Eastman’s Material Sampling Program Gives New Meaning to ‘Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!’

CAPELLE A/D IJSSEL, THE NETHERLANDS - Capturing the attention of designers and brand owners requires real ingenuity in today’s crowded marketplace. However, Eastman Chemical Company has made a space for itself in the frontline of specialty plastics’ suppliers by providing a wake-up call for the design community through its innovative and unique Material Difference™ sampling program.

Material Difference, first launched in the USA earlier this year, truly differentiates Eastman from competitors by utilizing palm-of-your-hand size pebble samples made from the company’s Tenite® cellulosic plastic. Produced in a variety of colors and constructed in two fitted-halves, the pebbles enable designers to mix-and-match samples and share with clients. Not only do the pebbles have a novel design, but some are particularly memorable because of their fragrance. The latest addition to these is a coffee-scented Café pebble.

"The aroma of freshly brewed coffee is distinctive and appealing to many people," says Gaylon White, manager of Eastman's design industry programs. "With this in mind, we created the Café pebble to demonstrate how smell can be used effectively in the sensory mix, to enhance the shopping experience while stimulating desire for food products."

Principally created from wood pulp, Eastman’s Tenite cellulosics bring together the manufacturing advantages of plastics with the emotive feel and sound characteristics of natural fibers, making them the material of choice for applications where the designer wants to really connect with consumers.

Designers requesting samples will receive a multi-colored set of pebbles made from Tenite cellulosics that demonstrate the material’s unique tactile qualities. They also illustrate the high clarity and rich color options available - glacier, spring, aqua, sepia and cobalt – made possible with cellulosics.

As well as the Café pebble, three of Eastman’s other Material Difference samples are also available with encapsulated fragrances. Colors for the samples were selected to match the mood created by the aromatherapy-type scents. These include: ‘Tranquil Escape’ (lime and geranium), ‘High Energy’ (grapefruit and jasmine) and ‘Stress Free’ (lavender and vanilla) with matching green, citrus and lavender colors. The scented pebbles were developed in collaboration with Rotuba Extruders, Inc.

According to White: “Additional scented pebble samples are being developed for the program. While Tenite cellulosics is one of our most enduring material families and an appropriate choice to launch our Material Difference program, the ‘pebble’ samples are just the beginning. To support our commitment to inspire the design community and encourage the development of new products, samples in other materials will follow.”

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