Jay Sorensen

• Jay Sorensen - Inventor of the Java Jacket

Inventions & inventors | More... | Jay SorensenRespect Rights Foundation
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- Jay Sorensen
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Inventor: Jay Sorensen

Java Jacket
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In 1991, service station owner and part-time real estate agent, Jay Sorensen experienced the hot flash that would change his life forever.

While driving in traffic, Sorensen spilled coffee in his lap and came up with an idea for the most groundbreaking invention to hit the hot beverage industry since the disposable cup: The Java Jacket.

Sorensen turned his simple idea into a multi-million dollar family business.Today, with more than 350 million of the waffle-like cardboard beverage sleeves sold, Sorensen's business continues to grow and thrive thanks to his aggressive marketing and dedication.

Inventor In-depth:

From Idea to Innovation:Here's how this inventor made his creations available to you!

Jay Sorensen turned his simple idea into a multi-million dollar family business.Today, he maintains his patent and continues to manufacture and distribute his product to an expanding market.Licensing allows Sorensen, not only to protect his unique invention from imitation, but also makes it possible for other businesses to develop personalized Java Jackets while Sorensen maintains ownership and rights in his invention.

Jay Sorensen, 47, never saw his fortune coming until it landed in his lap , literally.

After spilling coffee on himself while driving in 1991, Sorensen came up with a unique idea for a cardboard sleeve to fit standard-sized disposable beverage cups allowing consumers to hold their drinks securely without getting burned.

Over the course of the next two years, Sorensen developed his concept, chose the materials, produced and distributed 100,000 ,Jay Jacket' (later renamed Java Jacket) to independent coffee houses and chains in and around Portland.But it was a visit to a coffee trade show in 1993 that placed the Java Jacket firmly in the public consciousness. "I walked away with orders from more than 100 stores," said Sorensen in a 2003 interview.

Today, Sorensen's distribution has grown beyond coffee houses to include convenience stores, Borders Books and other specialty stores around the country.

Inventor Profile: Jay Sorensen
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However, Sorensen has not backed down from the competition.His Portland-based, family-owned company boasts a handful of employees dedicated to outstanding customer service.
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"Java Jacket has such a dominating market awareness that sometimes people who (meant) to call the competitor call us instead," said Sorensen in a 2003 interview.He added, "The trademarked Java Jacket name is worth more than our patents."

Sources for this biography and links for learning more about Jay Sorensen:
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In 1993, Sorensen used $15,000 to do his initial product development, production and distribution of 100,000 sleeves to Portland coffee houses
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Source: The Entrepreneur: Jay Sorensen a 2003 write up by Entrepreneur Media, Inc.& Gale Group

- Jay Sorensen

"Specialty coffee has been pretty much in tune with the to-go market most of the time," says Jay Sorensen, president of Portland, Ore.-based Java Jacket.
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"Specialty coffee is really a customer service business," says Sorensen.
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If you're taking 10 cups of coffee back to the office for the Monday morning office meeting, it becomes natural that you take 10 or 12 bakery items along with it," says Sorensen.
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"The specialty teahouses are starting to come around," says Sorensen.
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"I believe that most coffeehouses couldn't survive on just an in-house service," says Sorensen.

Jay Sorensen, inventor of the Java Jacket, an insulating coffee cup sleeve, was inspired when he left a drive-through coffee bar and promptly spilled his coffee in his lap because the cup was too hot to hold.

The Entrepreneur: Jay Sorensen, 45, founder of Java Jacket in Portland, Oregon

The Product: Sorensen's product, the Java Jacket, is a patented, honeycombed insulating sleeve that slides over a paper cup filled with a hot beverage.Java Jackets are used in coffeehouses, specialty stores and convenience stores nationwide.Sorensen's was the first insulating jacket on the market, and his first customer was Coffee People, a small chain of coffee shops in Portland, Oregon.Though Starbucks uses another type of insulating sleeve made by a competitor, Sorensen's Java Jacket continues to dominate the market.

Start-Up: $15,000 in 1993, which Sorensen used for product development and a production run of more than 100,000 units
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Just ask Sorensen.He knows firsthand how to fight this fight, and here's what he's done to protect his place in the market:

Steps to Success 1. Find an advantage people will notice.Sorensen first got his idea after spilling a hot cup of coffee.The cup was handed to him with a napkin around it, but it slipped out of his hand.He realized a cardboard or paper sleeve that could easily slide around the cup would be a great idea, but his unique advantage was in the design."I went around Portland to a dozen paper suppliers to see what they carried," he says.
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"Java Jacket has such a dominating market awareness that sometimes people who [meant] to call the competitor call us instead," Sorensen says."The trademarked Java Jacket name is worth more than our patents."

3. Find a fast way to reach customers.In 1993, while waiting in his first customer's office for a check, Sorensen saw a trade magazine, Fresh Cup, on a table."It listed [an upcoming] trade show in Chicago, and I called up and took a booth."At the show, he met hundreds of potential customers."It was the most exciting three days I've experienced in business," he recalls.
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With the Java Jacket, Sorensen says, "We outsource all our production, and we only have six employees."That's low overhead when you're turning more than $12 million in sales.

5. Promote your brand identity relentlessly."We attend eight to 10 trade shows per year, and we advertise regularly in all the industry trade magazines, including Fresh Cup, Specialty Coffee Retailer and the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal," Sorensen says.He wants the Java Jacket name in front of prospects all the time.
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Convenience stores weren't Sorensen's original market, but he went after them anyway to stop competitors from gaining an easy market-entry point.

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