For the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market this year, Cusa Tea was one of four brands to debut an innovative reusable sample cup program made possible by Vessel Works, a local stainless steel reusable cup service.
Vessel Works teamed up with us, Nuun, Patagonia Provisions and Lono Life to provide reusable sampling cups for sampling food and beverages at the show. Each morning Vessel dropped off a few hundred sample cups for Cusa Tea to use for the day as well as a large bucket for collecting used cups.
At the end of each day, Vessel came back by to pick up our cups and wash them overnight. The process began again the next day.
Customers were excited about being able to sample our product knowing they weren't contributing to more waste - even though we've used compostable cups for the last few years.
Besides wanting to cut down on sampling event waste, we were inspired to work with Vessel Works after signing a pledge to join the Plastic Impact Alliance, a movement of 225-plus outdoor companies who are working to reduce single-use waste and contribute to a plastic-free trade Outdoor Retailer trade show.
Outdoor industry news source SNEWS covered this new program at the show and interviewed Jim Lamancusa, founder of Cusa Tea, about our involvement:
Jim Lamancusa, of Cusa Tea, added: "It has always bothered me how many cups get thrown away at trade shows. We can easily go through 2,000 to 3,000 cups in a single show. I was so excited to hear about Vessel's reusable program because they take all of the hassle out of using reusable. Having them drop off and pick up and wash every day makes it a program that we can easily and enthusiastically be a part of!"
Read the full article by SNEWS.
