Meet the Team – Todd Hoogland

It’s always nice to know who you’re buying from so here’s a little insight on the team.

You may know a little of the CupPrint USA story and about our founder, Terry Fox. But what about the rest of us?

Well I’d like to introduce myself! I’m Todd Hoogland, President of CupPrint US. I handle day-to-day sales and order processing, as well as handling accounts and logistics here at the factory

READ: PRINTED PAPER COFFEE CUP PRINTING FAQS

How did I get here? I did my undergraduate study at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana where I majored in History and Biology.

Afterwards I got my Masters Degree from the University of Notre Dame ESTEEM business program, where I completed my thesis project for CupPrint US.

And that’s where I’ve stayed and so far love the job and the company culture.

There’s always something new every day for me to work on and learn here.

And the satisfaction we get from our customers saying how great the product is and how much they appreciate our printed coffee cup product makes it worthwhile.

As a new player in the printed coffee cup market this is vital. Customer are really surprised at the quality of not only our printed cups, but our service as well.

We can be way more flexible with customers and their orders compared to every other cup printing manufacturer in the market. They appreciate the speed and the reliability.

That’s not to say there aren’t still challenges ahead. Mainly online.

I think there will be a lot of movement to the internet that hasn’t already happened, which is good because we have been working very hard in that space to present a good product.

People are busy and ordering everything they need online without ever talking to a single person these days. It will be important for CupPrint to be relevant in that space.

Transitioning CupPrint from a traditional manufacturer with distributors is a challenge, as the distributors are still central to our success.

A shift to online order processing includes helping some of those bring their ordering infrastructure to a web-based model from a traditional pick-up-the-phone basis they have with regional clients.

Terry will be integral to making this happen and he will no doubt succeed in the USA like he has all over Europre.

Terry’s an innovator. He’s like a mad scientist when it comes to paper cups.

The paper cup printing method he’s pioneered is truly unique.

He always has a new way to use them and re-invent them, and I think that’s very necessary for our company to be able to succeed.

There’s no one else in the world doing what we are doing with this product.

Terry definitely has the right mentality to be a successful Entrepreneur (he’s already done it in Europe).

You can tell he is passionate about this company, not only with the product but also with the people that help make it work.

People ask us as a newer player ‘how does the CupPrint USA offering stack up against the competition?‘

Like I mentioned before, no one else is really doing what we’re doing here. And they really don’t have the printing machine or technological capability of doing it

We are market disruptors. And, in a way, we’re creating our own market within a market (short-run, fast turnaround customization for printed paper coffee cups).

There are very few companies that would be able to replicate this – or even get close to matching our offering. By that I mean product and print quality, low minimums, short turnaround time, price etc.

They also ask how we’d compare the US and European markets?

The US market differs drastically, in that it equals in size to Europe – but it is a singular market.

We all speak 1 language and there’s just 1 currency. There are no barriers between us and a company wanting our product in California. I think that bodes well for us and our chances here.

I think the marketing strategy in Europe can be used very well here.

We need to find the right distribution networks and make the product more attractive.

People need to be able to recognize the value of a product here in the US. We’re working hard to show that with CupPrint.

Not everything that works in Europe will work here though.

Many distributors are happy with the products they have right now. So it’s tough to be able to get into the front doors of companies to show how they can make money off this product.

Trade shows and traditional marketing strategies aren’t proving very successful for us to-date, which is why I think the internet will be more successful.

Everyone’s trying to get their company into that space and CupPrint can help them do that.

I’d love to talk printed cups with anyone that’s interested so please feel free to contact me any time! I look forward to hearing from you!