HPG (asi/61966) had a hit on its hands with the launch of its Batch & Bodega line of craft-style food gift packages in 2020.

Now, the Top 40 promotional products supplier is expanding Batch & Bodega to include fresh food offerings from what the Braintree, MA-headquartered firm described as best-in-class independent food makers.

Jason Lucash, chief development officer at HPG, displays fresh food items now offered through HPG’s Batch & Bodega line.

The new service will see fresh food items shipped directly to customers at one-piece minimums with customized gift messages, no set-up or drop-ship fees, and with all-inclusive shipping. At launch, partner food brands include The Killer Brownie Company (Miamisburg, OH), Atomic Creamery (Newport Beach, CA), ‘Lette Macarons (Beverly Hills, CA), Brooklyn Cupcakes (Brooklyn, NY), and H&H Bagels (New York, NY).

HPG said its partnership with these brands in the promo market is exclusive. The supplier plans to add more brands, particularly through the summer of 2021 in the lead-up to the holiday gifting season.

HPG’s Jason Lucash explains why the supplier believes the new fresh food offering is a unique solution – and a boon – for promo distributors and their clients.

“After our successful launch (of Batch & Bodega), we immediately asked ourselves, ‘How can we further connect customers with more best-in-class food makers? How do we push beyond shelf-stable snacks in curated kits and offer even more options to market?” explained Jason Lucash, HPG’s chief development officer and founder of Batch & Bodega. “Adding the ability to offer fresh food experiences, shipped straight from the maker within hours of being made, is just the latest extension of Batch & Bodega.”

Lucash told ASI Media that it was important to partner with brands that are unique – brands offering something special within their particular foodie niche.

“When seeking out new maker partnerships, we were looking for cult-favorite brands that specialized in elevated comfort foods, and all of our makers offer a unique twist on classic favorites to delight the recipient,” Lucash asserted.

For example, The Killer Brownie Company includes layers of fillings and toppings that are “incredibly decadent,” said Lucash. Meanwhile, Atomic Creamery uses liquid nitrogen instead of traditional methods in the freezing process to create an ice cream with 40% less air than regular ice cream, making it dense and creamy. “The food you’ll find from our fresh makers is a cut above your typical experience,” Lucash maintained.

“We’re so thrilled to bring Killer Brownie to a new market through our partnership with HPG,” said Killer Brownie President and CCO Chimene Mayne Ross. HPG’s “dedication to choosing high-quality brands and products makes it an honor to work with them. We can't wait for new customers to experience our ooey-gooey gourmet brownies.”

Launched in August 2020, the Batch & Bodega line began with HPG bundling exclusive award-winning snacks from small-batch brands from across the United States with best-selling hard good products from HPG to create what the company said are unique and attractive giftable kits, or “batches.”

HPG reported that the line has enjoyed considerable success with distributors.

“When we launched, we had our initial six-month forecast in place and we blew through that in the first six weeks,” Lucash told ASI Media. “Many of our maker partners had to bring in additional personnel to keep up with demand, run second and third shifts to keep up with our orders, and some even had to move to larger facilities to be able to support the orders we were sending their way.”

The snack batches will remain the core business for the Batch & Bodega line, with the new fresh offerings simply expanding options for distributors. Lucash told ASI Media that distributors already seek to create fresh/perishable food gift options for end-clients’ recipients, so providing such solutions just made sense. “Now they can get that service, with products from a curated lineup of top-notch makers, all in one place,” he said.

With reported 2019 North American promotional product revenue of $205.7 million, HPG ranked 9th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the promotional products industry. The new list is due out in the summer of 2021.

Promo supplier companies that are part of HPG include Hub, Beacon, Best, Debco, BCG Creations, Origaudio, Handstands, HPG Exclusive, Batch & Bodega and Webb Company.

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