Teka USA gets Kellogg started in home textiles
By Cecile B. Corral -- Home Textiles Today, 7/29/2002
NEW YORK — Bath and beach towel distributor Teka USA and The Kellogg Company recently teamed up to produce a collection of beach towels, juvenile bath towel sets and — for the first time in Teka USA's history — a line of kitchen textiles.
The partnership also marks a milestone for The Kellogg Company, based in Battle Creek, MI, which through Teka is for the first time entering the home textiles category.
"We have quite a few licensees for home but mainly for tabletop — this deal with Teka marks our first entrance in the home textiles licensee arena," Elisa Webb, director of worldwide licensing, The Kellogg Company, told Home Textiles Today. "Our program is to identify key categories to extend the reach of our brand and characters outside of the breakfast and snack food aisle."
Webb added that Kellogg is open to potential partnerships with other home textiles suppliers to produce more goods in other categories.
After signing the partnership more than a month ago, Teka USA — the American arm of parent company Teka, the 75-year-old towel manufacturer based in Brazil — is already in the process of shipping to retailers its initial Kellogg's line. Available in six designs featuring the popular characters of Kellogg's cereals like Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam, Teka USA's launch line is composed of 30" x 60" 100 percent cotton fiber reactive printed beach towels and 100 percent cotton soft pigment print two-piece children's bath sets, which include a 24" x 44" bath towel and a matching wash cloth. Both the beach towels and the juvenile bath sets carry a $12.99 suggested retail price and are poised for mass, mid-tier and specialty stores as well as supermarket and drugstore chains where Kellogg's food products are sold.
Teka USA will add kitchen textiles for the first time to its offerings through its deal with Kellogg's by February, officially launching that category segment at the winter mini-market in New York, Richard Rosenblum, vp of sales, told Home Textiles Today.
"We wanted our first license in kitchen to be one that isn't linked to a specific movie, book or event but something more generic and long-lasting in its appeal," Rosenblum said. "The Kellogg's characters are really icons known to Americans for generations, and the power of the brand is pervasive in American culture."
In addition to the kitchen textiles — which include 100 percent cotton terry and waffleweave kitchen towels in soft pigment print, jacquard or embroidery varieties, as well as oven mitts and pot holders — Teka USA will also introduce in February six additional designs for its existing beach towel and juvenile bath sets.
"It's the first time Teka USA has distributed kitchen textiles, even though our parent company Teka has been making them since the beginning," said Ray Ortiz, national account manager. "We've been waiting for the right opportunity to introduce this new category to our line, and we felt with Kellogg's was a natural brand to do it."
