Made in Michiana: Cup Print making a home in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Our Made in Michiana series is back. 

This time, coming from Ireland to South Bend.

What began as a senior project at the University of Notre Dame, turned into a full fledged business reaching across the country.

Cup Print is a custom cup design company that allows businesses show off their brand one cup at a time.

Cup Print is a commercial cup printing company based in Ireland since 2009, and its recently made a second home in South Bend in 2015.

“South Bend was just a natural fit. Always wanted to get into the us market but never had any connections for it. We found a niche, found a market he could use for these custom printed cups," said Cup Print general manager, Todd Hoogland.

This first u.s. based location could’ve been anywhere.

“You know, New York, New Jersey, Boston, something like that," said Hoogland.

With the natural connection to Notre Dame resources and an almost identical layout to its home base in Ireland, it was an easy decision.

“I was a student at Notre Dame in the esteem program. This was sort of my thesis project was taking the company from terry and basically copy pasting what he’s done there, here," said Hoogland.

Here in Michiana, you can spot some of Cup Print’s work at locations like the South Bend Chocolate Factory in Downtown South Bend, and Simply Pressed Juice in Granger.

“When you’re in retail its important to have a reliable vendor. It’s important to have convenience. It’s important to have the flexibility that can kind of shift with the demand of the market and Cup Print really hit all three of those marks for us," said Simply Pressed Juice Owner, Ryan Blake.

Short run, fast turn around is the name of the game for Cup Print.

Their advantage over other custom print companies?

Instead of taking eight weeks to three months for an order, they’ll only take one to three weeks.

They’ll also take smaller orders where as other companies only take minimum bulk orders of about 10,000 cups.

To South Bend Chocolate Company president, Mark Tarner, quantity is just as important as quality.

“You know with coffee, it insulated very well and compared to the competition they had a higher quality. It was available all the time and they were next door neighbors," said Tarner.

Their reach doesn’t end in Michiana.

One of their most memorable clients is all the way in California.

“The Oscars Vanity Fair Party. They just ordered some paper coffee cups for the vanity fair after party so it was really cool seeing John Mayor drink out of a coffee cup that was made here in South Bend," said Hoogland.

So far business has been booming since opening their doors.

“We’re almost doubling annually," said Hoogland.

Cup Prints' only next step is to continue to grow.

“15 total employees here. We’ll more than likely double that by this time this year. More equipment, more machinery. Along with that would be more jobs, along the production side as well," said Hoogland.

So next time you’re out for a mid-day pick-me-up or are in need of some hydration, look down at your cup.

Maybe it was made right here in Michiana.