110 / 134
Ta i ga Coo l e r s
108
|
DECEMBER 2016
|
CONNECT
W
hether you’re camped out
in a deer blind or cruising
on the lake, hard-sided coolers
with incredible ice retention are
a hot commodity that’s become
an even hotter trend. Dallas,
Texas-based, veteran-owned
supplier Taiga Coolers has turned
up the heat on the competition
by introducing coolers with a
patented twist on customization.
The cooler craze was in full
effect when John Hohenshelt
and Adam Artho met through a
mutual friend in 2013. Though
each was pursuing a career
in other industries, the two
came together to launch Taiga
officially in 2014, determined
to offer a unique version of a
popular product.
“We are a custom cooler
company with a standard
product line,” says Hohenshelt.
The product range is limited—
coolers and tumblers are the
supplier’s bread and butter—but
there’s a good reason for that.
“While everyone else is doing
rotational molding [for hard-
sided coolers], we have patented
a method of injection molding,
putting the logos into the plastic,”
he says. “In the promotional
products industry, everyone
wants a ‘Brand Y’ product—
but they are getting very little
long-term branding from a
very expensive item” when the
name-brand coolers aren’t
customized with a client’s logo,
color or name.
Taiga’s main product
differentiator, says Hohenshelt,
is the ability to mold customer
logos into the front of coolers
using the customer’s company
colors. “All of this is permanent
Taiga ups
the custom
cooler game
with patented
technology
by
Jen Alexander
Licensed To Chill