Finding original manufacturer

full-time-mum

Two Xmas ago, I brought my daughter one of those insulated fabric style lunch boxes.
Now, normally I hate these as you can't clean them and they go mouldy quite quickly but this one was different and has been fantastic. It has finally become unusable but I have been unable to find one with the same/similar design.

I contacted Wilkinson who originally sold it but they are unable/can't tell me who manufactured it.

Now, I have 2 questions

Any suggestions as to how I go about finding who made it, given it has a label which says "Made in China"

I wonder if there is a business opportunity here but where the hell do I start? I know nothing about
patents (presumably someone already holds it for this design)
sourcing the finished product or getting someone to make it
etc, etc

I guess that ideally, I would like to import on a small scale and sell on ebay and see where it goes from there.

Thanks

Albert2

Hi,

Have you had a look at the plastic mouldings at all ?

They may have some identification markings within them, might just be numbers that do not appear to mean much, but they can help you trace the original manufacturer.

Problem with a lot of stuff from Far East is that it's made in large volumes and sold at trade fairs (amongst others), so they go through several hands before they hit you, probably part of the reason that Wilkinsons do not know ......

full-time-mum

Albert2 wrote:

Hi,

Have you had a look at the plastic mouldings at all ?

They may have some identification markings within them, might just be numbers that do not appear to mean much, but they can help you trace the original manufacturer.

Problem with a lot of stuff from Far East is that it's made in large volumes and sold at trade fairs (amongst others), so they go through several hands before they hit you, probably part of the reason that Wilkinsons do not know ......

Unfortunately, it is an all fabric affair. All I know is that it is made in China. I've looked at any chinese lunchbox manufacturer sites that I can find on the web but so far have drawn a blank - a lot of the sites seem to link backwards and forwards to each other and you end up going around in circles.