The idea behind the Last Straw was sparked in the summer of 2004 when Robert Stribling handed his two year-old daughter a juice box just after her evening bath.  One squeeze later and her fresh clean pajamas were a mess. The frustration set in and the idea was born.
 
Several months and numerous homemade prototypes later the idea slowly morphed into a concept that was feasible.  The phone calls were made to one of the largest beverage companies in the world and the interest level was rather high.  Knowing that homemade samples and simple sketches were not exactly the best tools to illustrate the concept to such a large organization, Robert reached out to professional designer Sam Crosby of IDA.  With Sam on board the product rapidly moved from hand sketches and simple prototypes to real molded parts, Pro-E designs and Alias renderings.  These prototype samples were then shared with consumers through focus groups to gain critical feedback and in-depth safety tests to validate the effectiveness of the concept and design.
 
Sam and Robert, now partners in this venture, leveraged the 40 plus years of Sam’s industry knowledge and resources. To minimize mistakes and expedite the project, a plan to include reaching out to several “best in class” material providers and manufacturers was developed and launched.  This proved to be the absolute correct choice.  Wonderful companies such as Wacker Chemical and Starlim/Sterner immediately recognized the opportunity and became heavily involved, lending resources and know how at every turn.
 
How to get this seemingly smart, simple idea that solves common problems into the “mess-makers” hands was the next challenge, the team again searched for top talent to assist in crafting a strategy to meet that end.  In 2007 Elemental Interactive along with NuPack joined the team to help promote the straw through both Social Media and traditional marketing strategies.