What will you give?

A simple question, yet, an impactful response.   

With so much discussion of Black Friday and Cyber Monday following a Day of Thanksgiving—our thoughts recently turned on this Tuesday to: “What will you give?”

Well, our staff here at Alliance Packaging Group, Inc., was quick to answer and responded through action on that very important question.  Through Tuesday, December 3, 2013, our efforts and community involvement reaches locally with useful lip balm samples and donations to the Saukville American Legion and a local bank to share with participants at an annual run/walk.  On a larger scale, our products, (i.e. – lip balms, hand sanitizers and sun screen) were included in care packs that are often shared with the homeless in Milwaukee through the tireless work of Mr. Bob’s “Under the Bridge” program—which was started back in 2007.  In addition, we continue to support the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, Balance Inc., North Texas Rehabilitation Services, Ozaukee County National Night Out, Advocates of Ozaukee County and Celebrate Grafton, Family Sharing of Grafton and Saukville Community Food Pantry.  Yes, a small sampling of giving back, but, on this #GivingTuesday™, it is our way to make mention on how WE GIVE and IMPACT our communities. 

What will you give? 

Have a great #GivingTuesday—EVERYDAY!

The lesson of the Whitetail Fawn

This was taken this past week out the kitchen window at the Pied Piper's house.  Mother and son hanging out looking for ??  The little guy was curious what was going on at the table,  (envelope stuffing for a non profit fund raiser).  But what struck me watching for a while was the use of shade and woods that protected the deer from over exposure to the sun and the use of the background available to keep them as invisible as possible..  You could argue that it is their natural instincts to remain camouflaged to the human eye.  A dappled fawn in dappled sunlight is near invisible. And sunburn is not among the probems white tailed deer have around here!
Sun Screen and Camo paints...we make em!  But not for deer!

It is OK to be MADE in th USA!

Made in USA Makes Comeback as a Marketing Tool

01/22/2013

Oliver St. John
January 21, 2013

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It's becoming downright American to make stuff in America.

Small manufacturers, craftsmen and retailers are marketing the Made-in-USA tag to score do-gooder points with consumers for employing stateside, says Margarita Mendoza, founder of The Made in America Movement, a lobbying organization for small manufacturers.

It's working: Over 80% of Americans are willing to pay more for Made-in-USA products, 93% of whom say it's because they want to keep jobs in the USA, according to a survey released in November by Boston Consulting Group. In ultra-partisan times, it's one of the few issues both Democrats and Republicans agree on.

When considering similar products made in the U.S. vs. China, the average American is willing to pay up to 60% more for U.S.-made wooden baby toys, 30% more for U.S.-made mobile phones and 19% more for U.S.-made gas ranges, the survey says.

Now Wal-Mart wants a piece of the action. The behemoth, embroiled over the past year with worker protests and foreign bribery investigations, pledged recently to source $50 billion of products in the U.S. over the next 10 years, says Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove. They're not alone. Mendoza says both Caterpillar and 3M have also made efforts to source more in the U.S.

"Regardless if this is a PR ploy or not, it doesn't matter. A lot more people will look for the Made-in-USA tag," she says, adding that, considering Wal-Mart's size, $5 billion a year is only "a drop in the bucket," for the retailer whose 2012 sales reached almost $444 billion.

Kyle Rancourt says his American-made shoe company, Rancourt & Co., hit it big as concern over U.S. jobs mounted when the recession hit in 2009. But he says he lies awake at night worrying if Made-in-USA is just a passing fad.

"It's inevitable that times will change," Rancourt says. "But I am still holding out hope that this has become a core value of our country."

Mendoza says that if buying American turns out to be a passing fad, the country is in trouble.

"If they don't understand the economic factor, we need to pull on their heartstrings," she says. "The thought of having a country like China taking over, that alone is bone-chilling."

But do folks care enough about U.S. manufacturing jobs to permanently change the way they shop? David Aaker, vice chairman of brand consulting firm Prophet, says the companies that get the most credit for being American, such as Apple and Cisco, don't even source products in the U.S.

"I don't think it matters unless it becomes visible," Aaker says. "The most common way for that is if something bad happens, like if Nike gets some press about conditions in factories overseas."

But Rancourt says his customers believe foreign-made shoes lack the soul of their American counterparts.

"There's hundreds if not thousands of workers working on those factories. They do one specific job, maybe put an eyelet into a specific place," he says. "They don't have an idea or concept of a finished product and how that should look."



Just watch out for phony Made-in-USA claims. It's illegal to claim a product is U.S.-made unless both the product and all it's components are sourced in the U.S. Even products that could imply a phony country of origin with a flag or country outline are verboten. Julia Solomon Ensor, enforcement lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission, says the FTC gets "several complaints each month about potentially deceptive 'Made-in-the-USA' claims."

It sets a bad example. Mendoza says the U.S. needs to let kids know it's OK to work in manufacturing. "Not all children are going to grow up to be dentists, and lawyers, and investment bankers."

A Real Snow Bird

Rare sighting this morning outside the Pied Piper window, a Snow Bird!  Look carefully in the middle of the photo, a small nest with a little snow bird resting peacefully.  And you  thought they had all escaped to the South or South West for the winter!  Not sure what the lab can come up with to protect that little birdie form unwanted sun!
The Pied Piper

Steel Drum Beat

Drum Island!  We make sweet music with our drums. We tap out the rhythm of American Made Products every day here in Wisconsin.  The song of Industry rings out from the sound of the steel drums in use.  We cool them, we heat them, we save them, we savor them.  They store all the secret and not so secret ingredients of our stock in trade.

The Pied Piper

If you are waiting for a sign...

Summer and Fall have vanished and Winter is settling in to stay. Heating bills are arriving.  Indoors become attractive and with indoor time comes indoor dry heat and skin and lip dehydration.  Combine low outdoor moisture with indoor heating and your entire system needs more moisture.  Drink plenty of water, use hydrating skin lotion and lip balm. Simple.

What Is 'Made in America' Worth?

Probably more than you think. As more manufacturing returns to U.S. shores, early signs show that a "Made in America" label is a serious competitive advantage.

VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm/Getty

 

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Think of the label "Made in America." What brand images come to mind? Odds are, you've conjured up a picture of one of two scenes.
First, there's that rugged, sturdy (if underappreciated), no-frills, American quality. It's the stuff of Chrysler Automotive's much-praised "Imported from Detroit" ad, and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA." If you buy this two-fisted version of "Made in the USA," you also likely buy American because you're patriotic. You don't care if elites would rather buy a BMW.
The other Made-in-America vision embraces an artisanal, moral, locavore sensibility. Think of Whole Foods, or, in apparel, Brooklyn Industries. In this vision, you buy boutique American goods because they're holier-than-corporate and show off your elevated taste (not to mention your ability to afford such taste).
If one of these images is all that comes to mind, though, recent research and certain branding experts suggest that you're selling "Made in America" short. The label still has far more international cachet than Americans are likely to give it credit for. Even in the United States, buyers have proven that they'll pay considerably more for some kinds of American-made goods--simply because they expect them to be a better value.
International perceptions of "Made in America," are rooted in global perceptions of the country itself--and that news is surprisingly favorable for domestic manufacturers. Simon Anholt is a British branding consultant and creator of the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, which measures a nation's international reputation. In the market-research company's most recent survey, released in late October, the U.S. ranked first--for the fourth year in a row.
"The strengths of America's international standing continue to be innovation, opportunities and vibrancy," Anholt said in a press release. Germany placed second and the U.K. third. China didn't crack the top 10.
None of this would come as a surprise to Drew Greenblatt, president and owner of Baltimore-based Marlin Steel Wire Products, an Inc. 5000 honoree that manufactures only in the United States.
"American manufacturers have a reputation for getting it right the first time," Greenblatt says. "And a lot of clients are comfortable that, if they don't get it right, American companies will bend over backwards to make good on it quickly." Since companies that manufacture in America often can't compete on price, they have to compete on quality, service, or speed--and they have a reputation for doing all they can to defend that brand edge.
Part of the advantage Greenblatt enjoys is technological. Forced to compete with companies that benefit from lower labor costs overseas, American manufacturers have invested heavily in advanced plants. That tends to provides an edge in manufacturing precision and flexibility.
"I can manufacture to tolerances of 10 microns," he says. "My Chinese competitors can't match that."
And domestic customers? While U.S. buyers tend to be less impressed by American quality and innovation, they are willing to cut the "Made in USA" label considerable slack. In a study of consumer perceptions of clothing made in the United States vs. that made in China, Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, found that when offered a choice between a shirt made in the U.S. with U.S. cotton and one made in China with local materials, American consumers strongly preferred the "Made in USA" label. They also valued the American-made garment nearly twice that of the Chinese one.
American Giant, a San Francisco-based maker of cotton shirts and sweats, trades on that preference. But it's also cautious not to presume too much about consumers' patriotic tendencies.
"We try to bring business savvy and innovation to bear so that we can compete on price and quality with foreign-made apparel," says CEO and founder Bayard Winthrop. "By shouting that you're American-made, you're asking people to make an exception for you and accept lousy quality or higher prices for a 'Made in USA' label. You can't build a scalable business that way.”
Contrary to the thrust of much election-season advertising, America's reputation seems to be improving, not receding. In the Nation Brands Index, the United States was the only nation among the top 10 to improve its standing. A lot of this has to do with the American economy. While the United States has emerged sluggishly from the 2008 financial crisis, its recovery is firmly established, and is now more than three years old. The U.S. faces nothing like the 25% unemployment of Spain or the shrinking GDPs of most European nations. "Success is a major dimension of the American brand," as Allen Adamson, managing director of global-branding outfit Landor Associates, told Businessweek.
At the same time, the labor-cost penalty that American manufacturers have to compensate for continues to shrink. Greenblatt says that his Chinese competitors used to pay workers 28 cents an hour but now pay $2.38, not including the 50% tax for the Chinese version of social security.
The U.S. is still not a cheap place to manufacture, admits Greenblatt, but he is content to compete internationally on U.S. companies' reputations for agility and quality.
"We're not selling to ignorant people," he says. "Our clients have plenty of choice, but they choose us because they are confident we'll deliver what we promised. Regardless of what anyone says, the rest of the world has a lot of faith in American ingenuity."

Read more:

'Made in the U.S.A.' Has Unexpected Cachet

How to Bring Apple's Manufacturing Home

How an Entrepreneur Became the Go-To Spokesman for U.S. Manufacturing

Eric Schurenberg is the editor-in-chief of Inc. Before joining Inc,

The Birds and the Bees

I am talking about Emu Oil and Beeswax.  I was walking through the warehouse and saw a container of emu oil and a drum of bees wax and thought about the many uses we have for the both.  Here is what you should know!

Emu oil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Emu oil is an oil rendered from the fat of the emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, a bird indigenous to Australia.^[1][2] Emu oil and eucalyptus oil have been used historically in Australian aboriginal traditional medicine for fevers, coughs, minor pain, arthritic joints, bruises, cuts and sores.^[3][4]
Unadulterated emu oil can vary widely in color and viscosity, but, assuming the emu has enjoyed a natural diet, is generally a yellow liquid.^[5] It is composed of approximately 70% unsaturated fatty acids. The largest component is oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Emu oil also contains roughly 20% linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid) and 1-2% linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid).
A handful of animal studies have suggested that emu oil, applied topically, may have anti-inflammatory properties or promote wound healing in various rodent models.^[6][7][8] Emu oil is marketed and promoted as a dietary supplement with a wide variety of claimed health benefits.^[9]

Beeswax

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For the 2009 film, see Beeswax (film).

A beekeeper from Vojka, Serbia making a bee hive frame.

Beeswax cake

Uncapping beeswax honeycombs

Fresh wax scales (in the middle of the lower row)

Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. It is mainly esters of fatty acids and various long chain alcohols. Typically, for a honey beekeeper, 10 pounds of honey yields 1 pound of wax.^[1]

Contents 1 Production 2 Processing 3 Physical characteristics 4 Uses as a product 5 Historical uses 6 Slang 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References

Production

The wax is formed by worker bees, who secrete it from eight wax-producing mirror glands on the inner sides of the sternites (the ventral shield or plate of each segment of the body) on abdominal segments 4 to 7. The sizes of these wax glands depend on the age of the worker and after daily flights begin these glands gradually atrophy. The new wax scales are initially glass-clear and colorless (see illustration), becoming opaque after mastication by the worker bee. The wax of honeycomb is nearly white, but becomes progressively more yellow or brown by incorporation of pollen oils and propolis. The wax scales are about 3 millimetres (0.12 in) across and 0.1 millimetres (0.0039 in) thick, and about 1100 are required to make a gram of wax.^[2]
Honey bees use the beeswax to build honeycomb cells in which their young are raised and honey and pollen are stored. For the wax-making bees to secrete wax, the ambient temperature in the hive has to be 33 to 36 °C (91 to 97 °F). To produce their wax, bees must consume about eight times as much honey by mass. It is estimated that bees fly 150,000 miles, roughly six times around the earth, to yield one pound of beeswax (530,000 km/kg).

Processing

When beekeepers extract the honey, they cut off the wax caps from each honeycomb cell with an uncapping knife or machine. Its color varies from nearly white to brownish, but most often a shade of yellow, depending on purity and the type of flowers gathered by the bees. Wax from the brood comb of the honey bee hive tends to be darker than wax from the honeycomb. Impurities accumulate more quickly in the brood comb. Due to the impurities, the wax has to be rendered before further use. The leftovers are called slumgum.
The wax may further be clarified by heating in water. As with petroleum waxes, it may be softened by dilution with vegetable oil to make it more workable at room temperature.

Physical characteristics

Beeswax is a tough wax formed from a mixture of several compounds.

Wax Content Type	Percent
Hydrocarbons	14%
Monoesters	35%
Diesters	14%
Triesters	3%
Hydroxy monoesters	4%
Hydroxy polyesters	8%
Acid esters	1%
Acid polyesters	2%
Free acids	12%
Free alcohols	1%
Unidentified	6%

An approximate chemical formula for beeswax is C₁₅H₃₁COOC₃₀H₆₁.^[3] Its main components are palmitate, palmitoleate, hydroxypalmitate^[4] and oleate esters of long-chain (30-32 carbons) aliphatic alcohols, with the ratio of triacontanyl palmitate CH₃(CH₂)₂₉O-CO-(CH₂)₁₄CH₃ to cerotic acid^[5] CH₃(CH₂)₂₄COOH, the two principal components, being 6:1. Beeswax can be classified generally into European and Oriental types. The ratio of saponification value is lower (3-5) for European beeswax, and higher (8-9) for Oriental types.
Beeswax has a high melting point range of 62 to 64 °C (144 to 147 °F). If beeswax is heated above 85 °C (185 °F) discoloration occurs. The flash point of beeswax is 204.4 °C (399.9 °F).^[6] Density at 15 °C is 958 to 970 kg/m³.
Natural beeswax (quoting Thorpe 1916 p737)^[7]: When cold it is brittle; at ordinary temperatures it is tenacious; its fracture is dry and granular. The sp. gr. at 15° is from 0.958 to 0.975, that of melted wax at 98° - 99° compared with water at 15.5° is 0.822. It softens when held in the hand, and melts at 62° - 66°; it solidifies at 60.5° -63°.

Uses as a product

Beeswax candles and figures

• Beeswax is mainly used to make honeycomb foundation for reuse by the bees.
• Purified and bleached beeswax is used in the production of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals:
  • As a coating for cheese, to protect the food as it ages. As a food additive, it is known as E901 (glazing agent).
  • As a skin care product, a German study found beeswax to be superior to similar "barrier creams" (usually mineral oil based creams, such as petroleum jelly), when used according to its protocol.^[8]
  • Beeswax is an ingredient in moustache wax, as well as hair pomades.
  • Beeswax is an ingredient in surgical bone wax.

• Candles
  • Beeswax was traditionally prescribed as the material (or at least a significant part of the material) for the Paschal candle ("Easter candle") and is recommended for other candles used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.^[9]
  • Beeswax is used commercially to make fine candles.

• Although only about 10,000 tons are produced annually, a variety of niche uses exist:^[10]
  • As a component of shoe polish
  • As a component of furniture polish, dissolved in turpentine, sometimes blended with linseed or tung oil
  • As a component of modeling waxes.
  • When blended with pine rosin, beeswax serves as an adhesive to attach reed plates to the structure inside a squeezebox.
  • Used to make lip balm.
  • Used to make Cutler's resin.
  • Used in Eastern Europe in egg decoration. It is used for writing, via resist dyeing, on batik eggs (as in pysanky) and for making beaded eggs.
  • Formerly used in the manufacturing of the cylinders used by the earliest phonographs.
  • Used by percussionists to make a surface on tambourines for thumb rolls.

Historical uses

The oldest survived bees wax candles north of the Alps from the alamannic graveyard of Oberflacht, Germany dating to 6th/7th century A.D.

Beeswax was ancient humans' first plastic^[11] and for thousands of years had wide variety of uses, including:

• As a modeling material in the lost-wax casting process, or cire perdue.^[12]
• For wax tablets used for a variety of writing purposes.
• In Encaustic paintings such as the Fayum mummy portraits.^[13]
• Used in bow making (see English longbow).
• Used to strengthen and preserve sewing thread.
• As a component of sealing wax
• To form the mouthpieces of a didgeridoo, and the frets on the Philippine kutiyapi - a type of boat lute.
• As a sealant or lubricant for bullets in cap and ball and firearms
• To stabilize the military explosive Torpex - before being replaced by a petroleum-based product.
• In producing Javanese batik.^[14]
• Used to coat hemp strands in the making of Hemp Wick; an alternative use to Lighters.

Slang

In the phrase "mind your own bee's wax," meaning "mind your own business". Possibly derived from the Irish Gaelic béasmhaireacht, pronounced beeswəraċt, meaning "morality, manners, habits." ^[15] Similar to the phrase Bees Knees.



The Pied Piper

I know you have been saving your lips for me!

This is the mighty cluttered desk top of the Pied Piper.  The place where lip rescue 911 starts.  Among the items laying there are the sunscreen products for the USGA Woman's Championship being played right now in the 100 degree heat up the road in Kohler, Wisconsin.  There is also some of our blue wonder cream, pet conditioner, soap, hand sanitizer and a plethora of lip balms.

Note the highly sophisticated system of note organization, the symmetry of the carefully placed pens and highlighters and the strategic placement of the OUTDOOR show print out.  Salt Lake City in August...the Pied Piper will be there!

Steamy and sunny conditions lead to chapped and stressed lips.  Keep them puckerable, use some spf lip balm!

The Pied Piper

A vast vat bath

As I wandered back into the batching area before the heat of the day kicked in I saw Chris heating up the area anyway.  Steam in the air and steaming soapy water pouring out of one of the tanks as clean up was underway.  Cleanliness is next to Godliness!

It is vital to have equipment total clean and able to pass inspection before they put another group of ingredients into the tanks and vats.  It is what you do on a Friday morning at 6:00 AM.

The Pied Piper

To hot to handle?? To cold to hold?

If wonder what it is like to work in a batching area cooking secret recipes for the hot fill lines in a factory and the outside temperature nears 100 degrees Fahrenheit, wonder no longer....

HOT,HOT,HOTTER, HOTTER, HOTTEST!

I give the boys in batching, Chris and Lee, a lot of credit for standing in and making us tick.  Way to go boys!

Unfortunately my office is air conditioned and I don't get the benefits of overheating and sweating all day.
But blogging is thirsty work so it is iced tea time!
The Pied Piper.

Slippery Facts about Mineral Oil

I was snooping around in the batching area yesterday as they were working on a super secret recipe for a sporting good manufacturer for whom we are making a new wonder product and I saw the boys put in some Mineral Oil.  And while the product they were making was not a cosmetic, I thought I would address the issue of Mineral Oil in cosmetics. 

Mineral oil provides many benefits for skin and hair. . Is mineral oil safe for cosmetic use?

Mineral oil is a common cosmetic ingredient that can be found in many skin and hair products. Over the years as natural products have grown in popularity, a number of beauty experts have criticized the ingredient and questioned its safety.  Misguided thinking.

Cosmetic Grade Mineral Oil

Mineral oil is a derivative of petroleum that is clear and odorless. The cosmetic grade mineral oil has been refined into a substance that is hypoallergenic, noncomedogenic (your new word for the day, means won't clog pores) and has many conditioning properties. After refinement, it does not resemble the same properties as petroleum or industrial mineral oil.

Cosmetics expert and beauty journalist, Paula Begoun, wrote on her website that cosmetic grade mineral oil is "one of the safest and most nonirritating moisturizing ingredients ever found." She points out that many of the critics of mineral oil are misinformed about cosmetic mineral oil and are also selling a natural alternative product. She also questions their motives.

The beauty industry often uses mineral oil as a conditioning ingredient because it is well-tolerated by people with sensitive skin, is noncomedogenic, and seals moisture into the skin effectively. Many of the most moisturizing body lotions contain mineral oil.

According to the Beautifulwithbrains.com site, many critics of mineral oil called it pore clogging and claimed it could suffocate skin. The site points out that cosmetic grade mineral oil will not clog pores and is nothing like the highly comedogenic (pore-clogging) industrial mineral oil.

Cosmetic grade mineral oil is occlusive and forms a barrier on the outside of the skin to hold moisture in. It does not suffocate skin. However, mineral oil shouldn't be used in a product that has pore-clogging ingredients because it could seal them in. There are also people who frequent acne boards, like acne.com, who experienced break-outs from using products with mineral oil in them

You are in safe hands with us!

The Pied Piper

Avid golfer, Undisclosed handicap.

Saukville, Wisconsin,1/27/12

USGA Woman’s  Open, Blackwolf Run and Alliance Packaging Group take sun exposure seriously!

Alliance Packaging Group is the authorized manufacturer of SPF Lip Balm, SPF Sunscreen and SPF face Stick for the USGA Woman’s Open at Blackwolf Run,the Kohler, Wisconsin golf course.  APG an FDA approved high quality Lab and manufacturer is pleased to be the providing these logoed items for the tournament.  The host club, the USGA and authorized vendors will be selling the collectable items at the event, July 5-8, 2012.

Alliance Packaging Group is a premier manufacturer of lip balm, body and skin care products specializing in formulation and private label products, Alliance Packaging Groups CEO Linda Kamal , an avid golfer with an undisclosed handicap, said “we are so pleased to have been allowed to make our products for this premier event, especially as it is so close to our manufacturing facility.  The hands free face stick will certainly be favored by the players as a way to apply needed sunscreen without using their hands.”

Alliance Packaging Is also celebrating State of Wisconsin recognition as an official Woman Business Enterprise.

The Pied Piper

Playing with steel drums

Chris and Lee have been playing with steel drums in the back.  Not the musical kind but the 55 gallon of materials kind.  As I wandered through the storage and batching area I noted over 200 black and blue barrels holding somewhere between 5000 and 10,000 gallons of raw materials. 

What are in those barrels?  The basis of much of our creation and manufacturing!  We have barrels upon barrels of things like Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Tea Tree Oil (special stainless barrel for that) and Olive Oil.

Those drums may not be the kind you can play but they are sweet music to us...we make our lip balms, sunscreens, lotions and oils form those drums.
The Pied Piper

Protection racket exposed!

Sunburn is no fun!

A couple of quick facts for you today.  Getting sunburned 5 times results in a dramatically increased risk for skin cancer.  Not 5 times per week, not 5 times per month, not 5 times per summer but 5 times in your life.

Wearing a hat is great but that only controls the amount of sun you get hit with from directly overhead.  Reflected sun is a greater danger.

And did you know that SPF 30 blocks 97% of the UVB rays?  You don't really benefit from higher SPF ratings., SPF 50 has 1% more blocking power.

Knowledge is power. Protect yourself. Use broadband sunscreen.

The Pied Piper

Three Amigos embrace the balm!

Classic Moments in Lip Balmness

Click on the link and see a classic moment from the lip balm archives.  Every new product that comes off the board and into production is treated like a classic around here!
The Pied Piper

Alliance Packaging Group regroup

Mr. Economy, Business is booming.  Please follow our example.
The Pied Piper

A little lesson in Anatomy

The Anatomy of a new product.   Development: Part One

We meet multiple times a month to discuss "the week that was" and to toss around new product ideas.  Ideas that are new to us anyway. 

 One idea that came up concerned oil diffusers for the home and office.  We have been making massage oils with fragrances and thought this might be a natural extension for us. 

So we started the process to see what kind of containers we could use but knowing the primary market would be promotional product rather than package for retail.  We quickly discovered that the traditional size jar and oils involved with retail diffusers were going to be too big and too costly. 

 As we started up the path to downsizing the product, a new thought occurred.  Using the existing and available containers we usually work with, can we develop a small tube for use in the car or cubicle or home that held pre-soaked pieces of bamboo?

 

The lab made some up and we discovered that the fragrance evaporated to quickly.  So the project was parked for a few weeks.  Then we got back after it and made the following decision. We need to test a vaiety of substrates to find a workable solution.

We are testing a wide variety of materials from cork to cotton to find  a vehicle that will provide consistent  and longer term aroma therapy…come back and find out how we did!