Help customers keep their beverages the right temperature while also infusing personality with fun and functional drinkware styles.Going for a bike ride, relaxing by the pool, spending a day at the beach, having a family brunch, or looking for a gift — the reasons customers need drinkware is endless, and as a seaside retailer you can make sure that no matter what the occasion, you’ve got them covered.
Providing the right vessel to carry a drink may sound easy, but with all the options available on the market, knowing what to offer and how to offer it can help make drinkware a lucrative category for your store.
Drinkware is becoming more sophisticated with specialized artwork, a variety of colors and materials, and eco-friendly and temperature maintaining properties. The companies that make today’s drinkware are pushing the envelope with designs and features that are anything but ordinary.
To make the most of these options and preferences, Erik Howe, owner and founder of SIC Cups, suggests retailers carry a wide variety of drinkware sizes for customers to choose from.
“With drinkware it is never a ‘one size fits all’ deal,” he says. “Everyone is usually looking for a specific size for a specific use so it is always a great idea to have something in store for everyone.”
SIC Cups’ lineup of triple-insulated stainless steel drinkware consists of 10 different sizes: three tumblers in 12-, 20- and 30-ounce varieties; 12-ounce and 27-ounce bottles; a 16-ounce stemless wine cup; slim and standard can coolers; and hydration jugs in 64 and 128 ounces.
“Our best sellers in seaside locations are our 27-ounce water bottles with our leak-proof lids that also have the integrated carabiner clip,” says Howe. “We have noticed a nice growth in sales of our jugs for people filling up water for the day at the beach or on the boat. For tumblers, our leading seller in size is our 20-ounce due to the versatility where it can be used as a coffee cup, water cup and a cocktail cup.”
The company’s low minimum order quantity and custom drinkware allows smaller retailers to pick and choose a mixture of any quantity of colors. This encourages retailers to try new designs, according to Howe. He predicts retro and nautical styles will be big trends for 2023.
Vessels of artMatrix Sales Group LLC offers a wide range of styles and sizes of glass, ceramic and stainless steel drinkware, but as A.J. Prisco, director of business development will tell you, customers are looking at more than what the drinkware is made of when they are making their purchases.
 My Bougie Bottle’s Stella Piscis provides a sustainable way to sip on the beach. “For us it is a lot more about the artwork than the actual products,” he says. “Everything we do is custom. We have several artists on our team. We try to develop 30 to 40 new designs each year in each category, including seaside, outdoor and Midwest.”
The company will take concepts like turtles, manatees, lobsters, sailboats and anchors and turn them into original, detailed designs often with a namedrop.
At Surf Expo in September, buyers were all about tropical designs and the retro surf look, according to Prisco. Mid-Atlantic customers, he notes, are drawn more toward designs with beaches and seashells. “It all depends on where you are,” he says.
Matrix recently introduced new water bottles on display at Surf Expo that are customized to look like any lighthouse and can be namedropped. “We just got our patent on them and we are really excited about that. Water bottles are super popular,” says Prisco.
My Bougie Bottle is another drinkware company that focuses on aesthetics. It created its eye-catching drinkware to inspire the movement against plastic bottles and to sustain an environmentally friendly future.
“Our striking designs and beautiful gift packaging entice customers, who often come back to buy our collections,” says founder Juliet Pearson. “Using nature as our muse, we are creating vessels of art.”
Del Mar, Hibiscus, Tiare Bliss, Gelari, Stella Piscis, and Conchas Maris are among the company’s best sellers in coastal retail locations, aquariums and resorts. “These are the gorgeous ocean- and tropical-inspired designs that are not found on other drinkware and resonate with thalassophiles (sea lovers),” explains Pearson.
She predicts exotic florals and tropical colors will continue their popularity in 2023 as well as sea life. “We have had many recommendations to feature more marine life, predominately mammals, in our designs. Seaside enthusiasts have an affinity for ocean life, and I think that designs portraying marine life will always be trending,” she says.
My Bougie Bottles come in 25-ounce water bottles, and in January 2023 the brand is launching 20-ounce coffee tumblers. The company also sells accessories like straw packs, different lids for the bottles, ice stick trays, bottle cleaning brushes, and a stylish sling water bottle carrier.
Sustainable sipsThe bottles are leakproof, condensation and BPA free and made from food-grade steel, but beyond the aesthetics and functional features, the brand’s mission is about bringing quality reusable drinkware to all.
 ORCA Coolers’ Tini barware in pastel colors keeps specialty beverages frosty. “The goal is to continue to work with organizations locally (and globally) to support reusables,” says Pearson. “At My Bougie Bottle, it’s not just about quenching our thirst from eco-water bottles with our besties, but reducing our carbon footprint and providing additional ways to reduce waste with reusable eco-friendly water bottles.”
Sustainability is also important to SIC Cups. “Being a Florida-based company, we strive to reduce the amount of single-use plastics that are disposed of at an alarming rate,” says Howe. “We want to help keep the oceans, beaches and all land free from plastic pollution and that is why we offer a sustainable drinkware alternative.”
Pirani Life co-founder and chief storyteller Danielle Del Sordo sees the sustainability trend continuing to grow into 2023. The company’s 16-ounce and 26-ounce tumblers come in a variety of colors. They are also lightweight and stackable … great for bringing to the beach, notes Del Sordo.
Personal preferencesPirani Life’s Paradise Blue and Great White are among the top-selling colors for coastal retailers. The company just launched a new Ombre collection that Del Sordo thinks will be one of the highest performing styles for the company at seaside locations.
“POP (point of purchase) displays are crucial for a great presentation and storytelling for customers,” she advises retailers.
Mitch Mammoser who founded drinkware company FrostBuddy with his brother Brock agrees. “Create a display that catches the eye of the consumer and tells the story of what makes you different.”
FrostBuddy carries a wide range of drinkware, including its popular Universal Can Cooler; the 24- and 40-ounce Sports Buddy; a 128-ounce Jug Buddy; Chubby Buddy (made strictly for Modelo bottles); Universal Wine Buddy; and stainless steel Buddy Bowls for the four-legged family members.
“We created the world’s first Universal Can Cooler that holds 12-ounce slim cans, 12-ounce regular cans, 12-ounce bottles and 16-ounce cans/bottles along with being able to use it as a tumbler,” explains Brock Mammoser.
“Everyone is usually looking for a specific size for a specific use so it is always a great idea to have something in store for everyone.” — Erik Howe, SIC Cups
Billy Power, manager for drinkware company ORCA Coolers, foresees drinkware that “has personality and allows the consumer to express their individuality through color, pattern or other differences” being the direction drinkware is going in 2023.
He says ORCA’s single-wall, copper-clad, stainless steel drinkware keeps beverages hot or cold for long periods of time. The company’s Barrel and Tini varieties are especially popular. Many resorts feature the brand’s Tini and Vino barware, which Power says “helps people relax and enjoy water activities in style without spilling their drinks.”
 Pirani cups are lightweight and stackable. Swig Life designs insulated drinkware and coolers made for living your best life, according to CEO Tracee Mathes. “We understand that your water bottle, travel tumbler and insulated bag are each a reflection of your personal style, and this inspires us to produce premium products in designs you love, for yourself or for a gift.”
Swig Life’s specialty is designing cups by women for women, explains Mathes. “We always say ‘cold drinks, hot coffee, cute cups. Compliments guaranteed.’”
Swig Life’s top selling shapes are its mugs and tumblers, but Mathes says, “Keep in mind your unique customer and their needs. Plus, don’t forget our bestselling matching Loppi tote and coordinating straws.”
Mathes recommends that retailers start with Swig Life’s mugs and tumbler in three or four different prints. Having the variety will keep the consumer coming back for more.
Swig Life is focusing on bright and bold prints for 2023, along with giving the customer a reason or a season to buy a new Swig. “We love coming out with seasonal prints each year, whether it be going to the Derby, a day at the beach, or a holiday party, we have a print for every event.”
Whatever the reason your customer needs a glass, cup, mug or can cooler, you’ll be able to offer something that will help them quench their thirst, reflect personal style and remind them of their favorite destinations.
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