MARIPOSA HAS ADDED A NEW CATEGORY WITH THE CLEVERLY TITLED TRAYCHIC, A COLLECTION OF 50 STYLISH HEAT-SAFE TRAYS COMPOSED FROM A STATE-OF-THE-ART RESIN COMPOUND APPROVED FOR FOOD AND SAFE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
MARIPOSA – the Massachusetts brand launched almost 40 years ago by Livia Cowan, who had a vision that tableware could be created from 100% recycled glass and aluminum – brings that same sustainability agenda to a new category, TrayChic! (exclamation point all theirs). “We’re using a hand-pressed, trailblazing, state-of-the-art resin compound,” says Cowan, as effusive as she was in the ’80s, when she set off in her camper on a road trip through Mexico and returned with a truckload of glassware made from recycled Coke bottles. “Unlike melamine,” she says, “TrayChic is BPA-free, formaldehyde-free, and FDA and NSF approved for food. It’s also oven-safe, microwave-safe, and dishwasher-safe.”
Available in 50 designs and retailing for $59 each, the trays come in a variety of categories (holiday, dogs, nautical, coastal, sports, garden, chinoiserie). “This new layer to the Mariposa brand platform offers retailers the dual benefit of playful and charming patterns as well as fashionable designs that reflect Mariposa’s classic roots with a modern twist,” says Cowan. “We’re always excited to give customers the opportunity to add a hot new category. Retailers can merchandise TrayChic as either gifts or tableware in ways that reflect their own style and humor. Mariposa offers plenty that’s chic and lots that borders on quirky.”
Cowan has been offering customers innovation alongside environmental sustainability since 1983. “We’re proud to be an industry leader and have been invested in eco-friendly awareness for more than three decades,” says Cowan. “That’s why TrayChic is so important to us. It’s not melamine. It’s food safe for the oven, microwave, and dishwasher. It’s a morally correct product in line with Mariposa’s value systems.” [Fun fact: These trays are the same that airlines used in the 1980s to serve food.]
THE TRAYCHIC COLLECTIONS BRING COLOR and versatility to the Mariposa assortments, and the trays are easily customizable, a company calling card. “Personalization has always been important to Mariposa,” says Cowan. “We engrave our metals, and that service is getting reinvented technologically onto this new material.” In addition to dozens of in-stock designs, TrayChic can easily be customized for one-of-a-kind gifts to volume purchases for clubs, museums, and corporate awards. “We can get an order, print a sample within three days, and get it direct to retailers within the week,” says Mariposa’s director of sales, Carter Everitt. “Retailers benefit from curating and creating distinctive offerings. To be successful today, stores must define their own brand, customize their offerings, and captivate customers.” Adds Cowan: “The potential for independents to create specialized looks is huge. For instance, a tray that says “Entering Gloucester” or whatever town the store is located in can be a huge seller and a great way for stores to differentiate themselves and cater to their towns. We only need a 24-run commitment. We want our accounts to feel that they can offer unique products to their customers, and it also keeps our creative juices flowing.” There’s a $50 fee to develop each one-of-a-kind design. “Retailers need merchandise that sets them apart,” affirms sales executive Everitt. “It’s exciting for us and our reps to visit stores and create vignettes and stories applicable to their customers that they can incorporate onto platters with color and personalization in a matter of days. Personalization is Mariposa’s icing on the cake.”
TrayChic is in its nascency, but it’s a category that Cowan and crew know they can have fun with. “We can do any design we want,” she enthuses. “Product development can be anything. Tomorrow morning, we can develop an entirely new collection. We’re already working on fall and holiday designs. Who knows what’s next, but based on what we’re seeing so far, this is going to grow into a major category for us. In the meantime, we’re just fooling around and having fun. Mariposa keeps reinventing itself every year. I feel like I just started the company. We’re having a blast.” Exclamation point definitely implied.