News & Updates

  Football season is underway, which brings forth a ton of great opportunities to increase sales for your restaurant or bar. From September to February, professional and collegiate football carry the potential to be the driving force of sales, establish a loyal consumer base, and turn Saturday and Sunday into a source of steady profit. Pigskin fanatics are looking for a great place to catch the game, grab a drink and enjoy a meal. Give your guests a reason to visit and stay through the entirety of the game with these fun football products and promotion ideas:

• Custom Bobbleheads - Bobblehead giveaways are a great way to get feet through the door. Give your fans an incentive to go to the game. Customize your bobblehead today and use the following products in tandem to inflate sales.
• Football Hitch Shot Glass - This football shaped glass is accompanied with a football shaped shot glass that hitches to the larger football shaped glass. This product is perfect for promoting a beer and shot promotion or a speciality cocktail with a side shot. Keepsake glassware provides incentive to purchase the cocktail at a higher price point.
• Custom Stir Rods - Functional assets to beverages that require stirring and/or speared garnishes. Stir rods and garnishing spears are a perfect and provident product to generate logo exposure and brand recognition with each beverage served.
• Grub Tub - Use this product to drive high margin sales and create brand loyalty. Grub Tub allows stadium goers to enjoy their game with food and drink in hand. That's right, hand; singular. No longer required are two hands to juggle cups, trays, snacks and condiments at sporting events. Grub Tub allows fans to eat, drink and be merry as they cheer on their team and eliminate the risk of spilling all over themselves. Custom keepsake cups, bowls and discounted refills are selling points of this particular product.

Call RP and Associates to receive more information on custom product manufacturing, or get started on your project today!

This exciting new cup & bowl was recently released in North America and is taking the continent by storm. It is receiving amazing reviews from both the press and the public alike. To put it simply,

“If you’re looking for a product to make it easier for people to eat and drink on the go, the Grub Tub is the best device on the market.”- Sports Club Magazine.

In today’s world, most people multitask. The Grub Tub, designed by RP & Associates, fits into that arena perfectly. Whether you’re at a sports event or walking around the city, the Grub Tub makes carrying and consuming your food and drink convenient and simple. With the Grub Tub, you can talk, text or take pictures with your phone while consuming your food and drink. At sporting events, it gives you the opportunity to cheer for your team without the fear of spilling all over yourself.

“I was at a football game with my daughter and we had just purchased french fries and drinks,” said Richard Pola, CEO of RP & Associates and inventor of the Grub Tub. “We found carrying our food and drinks to our seats to be cumbersome and it was even more difficult to eat and drink while watching the game. I looked around and I realized everyone had this problem and I knew there had to be a better way.”

Weeks later, the Grub Tub was born and The New York Yankees were the first to jump aboard. “From there we started getting calls from sports stadiums, concert halls and companies in major cities that cater to tourists and those on the go,” said Pola. “Out of my nearly 30 years of experience and the many products I have created; I have never seen such enthusiasm over a product.”

Dozens of other organizations have added the Grub Tub to their concession stands including: The Arizona Diamondbacks, Green Bay Packers, Houston Rockets, Clemson University, Washington State University, stadiums throughout the Canadian Football League, as well as movie theaters and theme parks around the world.

RP & Associates is a well-established custom product design and marketing agency based in Hermosa Beach, California. For nearly 30 years, RP & Associates has specialized in working with national restaurant chains and spirit brands in developing innovative sales and marketing programs that drive high margin sales as well as brand loyalty. Their client’s include Bloomin Brand’s, Diageo, Jack Daniel’s, Landry’s Restaurants, Levy Restaurants, Patrón Tequila, Stoli and many more.

I did my usual brand testing to see if the Grub Tub product lived up to the hype and I put it through the works. I filled my 32oz cup to the brim with soda and overloaded the Grub Tub with an assortment items including of french fries, hamburgers, chicken nuggets and popcorn to really test its strength and versatility. Then I was off to the MetLife Stadium to see The New York Giants play. On the crowded subway, I stood and people were enamored with my Grub Tub. As I relaxed eating my food and drinking my Coke, people who had never seen the Grub Tub before asked me where they could get their own.

I give the Grub Tub my 9Star out of 10Star Product Rating, and for those who know me that is rare. It lost 1 point for not coming in different sizes, however Pola says they will offer various sized Grub Tubs in the near future. This is a must product for every sports stadium, theme park, concert hall or any business.

Alcohol sales increases during the holiday season, and gift-sets/value added packaging (VAPs) often drive a shoppers gift-buying decision. For this reason it's important for brands to have unique and eye-catching liquor packaging; brands often include a branded gift or premium with purchase as well. Here are a few ideas to set your packaging / gift-sets apart and give them maximum shelf impact:

• Moscow Mule Mugs - Moscow Mules are one of the most popular drinks right now and it's largely due to Copper Moscow Mule Mugs. Guests love Moscow Mule Mugs so much that they have even been report stolen at many concepts - include them in your gift-packs and they're sure to fly off the shelfs.
• Light-Up Labels & Lights - Bright colors and uniquely shaped packaging are a great way to get attention on the shelf; light-up labels take it one step further and literally make your brand shine.
• Unique Barware & Drinkware - Many brands includes barware with their gift-packs but when shoppers see the similar gifts in every gift-pack they begin to loose excitement. Instead, provide shoppers with a unique item - like a bottle replica shaker or ice cup - that excites them and further promotes you brand.

Contact us today for more information on liquor packaging and gift-packs, or to get started on your custom packaging today.

GREEN BAY - Packers fans can hold their soda and nachos in one hand, while slapping high-fives all around after every Aaron Rodgers touchdown toss at Lambeau Field this season. (That's assuming their high-five hand isn't patting a Lambeau leaping Jordy Nelson on the back.)

The Grub Tub — part beverage topper, part bowl — new to general concession stands this year is a hand-freeing device for snackers at Packers games caught off guard by an 80-yard touchdown play. Scoring celebrations aside, it also eliminates the need to "hold" drinks between feet or knees while noshing on cheese fries or wiping away cheese sauce from the corner of grinning lips.

The Grub Tub was launched earlier this year, and the Yankees and the Diamondbacks were two of the first teams to start using them in their concessions stands.

Today the Grub Tub is being used by a variety of other brands, including the Green Bay Packers & Delaware North, which had their Grub Tub and other food items featured on Fox 11 News. Click here to see the article and video.

If you're not familiar with the Grub Tub, it's a unique item that creates convenience for guests by allowing them to carry their food and beverage in one hand. The Grub Tub is placed on top of your existing cups and fits in a standard cup holder added convenience at your seat or in the car.