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Event hospitality is Q4’s hardest service brief
Thousands of guests. Twelve to eighteen hour service days. Cold weather, hot drinks, cocktails and spirits in the same bar. Social sharing from the first pour. No room for a soggy straw or a leaking cup.
Event teams need packaging that holds up through the full day, carries the brand in every photo, and does not leave a plastic trail behind.
One cup for hot, cold and spirits across the whole window
The A-Cup is the lead product for Q4 event service because one SKU covers the full menu.
- Hot drinks up to 85°C: mulled wine, hot chocolate, spiced cider
- Spirits tested up to 45% ABV for one hour with no leaks or taste transfer
- Cold serves and acidic mixers across cocktail bars
- 250gsm paper that takes event or sponsor branding cleanly
- Water-based coating, 0.6% polymer, home compostable
Pair it with the paper cutlery Service Set at food stations (built up to 6 in 1 with knives, forks, spoons, stirrers, salt and pepper), and the event runs on a full paper-based service from one supplier.
Different Q4 events. Same range.
Example: Amsterdam Dance Event | October
ADE is one of Europe’s biggest electronic music festivals, held across Amsterdam each October. Hundreds of venues, hundreds of thousands of visitors, five days of hospitality that runs around the clock inside the Q4 window. The Hello Straw A-Cup and paper straws carried bar service across the event, holding up against spirits, cocktails and cold mixers in club-pour conditions.
Example: World Championships Gymnastics | October
Nine days of competition at Rotterdam Ahoy, with six Olympic qualification places and fourteen world titles on the line. Fan zones, the TeamNL Fanplein and the Ahoy EXPO ran alongside the arena, serving food and drinks to crowds moving in and out across every session. The theme, Building Bridges, carried through the hospitality side too. Different sport, different audience, same product: the A-Cup and paper straws covering hot drinks and cold serves across the whole venue..
Example: Winterparadijs | December
One of the Netherlands’ largest Christmas markets, open across December with outdoor stalls serving mulled wine, hot chocolate and hot food in cold evening service. The Hello Straw range covered hot drinks, straws for mulled serves, and cutlery across food stations. Hot-drink service runs for hours per guest, in temperatures that often dip below zero, with no softening and no collapse.
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The testing behind the performance
Each production lot sees 1,000 cups tested on site. Four Hello Straw laboratories test the range against every category of alcoholic drink each week. Official international laboratories verify the results. Production runs to BRC and IFS standards.
“This cup can save airlines a lot of headache from not using plastic cups, it is a must for airlines.” — Fabio Gamba, Chairman of ACA
What event teams take away
A branded A-Cup sits in every guest photo. A paper straw holds through the whole set. The sustainability line writes itself for the comms team afterwards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the A-Cup work for outdoor cold-weather service?
Yes. The A-Cup holds hot drinks up to 85°C and keeps its shape through long evening service. Winterparadijs stalls use it for mulled wine and hot chocolate in sub-zero temperatures.
Can the A-Cup carry spirits service at a festival?
Yes. The A-Cup is tested up to 45% ABV for one hour with no leaks and no taste transfer. ADE bars run it across cocktails, spirits and cold mixers.
Can an event brand its own A-Cup and straws?
Yes. 250gsm paper takes bold custom print cleanly. Event teams can brand with sponsor logos, festival artwork, or market branding.
Can Hello Straw supply a full event bar and food service from one order?
Yes. The A-Cup, paper straws, Service Set, and stirrers run from one supplier. One invoice, one point of contact, one artwork brief.
Is the range compliant for 2026 and 2027?
Yes. The range meets current UK single-use plastic rules and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation updates rolling in through 2026 and 2027. Paper-based packaging is fully exempt from the UK Plastic Packaging Tax at £228.82 per tonne.
