Silvergate
The Trunki has become a popular choice for children
Following an infamous appearance on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, children’s ride-on suitcase brand, Trunki, is a household name. The brand is now celebrating its 10th birthday and over the last decade has launched a range of case designs in a rainbow of colours and styles. BP&R spoke to Silvergate Plastics – which has been working with Trunki since day one – to find out the importance of strengthening brands with colour.
It was in 2006 that the creator of Trunki, Rob Law, ventured into the BBC’s Dragons’ Den with his ride-on suitcase concept for globetrotting tots. Ten years on, and with over 2.8 million cases sold, he hasn’t looked back.
“It’s a tremendous achievement to have reached such a momentous milestone; it’s been a 10 year rollercoaster ride of massive highs and lows. Receiving the first container of Trunkis at Avonmouth docks in 2006 was the start of a very exciting journey and a huge learning curve,” Law commented.
Wrexham-based manufacturer of colour, additive and fragrance masterbatches, Silvergate Plastics, has been working with Trunki’s manufacturing facility, Magma Mouldings since day one. As a vibrant, hardwearing and fun piece of kit, the integrity of the colours used in the mouldings has always been of extreme importance.
Silvergate’s Managing Director, Tony Bestall, says during this time the company has “worked tirelessly” to not only develop exact colour specifications, but also provide essential support in pioneering products that satisfy all regulatory and operational requirements for all of Trunki’s component applications. By providing such valuable support, he says a successful working relationship has formed between the two organisations.
Consistent colours and effects
From the outset of the relationship, Bestall explained that the development of new, aesthetically pleasing and innovative colours and effects was an essential aspect of creating a highly attractive and eye-catching product. The ongoing control of colour, batch-to-batch, has been vital to retaining the integrity of the brand and consumer appeal. The delivery of consistent colours and effects for over ten years has been achieved through the use of Silvergate’s computer-controlled production and quality control facilities, which mitigates the risk of any possible drift over time.
“Colour masterbatches can be quite complex in composition and are often bespoke for a particular client,” Bestall explained. “By using our industry leading weigh management, we have been able to eradicate the risk of variation. Our reliable system ensures we use on the correct raw materials in the exact quantities for each and every order.”
Continuing the Jurni
To coincide with its tenth birthday, Trunki is launching a brand new carry case for the next generation of connected travellers. The company’s biggest innovation since the arrival of the original Trunki, Jurni is a sit-on, carry-on suitcase which has a quick access pop-out pod for tech, a seat to rest on and in-line wheels that glide along when travelling through airports. Silvergate has been collaborating with Magma Moulding to provide more muted tones to appeal to an older market and Bestall says he is looking forward to providing the same support for the foreseeable future as it has done thus far.
Concluding, Law added: “Looking back, my highlight has to be the people I’ve worked alongside over the years. The teams at Trunki HQ and at our factory Magma Moulding are passionate about making family travel fun. We work with a number of key suppliers who work with us to go the extra mile to make our customers happy. It is this approach that has made us so successful.”