Consumables

Ecopaper: Agreement Promotes Penetration of New Markets

Monday 01. October 2012 - Ecopaper.com is a subsidiary of SGD Holdings LTD (OTC Bulletin Board: SGDH). Ecopaper, a leading provider of fine tree-free environmental paper products, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with an elite group of Fine Artists known for the creation of art that meets the highest national standards of excellence. Ecopaper has identified a strong opportunity to broaden global reach with a new brand extension of tree-free paper products. "In this relationship, we have created a program which allows the artists to promote their art and the Ecopaper brand in a custom journal program which gives us the right to use the art," states Harry Johansing, Chief Executive Officer of Ecopaper.

Johansing continues, “This agreement broadens our product base and has the potential to significantly increase sales by simultaneously exploring the penetration of the Fine Arts market. We plan to capitalize on opportunities to increase the reach of the Ecopaper product line. Ultimately, our goal is to change consumption patterns of paper consumers so that their purchases don’t destroy endangered forests. We strive to shift the demand for paper to sustainable options and provide environmentally friendly papers that meet our customer’s quality, price and supply expectations. Ecopaper is very excited to be working with this select group of artists as we expand our program into targeted industries in the year 2013. We believe some of the most successful and innovative companies worldwide will be interested in licensing our brand. This licensing initiative is aligned with our plans to educate the public about our sustainable papers and to provide customers more access to our tree-free products.”
The Ecopaper licensing partnerships will leverage the artist’s name, reputation, expertise and a broad collection of works in 2013. The results of a market analysis indicated that, “licensing in not-for-profit organizations operates along the same lines as the licensing business does in the for-profit world. The goal is to find the right licensee that shares the brand vision and can maximize the opportunity. But in this sector as much as in any other, the definition of ‘maximizing the opportunity’ often goes far beyond the immediate revenue generated. According to results of an Annual Licensing Business Survey, licensing by not-for-profit organizations generated $35 million in revenue in North America in 2011, which translates into retail sales of about $758 million. That’s 2.9% more than it generated the year before.”
“As such, it accounts for a small sliver of the overall licensing business, where, according the … Survey – conducted on the association’s behalf … — licensors generated an estimated $5.316 billion in royalty revenue in North America in 2011. That’s 5% higher than the $5.065 billion they generated in the previous year. Notably, this year’s report shows the first year-on-year increase in royalty revenue since 2006. Those royalty numbers translate into estimated retail sales of licensed goods in the U.S. and Canada of $109.3 billion, five percent higher than the $104.0 billion in retail sales in the territory in 2010.”