What flavor are your lips?

Chris and Lee are baking up a storm in the back today.  And the flavor is Berry, which is our GM's favorite flavor!  They will make enough Berry flavored lip balm to fill 267,000 lip balm tubes waiting in the production area. With QC watching over all like guardian angels, tubes get filled and Then the filled tubes will be Labeled and racked and out the door to one of our clients. 

The hypnotic effect of our automatic filling lines is remarkable. Soothing in a noisy kind of way.

 If our production is any indication, we have had the busiest December in a long time.  Running full tilt, adding people.  Let's hope this is a sign that the economy has turned the corner.  Amen Brother.
The Pied Piper

Stake out your territory

Did you know that the average Human body is covered by 20 Square Feet of SKIN?  Six pounds of skin in fact.  And that we shed or lose of wash all of that skin off every 27 days.....dead cells drift away.
You need a lot of lotion to keep that much skin supple and moist and healthy.  Fortunately, I have a lot of lotion so I am gooooood.  And it is good lotion so I am in fact, great!

And lips.  Lips are very important to me.  Kissing is one of the more enjoyable practices I know of.  Did you know that you will spend 336 hours in your life kissing?  That is if you are average.  And I know some people who are not so average!  Science has proven that our brain kicks in when seeking a lover's lips in the dark to facilitate finding them.  True.

So, keep lathering those bodies and lips and find a little time to overachieve in the kissing department.

The Pied Piper

An Ode to Hyperglycemic Crashes

We welcome Alyssa M today as a new lab technician with a cornucopia of baked goods. 
What she must think seeing cookies at every turn, a cookie tree, spiced nuts and raisins, chocolate candies and a frosted yule log!  I am sure things were different when she interviewed.  So i anticipate the post cookie eaters early afternoon crashes. Fortunately we have Peppermint Lip Balms floating around so we can use them as a pick me up!  To bad we don't make burner balm yet (has caffeine), that would get people moving..
The Pied Piper

You butter watch out, you butter not cry

Butter, it's whats for dinner.  In light of butter shortages in Iceland or Greenland, we thought we better make some butter lip balm and ship it over so they can remember what it tastes like.

 In our plant as we make various flavors and add scents and essences to our products, you can walk through production and think you are in a bakery on some days.  Today Chris and Lee cooked up some butter lip balm followed by Key Lime Pie lip balm and segued into ........


Pumpkin Pie lip balm and Pecan Pie Lip Balm.  You could smell the toasted pecans!

One of the unwritten perks of the job is to find out what the "menu" is and take an olfactory walk around the plant.
The Pied Piper

Cancer Scare!

Facts to think about

Skin Cancer Facts

• More than a million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year
• One in 5 Americans will get skin cancer in the course of a lifetime
• More than half of all newly diagnosed cancers are skin cancers
• One person dies every hour from skin cancer, primarily melanoma
• Melanoma kills more young women than any other cancer
• Nationally, there are more new cases of skin cancer each year than the combined incidence of cancer of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.
• More than 90 percent of all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure, yet fewer than 33 percent of adults, adolescents, and children routinely use sun protection.
• The risk of developing melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, has more than doubled in the past decade.
• One in four person who develop skin cancer is under the age of 40

So think about the products we make that feature SPF!

The Pied Piper

Albert Hall

In a serendipitous turn of events, the Pied Piper visited the Angels ball park last month in SoCal.  With a tube of our retail lip balm, we salute the new Albert Hall!  Out of the National Central and out of the hair of the Brewers...Pujols struck it rich.
The Pied Piper

My feets too big

The week has officially been kick started.  WE have a new Paw Balm trialing at the Humane Society to work it's magic on all those puppies and kittens that need adoption. 
At the urging of one of our retail marketing agents we have come up with the world's best foot balm.  Just the thing for stressed and abused dogs, excuse me, feet. We will do that for retail and make available for our promotional clients.
And we have the lab working on a new item for a client, very nice healing oral spray that will be on the market soon.    All fueled by last weeks Turkey dinners!!
The Pied Piper

History Tells Us

• History Tells Us (from eHow)
• 
  
• Excavation of Mesolithic civilization sites dating as far back as 10,000 B.C. indicate that our earliest ancestors may have rubbed oil from castor plants on their skin. Ancient Egyptian tombs opened within the last century reveal small pottery jars filled with animal fat and olive oil substances to which spices were added. Biblical accounts tell us that people living during that time considered it a luxury to have their feet washed and ointment massaged into the skin.

Geography

• Numerous kinds of natural plant oils and extracted fragrances made up the lotions of yesteryear, but one popular lotion in Europe actually killed some of the people who wore it. During the Renaissance period, it became popular to slather a lotion made from mercury and white lead on the face, neck and exposed arms in order to create a chalky-white complexion. Not until a physician noticed men and women--mostly royalty--falling ill and dying, did he make the connection.

Types

• Lotions of the 15th century began to include ingredients that smelled good. Early recipes for cold cream included beeswax, rose water and olive oil. During the Crusades, Knights returned from battle with new essential oil scents made from flowers and spices. New lotion recipes including these oils were popular with noblewomen.

Considerations

• During the Middle Ages, peasant herbalists passed their knowledge of plants to their offspring, usually female. Together, they would concoct lotions designed to heal skin eruptions and other skin concerns. Comfrey leaves were widely used in these lotions and earned women a reputation of being skilled healers

And that, children, is why Daddy makes lotion!
The Pied Piper

Thanksgiving

It is the week of Thanksgiving and we do have much to be thankful for.  We so appreciate our clients and the business the generate for us. Today we thank Kim for the wonderful pumpkin cheese cake she made over the weekend, she is really evil to do that to us, but, wow is it good!.  Some of our staff is off deer hunting, helping to thin the herd.  Those of that are still here are very grateful that the weather has been relatively benign.  We are thankful for all the creativity in house as we get ready to unveil new products and new product lines.  We are thankful that all the fill lines are humming.  We are thankful for all the late autumn festivals and events to keep us entertained. 
What are you thankful for?
The Pied Piper

Deer Season hits Wisconsin

Well Campers, it is that time of year.  Hunters are priming for the hunt.  Guns are cleaned, ammo bought, bows strung, arrows readied and knives honed.  Let's see the checklist: beer, steaks, bread, cereal, bacon, beer, eggs, bacon, milk, coffee, beer, orange outfit and of course camo lip balm.  We hope for a safe season for the hunters and root for the deer.  Thinning the herd is a must or the deer population will overgrow the lands ability to sustain them. But letting your lips chap is not to be done.

They say there are more armed men in the woods of Wisconsin than were in the European Theater during world war II.  That is some army.  I would guess about 700,000 hunters will hit when season is declared open!
The Pied Piper

SoCal and the Pied Piper

Southern California, land of sun, fun and grid lock.  I took my traveling show to the LA area and met some great people and ate some great food.  I ate some pizza at the next big thing in pizza franchising, Pieology in Fullerton.  Watch for that concept in the coming years!  And if you have not been to Matador Cantina, you are missing out on the best appetizer I have had in some time...bacon wrapped street dogs with roasted peppers, onions and mustard...outrageous!

While I was gone, the lab cooked up a new pet balm that has stolen the hearts of some of our staff members.  Look for that soon.  And the Aloe Gel after sun spray was a big hit in LA.  Ready to go now!
I learned that even if the sun is shining, it is hard to gain tranquility in bumper to bumper traffic.  Who are all these people and where are they going?
The Pied Piper

Face Paint+School Spirit

Our new war paint, face paint is not really a paint at all!  But as a skin balm with color it is remarkable.  We package the paints in small tubes for easy face decoration.  With 15 colors on tap, we think we can accommodate most any combo of school colors. 
The Pied Piper

Outdoors

There are well over 100,000,000 outdoor leisure opportunities per year for corporate logos to be at work spreading awareness.

·         There are over 13,000,000 camp-nights per year and the gender is split 50-50

·         20,000,000 kids play youth baseball each year- doesn't count parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, other

·         3,000,000+ play youth soccer each year and its growing rapidly

·         100,000 Elementary & secondary schools will offer baseball and girls softball

·         4,000 colleges/universities - baseball and girls softball, soccer, lacrosse, golf

·         2,500 outdoor music/art festivals with average attendance in the thousands

   

o   Over a third of the population will attend an outdoor event this year!

 

·         500 million rounds of golf are played in the US annually

·         27 Million golfers

·         15000 courses

·         25 billion dollar spend

·         140,000 charity golf outings

·         With 15,000,000 participants

Makes us wonder how we can keep our SPF sun products in stock?  When you are ready..try our hands free SPF 30 face stick...perfect delivery of product to the nose, ears, neck and the rest of your face...

chocolate chocolate chocolate

Can you ever get enough choclate?  Not if it is real!

cocoa shoppe lip balms

One of the nicest parts of my job is to give the world chocolate flavored lips!  I was in Madison yesterday and once again I have converted another to the cocoa shopper world of lip magic. our Cocoa Shoppe Lip balms are indeed the most deeply evolved chocolate lip balms ever.  Hits the lips but not the hips!

The Pied Piper

A New York State of Mind

Spent a few days in Buffalo showing off our wonderful line of skin care products and discovered yet again that our use of Chocolate in our Cocoa Shoppe line of chocolate lip balms is the bomb!  New converts to our "hits your lips and not your hips" lip balms.  Had a chance to see the mighty falls of Niagara while I was there and despite having seen all that energy and power before, still awe inspiring to see.  One Fifth of the freshwater on earth is pouring across those falls. And saw it all from the oldest state park in America, Niagara Falls State Park founded in 1885 on Goat Island...
The Pied Piper

Stranger in a strange land

An interesting week for the Pied Piper of Alliance Packaging Group, the finest FDA lab in the land!  In the midst of showing our line of balms, lotions and skin care products, i noticed a certain sports frenzy overtaking the town.  Here I was a healthy and happy Wisconsinite in the middle of St. Louis, MO with the Green Bay Packers hosting the Rams and the Brewers playing the Cards in baseball in the playoffs.  My thick skin was put to the test with needless needling and uncompromising homerism.  Turns out it was a split.  The Packers rolled the Rams and The Cards shattered the dreams of the Brew Crew.  But the skin and body lotion game was brisk, so I go win, win, loss for the week!
The Pied Piper

Why did the pickle cross the road?

Why did the pickle cross the road?  To quench some chapped pickle lips, of course. Van Holten's been making cucumbers into pickles since 1898!  If you have never tried a pickle in a pouch, you are missing out on some of the best pickle licking in life.  So what does a super pickle maker have in common with the finest FDA lab in the land?  Why, pickle lip balm of course.  Soon at retail locations around the country you will be able to have your pickle and keep the pickle tickle going by taking along the finest pickle flavored lip balm ever. Now try saying pickle lip balm pickle lip balm pickle lip balm three times rapidly...much harder than eating a pickle.  Much better tasting than our ketchup and mustard lip balm...When we do burger balm, you can have a classic on your lips with hamburger, ketchup, mustard and pickle flavored lip balms!
The Pickled Pied Piper

Traveling with the Pied Piper

In a quest to get to all major metro areas and try and secure new clients, I was in Chicago and the Minneapolis areea the last two weeks.  Very different places indeed but the results were the same.  Excellent reception of our face and body products and of course our lip balms. I gave a gift pack of our cocoa shoppe lip balms to the car rental person and he very graciously accepted the gift and gave me one in return, a nice upgrade for no charge!  Love the Balm effect.

Check out the beautiful St. Croix River...

The Pied Piper

On the Road

While I wish I had done a road trip with those two, I am not sure I was alive yet!


Spent the last few days on the road in Chicago and heading to Minneapolis this week.  I am finding cautious optimism on the street.  The economy is still stinky and end users have changed budget habits.  But the enduring thing is that Business has to promote, advertise and market to remain viable.  Have gotten a great reaction to some of our new products we are introducing.  Friction Free body lubricant, face paint, all purpose household lubricant and others will soon be staples in the promotional product industry!
The Pied Piper

Official Lip Balm of the USGA Championship in Kohler 2012

Head to the pro shop during the US Women's Open in  2012 and pick up some of our wonderful sunscreen lip balm, sunscreen lotion and sun screen face stick.  Always happy to keep the rays at bay.

US Women's Open

The pied piper

Contract packaging? What is that?

When I tell people that we are a prime manufacturer of lip balm, body and skin care products in a state of the art cGMP/FDA facility specializing in formulation, private label and contract packaging services, I often get as many questions as words in the paragraph.  Formulation is easy to explain.  We have a lab with chemists who create or verify formulas to make lotions, gels, balms, oils and a variety of other things using a wide variety of ingredients, flavors and essences.  When you make all natural products and organic products you have some unusual ingredients on hand.  Mink and Emu Oils come to mind.

More soon form the pied piper at Alliance Packaging Group