News

The Big Box Stocking for the Boy & Girl Scouts Silent Auction

View the rest of the pics on our Facebook page by clicking here.

Brian, one of the members of our BRP Box Shop family, is also the caretaker at Heritage Canyon. Brian asked if Big River Packaging (BRP) would be interested in providing a stocking for a silent auction. The proceeds from the auction would go towards providing grants for young men and ladies to attend Boy Scout or Girl Scout camp.

Your box makers are squarely in the midst of the busy season so everyone is well, busy. Bob wanted to help so he called Kip and Connie into his office and charged them with putting together a brpboxshop stocking that would somehow convey our personality as a box company. “I know you probably weren’t looking for something else to do, but…”

The stocking took a bit longer than expected *cough* but it was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. It was also fun to work together on something so ridiculous in both size and amount of time necessary. Most participating local businesses were generous enough to purchase stockings of a type that could easily be hung over a fireplace. We drew outside the lines a little bit with a stocking that wouldn’t fit inside a fireplace.

The silent auction was on Saturday morning and Brian kept calling and texting Friday night.

“How much longer till you guys are done?” “Two more hours!? You’re kidding about needing two more hours, right?”

Brian came back to the Box Shop at around 9:30, Friday night, and laughed when he saw our crazy stocking. He also pointed out some missing pieces on the top that we easily cut from the sample table to finish off the giant cardboard sock.

The weather didn’t cooperate for the auction but on Monday, Brian let us know enough money was collected to send one boy and one girl to camp. These two kids wouldn’t have had that chance if not for the generosity of the businesses in our town and of the folks who bid on the stockings.

New Box Prices Have Been Posted. Some Actually Went Down.

Since May, we've been letting our customers know about a price increase that would take place July, 2011.

Bakers have told us the cost of baking ingredients has taken a jump. The ingredients we use to make boxes have jumped in price as well. In fact, we have been fighting the tide - figuring out ways to hold down our prices as the cost of everything else goes higher and higher like an orphaned balloon at the fair.

Paperboard prices have risen two times since you last saw an increase in what you pay for your Box Shop packaging. Our prices haven't echoed these increases because Bob and John made a commitment to do what we could to be the one company not adding to the swelling costs hitting bakeries. We are always looking for smarter ways to build a better box and giving our bakers a break is a powerful motivator.

Even now, as we raise prices on most items in our store, it is important to us that you see some of our box prices actually went down.

That bit up there about giving our bakers a break - that's real. If we are raising the price of boxes because of the increase in cost, it is simple mathematical integrity to lower the prices on items where the cost dropped. This didn't happen on a lot of our items and where it did happen, it wasn't a ton of money. But it is important to us that you know how this is even possible.

The cost of manufacturing some boxes dropped for the same reason we have been able to hold the line on prices for this long - our people.

It is a rare day that passes without someone on the Box Shop floor making a suggestion on how we can build a better box, or how we can build a box people already love but do it with greater efficiency (working smarter). The more our Box Shop family runs, packs, and ships an item, the better we get at the process. The faster we get, the less it costs us. The less it costs us, the less it costs you. Simple. Not easy, but simple.

For most of our items, the rising cost of materials outpaced improved efficiencies in manufacturing. So, the prices went up because the costs went up. You get it. Most of you operate small businesses and we know you get it.

We love the people we get to serve and we treasure the partnership that makes the production of empty boxes, fun. These relationships allowed us to ask the candid question, "How can we raise prices in a way that is the least distressing to our customers?" We were told to give you the heads-up before the price increase.

'Heads-up' has taken the form of a note in your order confirmation email, and a big purple posting at the top of your brpboxshop.com web pages, and a news release equal in length to this one.

We want to extend a special word of thanks to all of you who have expressed appreciation to us for shooting straight concerning this increase. We saw a lot of orders come in at the end of June with people stocking up to make the best of the old pricing. That's a good sign that we got the word out.

Running each individual item through our pricing/production software is as much fun as it sounds. It took a bit longer than expected due to the transition we are making to no longer have cases that weigh over 40 lbs. This transition will take a while. More on that later. So, we missed the goal to have the new prices posted on July 1st, but the new pricing is finally out there. What you see in the store, right now, is the updated pricing. *Here's to the prices staying that way for a long time.

Doing a little recon with our competitors, we know we aren't the only purveyor of boxes on the internet to raise prices. Even so, some customers have let us know they need to shop around to make sure they are getting the best value for their packaging. We understand. Please, just remember to include the additional shipping and handling charges from other sites for that overused 'apples to apples' comparison. The S&H charges on other sites can be a real zinger that doesn't pop up till the end of the checkout experience. If you live in the Lower
48 States, BRP Box Shop boxes ship to you free via UPS Ground. It is also a good idea to pick up an inexpensive sample pack from our Samples page before taking the plunge on a full case of boxes. There is nothing like having the box in your hands to experience our quality and to check for fit.

Thank you for trusting Big River Packaging / brpboxshop.com to be your partner for packaging and for allowing us to play a part in your success.

We anticipate a price increase on most items, July 1st.

The cost of box making materials has jumped twice since we last raised prices at brpboxshop.com. We have been holding down prices because of what we were hearing from you, our customers. Bakers have let us know the cost of ingredients has increased significantly. We hear some of these increases have been severe.

During a Box Shop team meeting a while back, John or Bob said it would be great if we could hold down our prices and be the one company not adding to the financial strain bakers are experiencing. So far, our process improvement projects have allowed us to do just that. We have been able to trim our costs and pass that on to you by holding the line on brpboxshop packaging prices. We were, however, just notified of another increase in the cost of box making materials.

We appreciate those of you who have helped us figure out the least distressing way to deal with the rising cost of materials. One of the benefits of being a small business serving small businesses is having customers who understand we need to raise prices when costs go up. In conversations with bakers, you have asked us to give you a heads-up before an increase. You got it.

Big River Packaging/brpboxshop.com will hold prices till July 1st of 2011. After that, there will be a price increase on most items.

If you are shopping around for a cheaper box, please remember to factor in the additional price of shipping on competing sites. If you live in the Lower 48 States, our boxes ship to you free via UPS Ground. We want you to love your boxes. There is always a cheaper box. There is always a cheaper anything. We never set out to make a cheap box. We set out to provide honest value, packaging we can be proud of, and boxes people love. Thanks again for all of your feedback. Love your boxes.

Bright Box Shop Customers help Develop Brilliant New Box.

This new design is the result of a joint effort between your Box Shop packaging veterans and the baking community we love to serve.

We are proud of this box's origin. That is one of the reasons we're so excited to make the new design available to you now. It's also the reason this is just a really good bakery box!

Please, check out the item page of our first box to receive this design treatment. There are pictures and more details on the product page.

We worked with a very special group of volunteers who tested our bakery box prototypes in real bakeries. Sure, we could have submitted a grant proposal to the feds requesting the funds needed to build a state-of-the art bakery simulator in which to test new packaging concepts, but there is nothing like getting our boxes into the frosted fingers of people who are turning cupcake-batter-dreams into sweet-spongy mouth watering reality. From a packaging point of view, the results are remarkable.

Item 244 is the first item in the scope of this project to be enhanced as a result of what we've learned from so many of you. Other boxes will follow. First, we will update boxes that share the same dimensions as 244 (14" x 10" x 4"). In time, all of our 'Bob Lock' boxes will be reengineered to include the new features.

What new features? Please, check out 244's very own page to learn more about, not only the new features, but how they came to be.

Welcome to the New News Page on the New BRP Box Shop Website!

The biggest and latest news to hit our website is...the website!

First, if you are a new visitor to BRP Box Shop dot com, welcome! To get you up to speed, before the website looked like this, it looked different than this. So, why did we change it? Good question.

The way we serve the customers we love is a point of pride here at Big River Packaging, and brpboxshop.com plays a major role in our serving you successfully. Sure, you can buy boxes here, and please do - but we also have information on everything from transit time for your items to how to properly fold up the new boxes waiting at your door.

Like a lot of the items we make for you right here along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi River in Iowa, the new web site is a reflection of the advice and input gifted to us by our generous customers.

As you make your way through BRP Box Shop, we hope you get a sense of our desire to create an online box shopping experience that does what you need it to do...and then does a little bit more. We don't want you to just like your boxes. We want you to...

Love your boxes!

And we don't want you to just love your boxes. We want you to love every single interaction you have with our products and love every experience where we have the opportunity to serve you personally.

These are now for Sale on the Boxshop! Mix and Match Cupcake Boxes and Lids? Yep!

Do you like what we see? Your favorite box makers do!

The boxes you see in the picture above, are not new boxes. These are your standard 4x4x4 single cupcake boxes. They have just been accessorized with a high-end lid.

I was talking to a cupcake mover and shaker (Hi, Marc!) who told me he wished we had a cupcake box that was better suited to take ribbons.

Bob came up with this idea, I (Kip) designed the lid, and Amy took credit around the office! We also produce these for the 1/2 dozen boxes (10"x10"), and the dozen boxes (14"x10").

Below are links to the new 4"x4" lids.

Click a lid color block below to view and order your lids!