Hello dear eco-minded event organizers! Today I want to talk about how our eco-friendly cup holder can enhance your next Carnaval event. First, I’ll walk you through why having a cup holder at large events is important and why the currently most prevalent solution – cardboard cup holders – isn’t ideal. Then we’ll have a look at what other options are out there, and what does make an ideal drink carrier. Finally, I’ll present our Cupkeeper and show you exactly how we’ve carefully designed it to fit every need a cup holder can possibly fulfill.

Why do we need a cup holder in the first place?

The first question may be obvious, but let’s start off simple: how does your Carnaval event benefit from offering cup holders to visitors? Giving people the opportunity to carry many more drinks has a few key benefits:

1. A single person can bring drinks for their entire party, making lines shorter and handling time faster. This makes a big difference in how people experience your event, as standing in long lines is probably the most frustrating part of any event.
2. When people can carry as many drinks as they want, you will sell more. Bars have peak times at events and people often want to bring as many drinks as they can carry for their next stop. On top of that, if lines are too long, people may forgo getting drinks altogether, if they fear they won’t be on time at their next destination.

With those benefits in mind, most events choose to offer the traditional solution: cardboard cup holders. But in truth, this is a lacklustre solution at best, and often more of a nuisance and source of event waste.

What’s wrong with cardboard drink holders?

Cardboard drink carriers are a good example of a cheap, quick fix. Yes, people can carry more drinks at a low price tag, but there are hidden costs involved and missed opportunities as well. The biggest hidden costs are for the environment, your visitor’s experience and your clean-up crew.

While cardboard has a reputation for being better for the environment than plastic, that’s only true for single-use plastic. These cardboard holders can technically be used a few times, but who wants to carry them around until the next round of drinks? In truth, people throw them away, often littering your event grounds. That in turn hurts your event’s overall experience and makes clean-up more difficult, especially if you want to separate cardboard for recycling.

The environment doesn’t particularly benefit, either. While cardboard can be recycled, that often proves difficult, as they get contaminated easily and have to be carefully separated from other trash. And while it does decompose safely, the drink carriers still have to be produced and transported over and over.

On top of these hidden costs, there are also some opportunities left uncaptured. Honestly, cardboard cup holders are just plain inconvenient. They often require two hands to carry and are difficult to navigate through busy crowds. They also tend to be flimsy and do not perform well in rainy weather.

The search for an environmentally friendly cup holder

Knowing all these limitations, what other options do you have? Your best bet is to go with a reusable cup holder. They’re far better for the environment, thanks to their long lifespan, and leave your event grounds more tidy at the same time.

A quick online search, however, reveals that reusable alternatives are not created equal. Some of them are simply a plastic version of cardboard carriers, with the same inconvenience issues.

Others can be folded, nice! That at least allows them to be stored away until needed again. Unfortunately, most of those are not built well. Reviews show that some, meant to hold six drinks, aren’t even sturdy enough to actually carry six full cups…

Most still require two hands to be carried, cutting the carrying potential in half and making navigation through crowds difficult. And finally, they’re all just a bit… Ugly. That may not seem like a big deal, for a practical item, but as we’ll soon see, it does leave a big opportunity on the table.

How we specifically designed The Original Cupkeeper to cover all those limitations

So we set out to design a new cup holder from scratch, one that would solve all the problems that we saw with current solutions.

For starters, it needed to be a great choice for the environment. That meant a durable, reusable carrier that would last for years. It also meant we needed to take care in selecting the right material.

We started with recyclable polypropylene, a durable, weather-proof material that could be safely processed after its long lifespan. We’re always on the lookout to further improve our products, though. As of 2023 we’ve been able to craft most of our Cupkeepers from fully recycled pp from consumer waste (some still require parts with polyamide instead). That great stride fully cemented The Original Cupkeeper as by far the most eco-friendly cup holder available!

We didn’t stop there, though…

We knew that in order for an environmentally friendly product to be truly successful, it had to also compete functionally and aesthetically (remember electric cars before Tesla? Me neither.) So we set out to make a drink carrier that had a sense of beauty to it, one that people would actually want to reuse and take home after the event.

So we spent many hours at the drawing table with our product engineers. To improve upon carboard holders, we wanted a foldable design that would stay out of the way until people needed a refill. We knew we were on to something when one engineer came up with the beautiful pear-shape that would become iconic for our Cupkeepers. We then created a matching ergonomic handle that would allow the 6 drinks to easily be carried in one hand, even above your head to navigate through busy crowds. And with that, our first Original Cupkeeper was born.

Since then we haven’t sat still either: we now have four variants that cover all current cup sizes, and even one that will carry both cups and bottles. There’s one that will carry both smaller and larger cups in the same holder and another specifically tailored to the very largest of cups, even holding them steady due to its adapting open rings.

The final feature our Cupkeeper brings to the table is its customization options. Choose a color that matches your brand and let us print your logo or slogan on the handle. It transforms a mere drink holder into a treasured souvenir of your event. People love their Cupkeepers and proudly carry them for years to come, turning them into walking advertisements for you eco-conscious brand, even at other events!

This rounds out everything The Original Cupkeeper has to offer: surpassing traditional carriers in functionality, beauty and environmental impact, while giving you ample customization to make it completely fit your brand. Most of our customers find they can easily sell their branded Cupkeepers for a profit, converting an initial investment in a sustainable solution, into an extra source of revenue.

Ready to make the transition? Get your custom quote today!

Have questions first? Don’t hesitate to reach out – we’re always happy to help.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and may your next Carnaval event be the most environmentally friendly edition to date!