Employee Incentive Gifts that Move Progress Forward: Vopak Case Study

Employee incentive gifts fail for one reason: quality.

Generic branded merchandise with a logo slapped on signals low effort, which is precisely the opposite of what a recognition program communicates. And when companies go custom, they routinely find that local suppliers can promise the concept but can't execute it at brand standard.

Royal Vopak, the world's leading independent tank storage company, hit that wall directly. Their Netherlands business unit needed a high-quality branded gift for 200 employees driving a multi-year transformation program. Regional suppliers fell short. That's what brought them to Laced Up.

Paraphrased from client correspondence: "We needed something that would genuinely reward our people: high quality, beautifully branded, something they'd actually want to wear. Finding that locally had been harder than expected." — Julia [name changed for privacy], Marketing & Communications Leader, Royal Vopak NL

Quick Guide: How Vopak's Brilliant Move Boosted An Entire Business Unit

Here's the Vopak project at a glance: what they needed, what Laced Up built, and what the outcome was.

Industry:	Global Energy Infrastructure
Problem:	Needed high-quality branded employee incentive gifts; local suppliers couldn't meet the standard	❌
Product Used:	8mm Flat Polyester Laces + Cotton-Blend Crew Socks, Sublimation/Heat-Transfer Printing, Custom Branded Box Packaging
Order Volume/Scope:	200 pairs of laces + 200 pairs of socks (coordinated sets)	✅
The Big Win:	Delivered to Rotterdam before deadline; employees wear them with pride

Who is Royal Vopak? The Critical Crossroads of Global Infrastructure

Royal Vopak is the world's leading independent tank storage company. Headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and operating across more than 23 countries, Vopak provides the infrastructure that keeps global supply chains moving: storing and handling chemicals, fuels, gases, biofuels, and new energy feedstocks at ports around the world.

The numbers reflect the scale. In fiscal year 2025, Vopak generated just under €1.92 billion in revenue, employing nearly 5,000 people across its global network. The company has been operating for over 400 years and serves more than 1,000 customers worldwide.

Vopak's internal culture reflects the same standards it applies to its infrastructure: Trust, Collaboration, and Courage. When the Netherlands business unit launched a transformation program running through 2028, those values needed a tangible expression.

Vopak's Challenge: What to Use for Employee Motivation?

The NL transformation program needed a recognition gift worthy of the employees driving it: the people cutting costs, improving efficiency, and building real value for the business over a multi-year initiative.

The requirements were specific. Vopak's primary brand color is deep blue (#0a2373). For this project, orange (#fc7000) was added as a deliberate nod to Dutch national identity: the colors of the Netherlands worn by the people driving the program.

Both had to be executed with precision. The quality had to be high enough that the item functioned as a collector's piece, with potential to be used with clients and partners beyond the initial run. An 80/20 male/female recipient profile shaped the design direction.

Vopak had already tried to source the gift locally. Regional suppliers in the Netherlands didn't meet the quality standard. That's when they reached out to Laced Up.

Laced Up's Solution: Memorable Messaging for 100s of Employees

The project started as a sock order. By the time the design conversation was complete, Vopak had chosen a coordinated set of custom laces and crew socks (a combination they hadn't originally considered).

Laced Up presented more than 12 shoelace design concepts built precisely to Vopak's brand specs, working from the company's official guidelines, AI/EPS/PNG asset files, and exact hex color values. The concepts spanned arrow patterns, splatter designs, gradient wordmarks, threaded constructions, and repeating textmark patterns carrying Vopak's brand tagline: "We help the world flow forward." Vopak's internal design team had developed their own concepts for the laces. They selected Laced Up's.

The final laces were 8mm wide flat polyester at 124cm, built to hold crisp printed detail at that width. The crew socks were produced in Vopak's deep blue, with bold orange sport stripes and the Vopak chevron logomark rendered cleanly on the calf through heat-transfer printing: a process that dyes fabric all the way through rather than applying a surface layer.

Both products were packaged in custom branded boxes displaying the Vopak logo and arrow pattern, with the laces visible through a window cutout. The set arrived as a unified gift: two products, one identity.

Laced Up delivered both items to Rotterdam the first week of January 2026, well ahead of Vopak's January 21 deadline.

Honest Feedback (Vopak's Comment After the Fact…)

"We are very happy with the laces!" — Julia, Marketing & Communications Leader, Royal Vopak NL

The delivery landed as intended. Employees received the gift and wore it. For a recognition program designed to reward genuine performance, the measure of success is simple: did people value what they received?

Vopak's answer came in how the relationship developed after delivery. Based on the quality of the finished product, Julia agreed to introduce Laced Up to communications and marketing contacts across approximately 20 Vopak global business units. A company with operations in 23 countries has recurring branded gifting needs at the divisional level, and Laced Up proved to be up to the challenge.

Parallel Case Study: 2 Orgs That Achieved Similarly Awesome Results

Vopak isn't the only organization that came to Laced Up with a specific employee gifting need and a quality bar that local options couldn't clear. Two others worth knowing about:

RevelXP needed a coordinated socks and laces kit for 259 employees, timed to land midway through the college football season. Laced Up handled design, custom packaging, and direct-to-employee fulfillment across 28 states, shipping each kit individually so Revel didn't have to.

Read the case study here.
Spafinder, the global wellness and spa gifting company, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026. They wanted a custom lace design to mark the milestone for employees: something true to the brand's iconic white-and-pink identity. Laced Up developed five concepts before Spafinder selected the final direction for their order of 200 pairs.

Read the case study here.

How Laced Up Delivers Superior Employee Incentive Gifts Every Time

Employee incentive gifts serve one job: making the recipient feel genuinely recognized. A product that ends up in a drawer doesn't do that job.

Three things make the difference consistently.

Design built to brand spec. Laced Up presented 12+ concepts built precisely to Vopak's guidelines and hex color values. Vopak's internal design team had developed their own options. They chose ours.
Manufacturing quality that holds up. Heat-transfer printing dyes fabric all the way through. 8mm flat polyester laces hold detailed pattern work cleanly. These are the reasons Vopak's regional suppliers couldn't deliver and Laced Up could.
Delivery on deadline. Vopak needed the order in Rotterdam by January 21. Both products shipped by December 31 and arrived the first week of January.

Since 2012, we have served global brands like Beats, Nike, Puma, 1800-Tequila, Barebells, and more. Your brand could be next.

Ready to build something your people will actually wear? Reach out today to get started on your project.