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After finishing a great workout at the gym, you reach for your water bottle, eager for a refreshing drink. But before you take that much-deserved sip, you stop. Have you grabbed the right water bottle? Could it perhaps belong to that sweaty guy on the treadmill next to you?
Lisa Moschitta said her Melville-based company, ITZ-Mine, has created beverage identification tags, designed to keep your water bottle from getting swiped by your workout neighbor.
The ID tags can be placed on the neck of most bottles. Similar to the feel of a mouse pad, the bottle tags have a coated surface and a foam-like backing.
The design causes the tag to hug the bottle, Moschitta said. It doesn't flop in your face. It has substance to it. I tried foam only. It didn't have enough versatility with the design.
Sports enthusiasts can choose from a host of graphics, including baseball, lacrosse and skateboards. Animal lovers can select tags with dogs or cats. And nature lovers can pick tags with a flower, butterfly or ladybug. The tags feature a Property of space on which consumers can write their names. The tags are sold in sets of three. One set costs $5, while a set of 12 costs $36.95.
ITZ-Mine also offers custom designs, enabling companies or charities to imprint their logo on the tags and distribute them as giveaways at events.
Moschitta said she's launched the company with a local entrepreneur, Michael Xirinachs, and hopes to get the product sold at supermarkets, sporting goods shops and drug store chains. As of yet, they have no sales reps, so Moschitta is marketing the tags locally. So far, a salon owner and a gym have agreed to carry the product. The tags are also available at www.itz-mine.com.
The company is also trying to land a spot on QVC and would like to partner with beverage companies.
And should a client place a giant order, Moschitta said ITZ-Mine is prepared, thanks to relationships with vendors R&J Graphics, a printer in Farmingdale, and JAF Converters, a die-cutter in Copiague.
For Moschitta, launching the product proved educational and interesting. Initially, she was concerned that she might have trouble obtaining a patent. But by retaining the services of a patent attorney, she encountered no hassles. Now she's working on protecting her product overseas.
Moschitta has ideas for other ID items too - but she won't say what those ideas are.
