Whether you&#;re a first-time foodservice operator opening your premier location, or you&#;re a 30-year veteran who&#;s interested in overhauling your drinkware program, taking a few key attributes into consideration can help you make the best drinkware purchase for your establishment. Generally, knowing what you want in terms of ounce capacity, material (PC, SAN, or Tritanª plastics, or glass), and segment use cases will help guide you to the best products for your needs.
The most commonly used drinking glasses in commercial foodservice are 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 oz. You should know your optimal ounce capacity because drink service &#; both adult beverages and non-alcoholic drinks &#; offers some of the best margins in a notoriously margin-tight industry. Look to your competitors to see how your pricing and ounce capacity will match up.
Pictured: -1-CL, SW--CL, S-17-CL, -1-CL, -1-CL
For example, if your competitor down the street is selling a 20 oz. soda for $1.50, and you&#;re selling the same drink in a 16 oz. glass for $2.00, you may lose sales to your competitor. If that happens, beverage service&#;s cushy profit margin won&#;t help you to offset high food costs.
It&#;s not only about the size of beverage you&#;d like to offer. To find the sweet spot for your brand, you&#;ll want to consider:
Whether you offer free refills, and the cost to do so vs. the marketing and operational benefits
Whatever your brand positioning and guest expectations are, knowing your optimal ounce capacity and price point are good places to start narrowing down your drinkware options.
Not finding the answers you want? Leave a comment telling us what we&#;re missing and we&#;ll cover it for you.
With modern materials, design, and manufacturing capabilities, foodservice operators can now find plenty of drinkware options in plastic that were previously only available (or only looked good) in glass. This is excellent news because it broadens the horizon of possibilities regarding drinkware materials, which in turn offers operators improved:
Glass drinkware is still an excellent choice and may be best for some foodservice operations. The key takeaway here is that if you&#;re on the fence between plastic and glass, you now have excellent plastic drinkware options that can support a range of brand styles and levels of formality.
Because plastic drinkware is less prone to chipping than glass, it increases the safety of your guests and staff. This can turn into real savings for foodservice operators due to lower workman&#;s comp bills, injury claims from guests, and steady productivity because you won&#;t need to temporarily cover for an injured staff member.
Pictured: SW--PC-CL, SW--CL, SW--PC-CL, SW--1-SAN-CL, SW--1-SAN-CL, SW--CL, GOB-15-PC-CL
If you&#;re interested in plastic, the most popular kinds of food-safe plastics are PC (polycarbonate) and SAN (styrene-acrylonitrile). They&#;re both good options, but have different qualities you should consider before deciding on one over the other:
Tritanª by Eastman is another popular food-safe plastic. It features the best clarity and durability on the market, is BPA-free, and can handle microwaving and hot beverage service. As with most high-end options, though, it is generally more expensive than PC and SAN. However, due to its durability, some operators find great value in Tritanª.
Pricing can vary significantly between glass and plastic drinkware options, especially when considering the replacement rates mentioned above. When you&#;ve got your decision narrowed down to a couple options, be sure to factor in the initial investment cost and the potential annual replacement costs. Depending on how long you plan on sticking with this round of drinkware, you can easily estimate the cost of ownership for as many years as you need.
Generally, drinkware design should be sound and developed by reputable professionals. Good structural design can save you money in the long-term because it can make the difference between a drinking glass chipping after one strike or several. Commercial kitchens are naturally boisterous places, so you should plan on your drinkware getting struck and dropped occasionally (but try to avoid it).
Pictured: SW--CL, SW--1-CL, and Luxury Tumblers
Texture helps with setting the scene according to your brand positioning. But it can have functional aspects as well. For example, drinkware with frosted designs, ribbing, or dimples can help hide scratches. This can be useful if you&#;re in a rowdy environment like a bar, or a kid-friendly place that needs drinkware that can withstand a lot of dropping. Some higher-end foodservice establishments may prefer smooth drinkware for its sleek look. But textured drinkware can support refined brands depending on the overall design.
Operational needs vary by segment, so let&#;s take a look at some segment-specific use cases.
Tumblers are great options for these fast-paced segments because typically tea, soda, and water service comprise the majority of beverage sales. Due to normal wear and tear in these environments, textured, stackable tumblers offer value in a few ways:
SAN plastic drinkware is a great fit here, too, because of its durability, good cost point, and low replacement rates.
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For operations with outdoor dining and/or poolside service, it&#;s smart to use plastic drinkware, if not mandated by safety regulations. This segment likely is interested in sleeker options than traditional plastic tumblers due to brand positioning and guest expectations. Additionally, it&#;s common to serve bar drinks in hospitality and high-end dining, so you&#;ll probably need more options than a single tumbler.
Tritanª is a great fit for these environments due to its superior clarity and durability. There are plenty of Tritanª barware options on the market, including wine, beer, high- and low-ball glasses, etc., so you&#;ll be able to find the right barware to fit your needs. Although SAN has good durability and clarity, Tritanª can withstand more dropping and striking, keeping your drinkware scratch- and chip-free for longer than SAN. This can be especially important in outside areas where hard surfaces like cement, stone, and brick are commonplace.
Regardless of your segment, you can mix up your beverage presentation and set your service apart from your competitors&#; with creative plastic drinkware options. Doing so can help you cultivate a unique experience your guests will enjoy while you reap the benefits of plastic drinkware, like its durability and low replacement rates.
Pictured: HUR-20-CL, MAS-3-CL, and S-11-CL
Use plastic mason jars to serve summer mock-tails like sparkling juices. The Revoª and Loftª collections feature sleek, clear, SAN plastic in a stackable design that can upgrade the aesthetics of your presentation. Additionally, you can use different options from these collections for a variety of uses &#; drink service and otherwise:
Pictured: the Loftª and Revoª Collections
The nugget here is that you can use a couple different styles from the same collection, but get more mileage out of them than their original intended use. Doing so can simplify your drinkware pars because you&#;ll only need to stock a handful of SKUs in-house. Additionally, you can upgrade your presentation, possibly justifying charging a bit more, while benefiting from the savings of plastic drinkware.
Pictured: Revoª Stackable Taster Glasses
Here at G.E.T., we know that so many commercial drinkware options are on the market that it can be difficult to know where to start. The three key attributes we reviewed here should be helpful in organizing your search and narrowing down the kinds of drinkware that will best serve your operation, brand, and guests.
If you&#;re interested in reading more about the differences between PC and SAN plastics, we&#;ve got you covered in more detail in &#;PC vs. SAN Plastic Tumblers: What&#;s the Difference?&#; And don&#;t forget to tell us in the comments if you found this information helpful, and/or if you&#;d like us to write about other topics. We&#;d love to hear from you!
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Bottles are silent salesmen for perfumes and attars. Hence, you want the best hands regarding your bottle&#;s packaging. While there are so many glass packaging solution providers, there&#;s a way to spot the good ones.
This article offers a reprieve if you are new to the industry or once had a foul experience.
Here, we explore ten crucial questions to ask a glass packaging solution provider. This way, you only work alongside the best ones.
Ten Questions to Ask a Glass Packaging Solution Provider
Are you ready to bottle your perfumes? Then, you need a reliable glass packaging solution provider.
Below questions can work as guidelines for you. You can pick the questions that are directly related to your demands. Of course, you can skip a specific question if it doesn&#;t fit into your requirements.
1.Is There Room for Customization?
Are there several unique packaging solutions, or do they all follow a fixed design? This question is critical depending on the packaging your business needs. You may want to kickstart your creative juice; is the solution provider on board?
Only a few companies comprise their range of designs. If you want a flower-shaped bottle, you can&#;t work with a provider with only cylindrical molds. Choose a glass packaging solution provider that allows brand expression.
2.What Is the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival)?
Turning a blob into a glass bottle takes about 10-15 seconds. However, the process is barely complete. Once the manufacturers finish this stage, the bottles are sent for annealing. During annealing, the manufacturers release surface tension, which takes several hours.
With glass packaging for perfume/attar bottles, aesthetics is a common factor. This factor often means an extended manufacturing time.
That said, when looking for a glass provider, you need a rough estimate of when your products will arrive. The requested time should include the manufacturing and delivery. Generally, providers with faster lead time take preeminence over others.
3.What Is Their Minimum Order?
The minimum order (or order minimum) is the smallest amount a business is willing to sell. You must decide your order size and discuss it with the supplier.
Remember, the minimum order quantities are supplier-specific. Glass packaging solution providers usually set 5,000 or 10,000 pieces as their MOQ. For accurate information on minimum order requirements, you must contact the manufacturer directly.
If you own a big-scale or small-scale business, pair with a corresponding glass packaging provider.
This way, your highest orders are well within the range of the providers and have a reasonable lead time. One way to access the business size they can accommodate is production capacity.
Mismatching can be dangerous. An example is cutting your order numbers to meet their mark. It can be time-wasting and costly since you have to make several orders.
To prevent harmful compromises, you should filter packaging providers based on size. If you want a few packages, stick with a small glass package provider and vice versa.
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5.How Fragile Are Their Products?
Knowing how fragile the products are helps to take necessary cautionary steps. Your company might have to include padded material when they ship to consumers.
Also, you can air your opinion on a lighter product and probe if the weight and fragility work together. While perfume products don&#;t have to be rocks, it helps when they don&#;t shatter on every collision.
6.Do They Offer Flexible Glass Packaging Solutions?
Your business might need to make tweaks to transportation, manufacturing processes, and designs. A packaging solution provider that offers flexible glass packaging solutions is a must. It helps when the provider can attend to specific requests.
When probing a representative of the brand, this question is critical. It also helps if you source reviews of how they have kept their word with past clients. Testimonials are excellent ways to gauge what the provider is capable of doing.
7.Do They Support Sampling?
Sampling is doing a small batch for your inspection. It helps determine if the products match your desired quality. Sampling shows the provider is confident and helps ensure that they stick to the design you want.
You can assess the structural quality and any damages to see if it suits your demand&#;s need. Also, you want to ensure they have reliable lead time and can follow instructions. Sampling is an integral part of any manufacturing process.
While it is not compulsory, it does help keep your mind at rest. And you can offer tweaks to errors they might have made on a much larger batch.
8.How Do You Handle Inquiries From Buyers and Any Issues That May Arise After a Purchase?
Customer support and after-sale service are essential to finding a glass packaging company. After the transaction, a reliable supplier should still be there to help.
It involves being available to answer questions, handle concerns, and provide solutions. The supplier must keep the lines of communication open so customers feel supported throughout.
9.Do You Offer Additional Services Aside From Making Glass Bottles?
A full-service glass packaging company may go above and beyond. Some companies provide a wide range of complementary services.
It could include helping with branding and labeling, facilitating logistics, and distribution. Sometimes, the company can advise on improving packaging for specific items or markets. These extra services add value at different points in the packaging process.
10.How Long It Takes to Have the Glass Bottles Delivered?
Order complexity, customization needs, and quantity might affect the delivery wait times. An efficient glass packaging supplier should provide clear and realistic timetables.
The supplier needs to be honest about the production and delivery process. Moreover, the company should work hard to reach the agreed-upon timeframes. It allows for a seamless transition from production to receiving the glass packaging items.
Why Are These Questions Important?
Why should you bother with the questions? You could easily read some reviews online and jump right into the boat. It might have worked for a couple of businesses. However, no industry knows the danger of blind buys more than the perfume industry.
More so, businesses are unique. You should never judge other experiences.
When considering a flexible packaging company, you should do your homework. You must be comfortable knowing you&#;re not just another &#;job.&#; It starts with understanding and being comfortable with the processes. This process includes asking all the right questions.
Last but not least, you have to know if you&#;re the type of client the provider is experienced working with. Some suppliers will only perform long runs. Others prefer working with small and medium-sized businesses to produce shorter runs.
Some More Questions You Should Know!
It is essential to understand how well the supplier&#;s solutions can scale to meet future demands. Find out how they handle fluctuating production quantities. Besides, how they respond to shifting market needs. However, you should also have some basic understanding about this industry.
1.Is Glass the Best Packaging for Perfumes And Attars?
Yes. Glass is the most used option for packaging perfumes because of its aesthetics. It is also a durable option and preserves the perfume. Due to its sturdy exterior, it doesn&#;t let any contaminants get through. Although many options like plastic and ceramic abound, glass always comes on top.
2.How Long Does Perfume Last in Packaging?
Perfumes can last anywhere from a few months to several years. It all depends on the packaging and the content. For the most part, glass is the best container for perfumes. Also, top brands will often last well into five years before expiring.
3.Is Glass An Environmental Friendly Option?
It can be. Many perfume industries are opting for a healthier form of production. This move ultimately causes less strain on the environment. And if you refer to the package itself, glass typically turns to sand, mainly when disposed of in places with lots of motion.
How Do You Ship Perfumes?
Shipping perfumes and attars differ from other beauty products like soap and shampoo. They are put in leak-proof containers and wrapped to reduce the impact of collisions.
Final Thoughts!
Undoubtedly, glass packaging solutions can be a tedious experience.
More so when you are busy trying to outsource the job to the best hands. Nonetheless, the right partner is critical to a seamless glass packaging experience. In this article, we explored questions necessary during the outsourcing step.
Using our ten questions, you are better positioned to get the best hands. While the packaging providers get to work, you can return to customer service and others.
Is buying premium glass bottles something you&#;re considering for your perfume business? Learn more about the tailored services we provide to fulfill your specific requirements. Find out how our glass packaging expertise can elevate your brand&#;s quality. Contact Gozonepack today!
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Glass Cup Manufacturer.