submitted to the competition in the Black Tea Flavored category can be black tea of any variety and from any ori- gin that is blended with herbs, fruits, essential oils, spices and/or any other fla- voring agents. Each submission is evaluat- ed based on brewed color, aroma, flavor, mouth-feel and harmony by a panel of professional cuppers in a blind taste-test. "Considering all of the flavored black teas that are available today, we consider this a particularly competitive category," said Garfield. "This award will certainly help us get the word out that Paisley Brand Tea is a superior line of paper tea bags. It's everything we want in a tea bag, and we know tea lovers will agree." The North American Tea Championship is produced by World Tea Media, a company that provides business solutions to the global tea industry. Their championship is the only professional judged tea competition on this continent. LINUM SHOWING NEW HOME TEXTILES The Paradise Apron, 28 inches by 35 inches, is 100 percent cotton and retails for $45. Pair it with a matching Paradise Oven Mitt, 6 inches by 13 inches, also 100 percent cotton, which retails for $15, and a Paradise Pot Holder, 9 inches by 9 inches, also 100 percent cotton, retailing for $9. You can also coordinate this with a beautiful laminated beech wood serving tray, 8 inches by 11 inch- es, in this Paradise pattern for $29. The floral pattern for this coordinating set was created exclusively for Linum by Katarina Brieditis. The Harmony Kitchen Towel, 20 inches by 28 inches, is made of 100 per- cent cotton and retails for $29 for a two- pack. This stripe pattern was also created exclusively for Linum by another Swedish artist, Petra Carlsten Eygun. To match these kitchen towels, Linum offers the Harmony Apron, 28 inches by 35 inches. The Harmony Apron is 100 per- cent cotton and retails for $45. These Harmony stripes are an exciting contrast to Paradise, and using the two designs together will add yet another dimension to the kitchen's decor. Paradise is a beau- tiful spring/summer theme inspired by trailing, dazzling yet playful flowers and leaves with many details. The flower design, Paradise, together with the stripe, Harmony, creates a sunny atmosphere. The colors and pattern for Paradise and Harmony provide endless possibilities for coordination in your home and kitchen. See them at NY NOW or visit www.linum.se. Or for more information, you can reach out to Tiffany Takter, Sales Manager, tiffany.takter@linum.se and 609-320-2934. TWENTY-ONE COUNTRIES REPRESENTED IN ARTISAN RESOURCE SHOW Artisans from 21 countries worldwide will be represented at the winter 2014 edition of Artisan Resource™, which runs concurrently with NY NOW™. Four countries – Cameroon, Ethiopia, Niger and Uzbekistan – will make their Artisan Resource debut this winter. Exhibitors also hail from 17 returning countries: Afghanistan, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Peru, South Africa, Tunisia and Vietnam. Four of these countries – Indonesia, Panama, Peru and Tunisia – are represented through government-sponsored pavilions. "Artisan Resource continues its mis- sion to introduce buyers to undiscovered, untapped global artisan sources, and we are delighted to welcome participants from 21 countries to the marketplace," said Allison Rober, Artisan Resource sales manager. "The show features a wealth of new resources for attendees, as well as some veteran exhibitors such as ABN, Tilonia and Zardozi, all of which are returning for their fourth consecutive show this winter." The successful Market Incubator Program – created in 2013 through a part- nership between GLM, HAND/EYE Fund and ByHand Consulting – also will return to the show with 13 companies, including eight first-time participants: Bibi Hanum (hand woven textiles from Uzbekistan); Conserve India (up-cycled personal acces- sories); Entonto Beth Artisans (handcraft- ed jewelry and baskets from Ethiopia); Indigo (Guatemalan home décor and per- sonal accessories), La Red (hand-woven and hand-embroidered home and personal accessories from Mexico); Lila Handicrafts (traditional textiles from Pakistan); Rope International (handmade fiber home décor from South India); and Tuareg Fine Jewelry (tribal Tuareg silver goods from Niger). Artisan Resource is a semi-annual tradeshow which runs concurrently with NY NOW, offering a production-sourc- ing venue for overseas artisan enterprises to showcase their products and produc- tion capabilities – at export terms – from their country of origin.