Cash's Awards

You may never have heard of this Frankston-based business, but each year when millions of Australians tune into Grand Final Day to witness who will take home the Premiership, Cash’s Awards work is the star of the show. Weaving their metal manufacturing magic to create the AFL Cup every year since its inception, Cash’s also proudly crafts the Brownlow Medal and other sporting prizes.

Tucked away in Melbourne’s south-east, the metal manufacturer has been producing medallions, pins, key rings, badges and service awards since the late 1990s. And now their key rings and pins are some of Parliament Shop’s most popular products!

Manufacturing is in the blood of Managing Director Vin Formosa, who has worked in the industry since he was 14 years old. In 40 years, he has seen a lot of Australian production move offshore over the years, but Cash’s focus on local manufacturing has never wavered.

“What sets us apart is our quality and service – everybody wants quality and service,” he says.

As the company’s leading man and proud Australian, Vin’s efforts at Cash’s are consistently centred around innovating and finding new ways to deliver customers quality local goods, and with a made-to-order focus, no job at Cash’s is the same.

It was this very ethos that came into play when making Parliament Shop’s Dual Flag Pins. The story behind creating these colourful pins is one of tenacity and pride. Despite having never produced multi-coloured products at such a large scale in Australia, Cash’s defied odds and found a new casting solution that has seen them deliver over 50 different pins you can now find in-store.

"Making these products in the generic, conventional way by hand painting them would be impossible. So we thought okay, let's come up with a way of making them in Australia by utilising our casting techniques,” says Vin.

“We make up a metal surround, and then we print the label and insert it into the frame itself. So you still get a multi-coloured made-in-Australia product, but it's able to be made economically and reasonably efficiently.”

This brand new chapter has not only been a 'wow’ moment for Vin, but ultimately, allowed Cash’s to create another piece of Aussie magic – a piece that can belong to anyone thanks to Parliament Shop.