Solo Cup Company

History

Leo Hulseman, a former employee of the Dixie Co. in the 1930s, created the "Solo Cup", a paper cone he made at his home and sold to bottled-water companies. He founded the Solo Cup Company in 1936, and developed other products, like wax-coated cups and the plastic Cozy Cup. The wax-coated cups were added to its lineup in the 1950s, as fountain sodas gained popularity.

It was sometime in the 1970s that Hulseman's son, Robert Leo Hulseman, came up with the now-ubiquitous red Solo cup. The red Solo cups are made of thick, molded polystyrene. They are known for being able to withstand drops, easily stackable, and disposable while price accessible. Their characteristic red color may conceal the drinking contents.

On 1 March 2004, Solo acquired Sweetheart Cup Company for $917.2 million, in part with public debt. Sweetheart was founded by Joseph Shapiro and his four brothers, emigrants from Russia. It became the largest consumer packaging company in the world and was sold several times before being acquired by Solo Cup. Following the acquisition, Solo Cup's finances suffered, and Standard & Poor's lowered their credit rating from B to CCC+. In late 2006, Solo Cup was reported to be $1.1 billion in debt.

In 2005 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City added a Solo Cup Traveler's Lid to its permanent collection. The lid was featured because it symbolized innovation and progress in basic product design.

Solo Cup Company closed its longstanding facility in Highland Park, Illinois, in December 2009 and relocated to Lake Forest, Illinois.

On May 4, 2012, Solo Cup Company was acquired by Dart Container.

Founder

Leo Hulseman (1898–1989) was an active polo player. His wife, Dorothy Donahoe Hulseman (1900–1988), better known by her stage name Dora Hall, was a singer whose records were given away free of charge through Solo promotions. Leo Hulseman was also the founder and owner of Premore Inc. Premore was a television production company on the Culver Studios lot for many years in the 1970s and 1980s, and later moved to North Hollywood. Premore produced children's TV shows including Tony the Pony (like the later Barney & Friends) and The Clifford Avenue Kids (like Our Gang). Other programs produced at the Premore facilities included Greystone's The Real West and Candid Camera. Premore's television studio stage, remote truck, and post production were used for Dora Hall's shows and rented for television specials and sports. Dora Hall was most noted and seen on the Dora Hall TV show (1979), she played Rose On Broadway with Frank Sinatra Jr., Donald O'Connor and Scatman Crothers. She also had TV special called Once Upon a Tour. Her Songs are found on Premore and Cozy Records Labels. Premore Inc. was closed in 1993, four years after the death of Leo Hulseman.

Subsequent management

Robert Leo Hulseman, son of the founder Leo Hulseman and the creator of the iconic red solo cup, served as President. Hulseman died December 21, 2016.

Current CEO Robert M. Korzenski took over from Robert Hulseman in August 2006. Korzenski had worked for Sweetheart Cups for over 10 years.

Customers

Solo Cup customers include Starbucks, Dairy Queen, Così, Walmart, Whole Foods Market, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Tim Hortons, as well as many universities.

The red plastic cups are notably used in American college and university games such as beer pong and flip cup. This usage is referenced in Toby Keith's country music song "Red Solo Cup". The red party cup outsells the blue variety by a wide margin.

They are also used by the cannabis growing community as small pots and are also the inspiration and the preferred growing container in alternative online-community cannabis growing competitions where the object of the competition is to flower a cannabis plant according to a set group of rules using 16 oz. Solo cups as the growing container and then the competitors, and in some case sponsors, vote on which entrant's plant they find the most appealing according to each voter's own personal criteria.