New Product Offers Functionality and Design Innovation

Kingsport, Tenn. - Dec. 17, 2008 - Eastman Chemical Company announced today that its customer Gamila Products, a retail brand of Gamil Design based in Raleigh, N.C., has introduced a new collection of tea and herbal infusers named The Teastick Gems. The product line is made with Eastman Tritan™, a new-generation copolyester that balances the properties of easy processing, clarity, dishwasher durability, toughness, and heat and chemical resistance.

“We wanted a material for our new product line that offered high-heat resistance, dishwasher durability and was easy to process,” said Aly Khalifa, president of Gamila Products. “By incorporating Eastman Tritan™ copolyester, we were able to design an innovative product that met our demands as well as the demands of our consumers.

The Teastick Gems, a new three-in-one loose tea infuser, scoop and measuring device, provide optimum flow for perfect steeping right in the cup.

About Gamila Products
Gamila Products is a retail brand of Gamil Design, a product and graphic design firm in Raleigh, N.C. Its mission is to create “Designs that make you smile.”

Gamila Products chose Eastman Tritan™ for its toughness and because it offered an alternative to bisphenol-A. Additionally, its design team valued the suppleness and innovative properties of the new copolyester. The high-temperature capabilities of Eastman Tritan™ offer ease of processing as the material can sustain the fluid and simple form of the product, which negates its complex manufacturing process. The Teastick Gems are produced by injection molding Tritan™ over extra fine stainless steel mesh, encapsulating the mesh without the use of any adhesives. 

“When we looked at making a Teastick for smaller-leafed herbals, our intent was to offer the same convenience as in our stainless steel Teastick, but to refresh the design by using the best quality materials suited for the job,” Khalifa said.

The Teastick Gems have been available in two translucent colors at www.teastickgems.com since November 2008.

For more information about Eastman Tritan™ copolyester, visit www.eastman.com/tritan.
For more information about Gamila Products, visit www.gamilacompany.com.

About Eastman Chemical Company
Eastman manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics worldwide. It provides key differentiated coatings, adhesives and specialty plastics products; is a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers; and produces PET polymers for packaging. As a Responsible Care® company, Eastman is committed to achieving the highest standards of health, safety, environmental and security performance. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., Eastman is a FORTUNE 500 company with 2007 sales of $6.8 billion and approximately 10,500 employees.

For more information about Eastman and its products, visit www.eastman.com or contact Lucy Stewart, global trade media relations, at +1-423-229-4229 or globalmediarelations@eastman.com.