To all of the owners/managers out there, where are you ordering your togo cups from? I found a good deal on Choice brand cups but I am worried the quality of the cup is too low.

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I use IP cups & lids, but they leak from the seam. I've contacted the distributor a number of times, they say it's only me complaining. I just can't believe out of thousands & thousands of customers & cups, mine are the only ones that leak. I just think everyone else is accepting that fact, or maybe they are un-aware.

Thoughts???

Get some samples and try them out for yourself.  Make sure you accurately simulate usage conditions - fill it with coffee, put the lid on, take it for a walk, take it for a drive, drink out of it... you know, give it a real test-drive.  Then ask yourself some questions:

 

Does it make the drink taste or smell funny?  (Green tea is good for this)

Does it keep the drink reasonably hot?

Does it leak?

How does it feel in your hand?

How does the lid work?

etc...

 

Good luck.

Most cups I've run across leak at the seam.

 

Put your lids on so that you drink from the side opposite the seam.

 

Ken Chappell said:

I use IP cups & lids, but they leak from the seam. I've contacted the distributor a number of times, they say it's only me complaining. I just can't believe out of thousands & thousands of customers & cups, mine are the only ones that leak. I just think everyone else is accepting that fact, or maybe they are un-aware.

Thoughts???

We do that, but here's something I can't understand...IP makes the starbuck cup, it appears to be the same cup minus the marketing...I can walk around & pick up hundreds of their empties & not find a single stain. Try it for yourself, pick up an IP cup from say, baristaworks, then pick up a starbuck cup, snap the lids on & off...they even sound different, but appear to be the same. I just find it hard to believe that in this whole industry, with all the money being spent on cups, that starbucks is the only one who can keep their cups from leaking. I sure don't know the answer. >:\

Brady said:

Most cups I've run across leak at the seam.

 

Put your lids on so that you drink from the side opposite the seam.

 

Ken Chappell said:

I use IP cups & lids, but they leak from the seam. I've contacted the distributor a number of times, they say it's only me complaining. I just can't believe out of thousands & thousands of customers & cups, mine are the only ones that leak. I just think everyone else is accepting that fact, or maybe they are un-aware.

Thoughts???

That's a good observation.

 

Anyone from IP or a distributor here and care to comment?

 

Ken Chappell said:

We do that, but here's something I can't understand...IP makes the starbuck cup, it appears to be the same cup minus the marketing...I can walk around & pick up hundreds of their empties & not find a single stain. Try it for yourself, pick up an IP cup from say, baristaworks, then pick up a starbuck cup, snap the lids on & off...they even sound different, but appear to be the same. I just find it hard to believe that in this whole industry, with all the money being spent on cups, that starbucks is the only one who can keep their cups from leaking. I sure don't know the answer. >:\

Brady said:

Most cups I've run across leak at the seam.

 

Put your lids on so that you drink from the side opposite the seam.

 

Ken Chappell said:

I use IP cups & lids, but they leak from the seam. I've contacted the distributor a number of times, they say it's only me complaining. I just can't believe out of thousands & thousands of customers & cups, mine are the only ones that leak. I just think everyone else is accepting that fact, or maybe they are un-aware.

Thoughts???

The best hot/cold cups I've used yet are from Dart. Their Fusion hot cup offers high quality/great price. Let me say that I care nothing about hot paper cups as most require PITA sleeves to be used for decent insulative properties. I have done a bit of research on all sorts of cups and after all is said and done I prefer the Dart Fusion. Have also made the switch to the Dart Conex cold cups as well as they offer the same great quality/price.

 

Some of our customers say "it's just a cup that will be thrown away" and that is quite true. BUT then I go on to tell them that I need a cup that is great to work with (no collapsed sidewalls, etc) as well as something that protects THEM from spillage, minimized heat transmission to their hands, etc. Why do you think McDonald's has those really nice thick walled foam cups? Live and learn!

 

The best place I've found yet to order from is The WEBstaurant as they have great prices for the cups/lids we choose to use. The shipping is a bit high, but with all things considered it's quite affordable for peace of mind. Everything factored in our average cost per cup/dome lid (16 oz.) is around 12 cents. And I've never had one failure after using thousands of these.  

Seems like I used a Dart cup when I first opened...I think the reason we changed is that we had to have multiple lid sizes. I will look at those Dart cups.

Shadow said:

The best hot/cold cups I've used yet are from Dart. Their Fusion hot cup offers high quality/great price. Let me say that I care nothing about hot paper cups as most require PITA sleeves to be used for decent insulative properties. I have done a bit of research on all sorts of cups and after all is said and done I prefer the Dart Fusion. Have also made the switch to the Dart Conex cold cups as well as they offer the same great quality/price.

 

Some of our customers say "it's just a cup that will be thrown away" and that is quite true. BUT then I go on to tell them that I need a cup that is great to work with (no collapsed sidewalls, etc) as well as something that protects THEM from spillage, minimized heat transmission to their hands, etc. Why do you think McDonald's has those really nice thick walled foam cups? Live and learn!

 

The best place I've found yet to order from is The WEBstaurant as they have great prices for the cups/lids we choose to use. The shipping is a bit high, but with all things considered it's quite affordable for peace of mind. Everything factored in our average cost per cup/dome lid (16 oz.) is around 12 cents. And I've never had one failure after using thousands of these.  

I agree having to match lids is a pain, but for what we use (12 and 16 oz. for HOT and COLD) it's a one lid fits all scenario. I go with HOT/COLD dome and it keeps things simple.

I haven't used the Fusion cups for about 2 and half years, but I remember we stopped using them because 1) they are foam and

2) we had a number of our customers crush the side walls.  Sure they're thick (or advertised as thick) but foam is flimsy.

 

They're expensive but the best to go cup on the market is definitely the Insulair cup.  Built in sleeve and then rewrapped.  Plus you aren't filling up our landfills with styrofoam, there is no need to double cup because of the double paper walls already built in, and you don't have to mess with sleeves because, again, there is already one built in.

 

That said, we use Solo cups with free sleeves from Britevision :)

-bry

I have to second the Insulair. Used IP at the shop I previously worked at and ran into the same problems previously cited.

 

Haven't ran into any leaky Insulairs, you don't have to provide sleeves. It does take some adjustment for customers to get used to- still have to explain at least once a day that the cup already has a sleeve in it. I have also noticed with to go tea being brewed in the cup that it is a little hot to the touch. Not too much to handle, but people are definitely used to being coddled in the temperature of to go cups.


Bryan Wray said:

I haven't used the Fusion cups for about 2 and half years, but I remember we stopped using them because 1) they are foam and

2) we had a number of our customers crush the side walls.  Sure they're thick (or advertised as thick) but foam is flimsy.

 

They're expensive but the best to go cup on the market is definitely the Insulair cup.  Built in sleeve and then rewrapped.  Plus you aren't filling up our landfills with styrofoam, there is no need to double cup because of the double paper walls already built in, and you don't have to mess with sleeves because, again, there is already one built in.

 

That said, we use Solo cups with free sleeves from Britevision :)

-bry

So what the Darts are foam!?! Tell me exactly how any other cups are better for the environment. So you don't think all those hot cups/sleeves are tossed and filling up landfills just the same? And don't bother telling me "well the paper breaks down over time"... or so many people recycle used paper coffee cups!

 

I've used thousands of the Fusion cups and have never had a failure, with me handling them or by the customer. We even have customers that keep them for weeks, washing and bringing them back for refills. Yeah, I don't see that happening with flimsy hot paper cups!  

The Insulair might be what some consider the best cup on the market (opinions always vary), but I for one have to balance function and COST. For me the Fusion is the perfect hot cup and that is what the OP was asking.

 


Bryan Wray said:

I haven't used the Fusion cups for about 2 and half years, but I remember we stopped using them because 1) they are foam and

2) we had a number of our customers crush the side walls.  Sure they're thick (or advertised as thick) but foam is flimsy.

 

They're expensive but the best to go cup on the market is definitely the Insulair cup.  Built in sleeve and then rewrapped.  Plus you aren't filling up our landfills with styrofoam, there is no need to double cup because of the double paper walls already built in, and you don't have to mess with sleeves because, again, there is already one built in.

 

That said, we use Solo cups with free sleeves from Britevision :)

-bry

Wow... didn't mean to strike such a personal note with you.  Easy on the exclamation points.

 

Styrofoam is a petroleum product, paper is a wood product, wood is a truly

renewable resource and the paper cup could also be made from post consumer

 

recycled material. The paper cup would take between 5 -15 years to

 

breakdown in a landfill. I don't know if Styrofoam will ever breakdown, most sources state it takes about 500 years for foam to break down, something I'm not okay with.

 

I understand that from a cost standpoint foam cups can't be beat, but at some point it isn't about cost anymore.  I know plenty (tens of thousands actually) of customers that recycle paper cups.

Also, paper cups have the potential to be made from recycled product, where a foam cup cannot.

 

Correct, Chris was asking where we get our cups and what we use.  I told him my opinion, exactly how you told him yours.  Sorry mine differed,
from now on I'll be more discrete in offering my opinion so as not to offend
you.  I've personally had dozens and
dozens of the cups fail, I hate how they feel and I hate how the foam taste
bleeds into the finished cup.  That is my
opinion, that is why I posted it.

 

Jeez...

 

-bry

 

Shadow said:

So what the Darts are foam!?! Tell me exactly how any other cups are better for the environment. So you don't think all those hot cups/sleeves are tossed and filling up landfills just the same? And don't bother telling me "well the paper breaks down over time"... or so many people recycle used paper coffee cups!

 

I've used thousands of the Fusion cups and have never had a failure, with me handling them or by the customer. We even have customers that keep them for weeks, washing and bringing them back for refills. Yeah, I don't see that happening with flimsy hot paper cups!  

The Insulair might be what some consider the best cup on the market (opinions always vary), but I for one have to balance function and COST. For me the Fusion is the perfect hot cup and that is what the OP was asking.

 


Bryan Wray said:

I haven't used the Fusion cups for about 2 and half years, but I remember we stopped using them because 1) they are foam and

2) we had a number of our customers crush the side walls.  Sure they're thick (or advertised as thick) but foam is flimsy.

 

They're expensive but the best to go cup on the market is definitely the Insulair cup.  Built in sleeve and then rewrapped.  Plus you aren't filling up our landfills with styrofoam, there is no need to double cup because of the double paper walls already built in, and you don't have to mess with sleeves because, again, there is already one built in.

 

That said, we use Solo cups with free sleeves from Britevision :)

-bry

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