Peter Ouyang, Vice President of Marketing and Product Development explains the reason for the product line extension only a year after Gelato’s initial product introduction. “Because of the popularity of Gelato, our R&D department went into overdrive to develop more options for consumers. While developing a retractable gel ink pen is much more complex than designing our popular Gelly Roll® non-retractable gel pen, we think they’ve done a fantastic job responding to the market so quickly. We had to have more than one flavor of Gelato to suit consumers’ tastes.”

Gelato 04 and 08 also feature the streamlined design and contoured clip of the original Gelato. Because Gelato is designed for professional and business use, another important feature is its built-in auto-retract device. If a businessperson forgets to click Gelato shut, it will automatically retract when placed in a checkbook or pocket, eliminating messy ink stains that might occur.

Sakura introduced the gel ink revolution to U.S. consumers in 1989 and enjoys great success with their Gelly Roll® brand and inventive styles of gel ink. Gel ink became so popular that Nielsen’s retail rating surveys listed it as the fastest rising office products category in 2001 giving it an office products category all its own. Gel ink and Gelly Roll pens have become so popular that fanatics have designed web sites devoted to the Gelly Roll pen and its qualities.

Gelato 04 features an 0.4mm ball producing a 0.26mm line. Gelato 05 features an 0.5mm ball and produces a 0.30mm line while Gelato 08 features an 0.8mm ball producing a 0.36mm line.

Gelato has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price, or MSRP, of $2.16 per pen. It is also available in a 2-pack of black, a 2-pack of royal blue or in a 2-pack of red with an MSRP of $4.32 per pack. Gelato is also available in a 24-pen point-of-purchase cup display in each point size featuring 24 black and 24 blue pens. Another point-of-purchase option is a 72-piece point-of-purchase display unit including 36 black, 24 blue, and 12 red. For those retailers that want to feature the entire line of Gelato, a 216 piece display is available featuring 108 black, 72 royal-blue and 36 red in each point-size and line-width.

Headquartered in Hayward, CA, Sakura of America is the U.S. subsidiary of privately held, Sakura Color Products Corp. of Osaka, Japan. Sakura has invented many writing instrument and art materials innovations, including Pigma® ink technology and Cray-Pas® oil pastels. Go to www.sakuraofamerica.com for more information on Gelato retractable gel pens and Sakura’s other fine products.