Lawrence, MA (January 9, 2024) – Gemline, a sustainability trailblazer in the promotional products industry, proudly introduces an all-new under $10 collection, featuring Aware™ textile traceability technology, demonstrating that affordability and sustainability can coexist seamlessly. Previously showcased in the successful MiiR® Olympus 2.0 Collection, Gemline now extends its commitment to sustainability and supply chain transparency by incorporating Aware™ technology into an affordable collection of recycled cotton products that includes tote bags, a pouch, and an apron—all priced under $10. The Aware™ textile transparency technology, accessible by scanning the QR code on the product hangtag, allows consumers to trace the entire journey of the sustainable materials.

Aware™, renowned as the world’s first hybrid traceability technology, combines physical tracers with a public blockchain to create a virtual passport that authenticates sustainable materials throughout the production process. This revolutionary technology guarantees the authenticity of products made from sustainable materials. For more information about Aware™, visit https://wearaware.co/.

Frank Carpenito, President & CEO of Gemline, underscores the company's unwavering commitment to sustainability with a focus on affordability: "At Gemline, we firmly believe that sustainability should not be a luxury, but an accessible choice for all. The integration of Aware's state-of-the-art technology in products sold for under $10 sets a new industry precedent for affordable eco-conscious options and serves as a perfect complement to the large number and variety of under $10 products we have added to our line over the past 12 months.”

This transformative technology aligns seamlessly with Gemline’s betterway™ corporate social responsibility promise to create a positive impact on both people and the planet through products. Carpenito adds, “This revolutionary technology empowers our distributor partners to lead with confidence and integrity, offering a unique value proposition to their end customers. At comparable price points to non-sustainable product alternatives, distributor reps can now more easily trade their end customers from conventional to sustainable products without adversely impacting budgets."

Koen Warmerdam, co-founder, and brand director of Aware™, exudes enthusiasm about the ongoing partnership with Gemline and highlights the affordability factor: "Our collaboration with Gemline, a company deeply committed to sustainability, is truly thrilling. Consumers today not only seek total transparency in the supply chain but also affordability in sustainable choices. Our technology delivers exactly that – the entire supply chain becomes transparent, offering reliable information directly from the primary source, and Gemline ensures that this eco-conscious journey remains accessible to all."

About Gemline

Founded in 1958, Gemline is an award-winning, design-centric supplier providing high-quality branded products to the promotional products industry. Gemline is ranked as the 12th largest industry supplier and 5th largest hard goods supplier by the Advertising Specialty Institute. The Company’s product line consists of a wide range of gourmet food and lifestyle gifts, electronics, bags, coolers, drinkware, stationery, and writing instruments. In addition to its strong portfolio of house brands and Gemline-branded products, the Company offers high-quality retail brands such as American Tourister®, Anker, Be Home®, CORKCICLE®, Cleer®, Courant, Cuisinart®, Cuisinart® Outdoor Grilling, govino®, iLive™, Igloo®, Moleskine®, MiiR®, Modern Sprout®, New Balance®, Osprey®, Out of the Ocean®, Out of the Woods®, Paper Mate®, Parker®, Samsonite®, Sharpie®, Slowtide, VSSL®, Waterman® and W&P. Gemline is a registered trademark of The Gem Group, Inc. For more information about Gemline, visit the Company’s website at www.gemline.com or 1-800-800-3200. Find Gemline on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About Aware

Aware™ is a global textile traceability solution for the fashion and textile industry. Their world’s first game-changing technology revolutionizes the textile industry since they use primary data from end-to-end in the supply chain, which changes it from open to fraud, outdated and unreliable to transparent and trustworthy.

Their Digital Product Passport (DPP) relies on primary data, since all information is shared and validated by each maker in the supply chain. The materials get a physical tracer embedded into any type of raw material at the source. To ensure all information cannot be tampered with, the data transactions –its digital twin– ends up on a public blockchain, offering full transparency from fiber to consumer.

With their ‘phygital’ solution, the Dutch company enables brands, suppliers and consumers to make better and more conscious decisions, make greenwashing a thing of the past, and aims to restore consumers' trust in sustainability claims for textile. Aware™'s mission is to minimize the collective impact by maximizing traceability. The business was founded in 2020 by two Dutch sustainable fashion experts with 25+ and 10+ years of industry experience.