TABLE 1: Revenue Change Since 2021 Suppliers $100M+ 43% Suppliers $25M-$100M 36% Suppliers $10M-$25M 23% Suppliers $3M-$10M 28% Suppliers Under $3M 11% Given that the promotional products industry was recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, it’s not surprising that revenue has increased by a significant amount for all supplier respondents since then. “Business has taken off,” says Nikki Meester, vice president of finance at Ball Pro, PPAI 100’s No. 42 supplier. “We’ve seen numbers I didn’t think possible back in the dark days of the pandemic, when orders just stopped coming in.” Ball Pro reports a revenue increase of 57% since 2021, which is above the average of suppliers in its size segment ($25M-$100M). “This tells us we’re making positive moves, such as adding new equipment to expand our printing capabilities or having the ability to send our customers a payment link to make prepayments on orders,” Meester says. TABLE 2: Gross Profit Margin Suppliers $25M+ 29% Suppliers $10M-$25M 41% Suppliers $3M-$10M 38% Suppliers Under $3M 41% “We’ve leaned into product differentiation and country of origin to preserve margin integrity, even as material and labor costs continue to challenge the bottom line,” says Shawn Kanak, president of Towel Specialties, PPAI 100’s No. 96 supplier. Towel Specialties sits in the middle of the $10M-$25M range, says Kanak, who describes that segment size showing the highest gross profit margin as an “interesting outlier.” “It likely reflects a strategic emphasis on specialized or value-added products that command stronger margins, such as branded merchandise,” he says. While all the 2024 results make sense to Dilip Bhavnani, COO at Sun Coast Merchandise, PPAI 100’s No. 41 supplier, he believes that the rest of 2025 is going to be tough because of all the economic uncertainty. “After reviewing the benchmark data with our analysts, we believe gross profit margins will decrease, with companies having to contribute to the higher cost of goods due to the newly imposed tariffs,” Bhavnani says. TABLE 3: Active Distributor Company Clients Suppliers $100M+ 9,761 Suppliers $25M-$100M 7,594 Suppliers $10M-$25M 2,759 Suppliers $3M-$10M 1,854 Suppliers Under $3M 333 The average of 9,761 distributor clients among the industry’s largest suppliers highlights both the extensive network of distributors and the wide range of partnership opportunities available to suppliers. In contrast, the significantly lower average for suppliers in the under $3 million segment may reflect limitations in resources that cap the number of distributor relationships they can sustain. However, it also underscores the strength and importance of the relationships these smaller suppliers maintain with their active distributor partners. Must Read | The State of Growth 2025 Supplier Benchmarking 34 • JULY 2025 • PPAI
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