PPB June 2021

the fresh food line, it had to be shelf-stable. Third, it must have an amazing taste. Fourth, cool packaging and lastly, it must be able to scale up or support the promo industry’s demand cycle, which can be unpredictable.” Lucash says the vetting process for makers is the most important part of the business. “We can only look as good as our partners.” Even with the perks of taste testing, Lucash says launching Batch & Bodega’s new fresh food line was one of the hardest projects he has worked on in the past five to seven years. “It’s been insane figuring out how to ship perishable food made the day before or day of and get it to customers’ doors in 24 or 48 hours. That’s just logistics and real life Tetris. If it doesn’t deliver in the timeframe we’ve accounted for, and it’s a six- pint box of ice cream, the dry ice only lasts for 24 hours and someone’s going to get melted ice cream on their doorstep.” In the weeks since its launch, Lucash says the fresh line has received an amazing response. “If we can have success with shelf-stable makers, I said, ‘Let’s bring perishables into the market.’ You can now order ice cream from a liquid nitrogen ice cream store in Newport Beach, California, or handmade cookies from a family-run cookie business in Charlotte, North Carolina.” For 2021, Lucash wants to do three times the business he saw last year. After blowing through a six-month forecast in six weeks, Lucash knows it’s possible. “I am hoping to have a massive holiday season this year, and I think we will. We are adding more fresh makers to have a more robust holiday offering, and we are on pace to meet that goal. A personal goal of mine is to also support more small businesses and have more people experience the absolute deliciousness that I’ve experienced, especially from our fresh makers.” For the promo industry’s future, seeing small businesses flourish has Lucash optimistic. “We have such a talented workforce and such creative people who continue to create cool stuff. I am really optimistic about bringing those people into the promo industry, specifically food makers. I’m also excited about the future of small-batch makers and small businesses created during the pandemic. Like Origaudio, Uber, Pinterest and Tesla in 2009, the best businesses are born during crazy times. There’s no better time to create something new than when times are tough.” PPB spoke with Lucash to learn more about how he breathes life into ideas and his advice for other industry leaders hoping to do the same. PPB What do all great ideas have in common and how do you make them a reality? Lucash I think people who have done innovative and different things all have in common the ability to do something different than how it’s ever been done before. If an electric car doesn’t exist, build an electric car. If a social media platform to communicate has never existed, create the concept. For me with Origaudio, we made our mark by building speakers made from recycled materials that could fold and unfold like origami. That didn’t exist and we saw a need in the market. Same with Batch & Bodega; if there is no fresh food in the industry that can be shipped fresh or food kits that can be ordered in one piece, do it. Great ideas are successful because nothing has been done that way before. PPB What concerns you most about the future of the promo products industry? Lucash This industry has to innovate and do things differently. There’s been so many suppliers and distributors who have really changed the way products are bought and sold within the market. For distributors to continue to have a leg up on the competition, they must have more innovative and value-add ways to sell and market products to corporate buyers. During COVID, a lot of those small- and mid-sized companies have closed up shop. Distributors must continue to evolve and change the way products are sold to end buyers. Suppliers need to build and innovate products that are more attractive to end buyers and not keep doing things the way they’ve been done for 50 years in this industry. Innovate—bring new concepts to market to push the boundaries of the whole industry because that’s the only way the industry is going to evolve and continue to grow. If we challenge each other, the industry will flourish. Kristina Valdez is associate editor of PPB. “For distributors to continue to have a leg up on the competition, they must have more innovative and value-add ways to sell and market products to corporate buyers.” —Jason Lucash Jason Lucash | JUNE 2021 | 87 CONNECT