Officials at Katy-based Igloo Products Corp. and Walmart said their companies have been business partners for 40 years. To celebrate this partnership, the companies Thursday unveiled a new line of Igloo coolers exclusively for sale at Walmart.

Senior product manager Meghan Harris said the Overland series of coolers come in four sizes: 25-quart, 50-quart, 52-quart, and 72-quart. Harris said the 52-quart model has staged walking handles and wheels for easy transportation.

All coolers have a bottle opener in the lid, a new feature. Harris said the coolers also have holes on the front and back sides, enabling a user to bungee-tie other objects, such as towels, for easier transportation. She said extra-thick foam walls increase ice retention and provide better cooling performance. Harris said while a lot of things go into measuring the performance of a cooler, there is no industry standard for that.

Factors affecting cooler performance can include how users actually use the cooler. People might leave their coolers in the garage, or in storage, until it’s time for use. Harris said one tip is to bring the cooler inside the house the night before it is to be loaded. She said the company has a Cooler 101 series of YouTube videos offering tips and best practices.

While larger Igloo coolers typically have a drainage hole, Harris said all the Overland series coolers have such holes. She said research showed that consumers wanted such a hole on the smaller coolers as well.

“This has been the most exciting and most challenging thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Harris said, adding that a fifth unit is planned for 2023.

While officials held their unveiling ceremony Thursday, just before the end of April, Harris said the products have been available for purchase in March.

“I’ve been in multiple Walmarts recently, and they can’t keep them on the shelves,” Harris said.

The idea for the Overland series came when Igloo and Walmart officials realized that Walmart sells three levels of coolers, but needed a product line to fill that middle range.

Igloo officials went to work designing a new cooler line. Igloo made an initial outlay of approximately $14 million and hired 90 new employees over the time it needed to design and develop the products. Walmart and Igloo officials Thursday touted how the products were American-made.

Igloo president and CEO Dave Allen said the company does a lot of individual lines for customers, but the Overland series is the largest initiative for a customer, given the investment.

While typical project development takes about a year from Walmart commitment to the product actually making it to the shelves, Harris said the pandemic stretched things out to about 18 months.

“We challenged everyone on this project,” Harris said. “We pushed everybody way their past comfort zone.”

Igloo was formed in 1947 in Houston and evolved into the cooler products business. Igloo in 1979 first moved to its current Katy location from its former location in West Houston. In 2004, Igloo constructed its second building in Katy.

Allen has been with Igloo for about three-and-a-half years. He said the company is doing well in the market yet has a lot of room to continue to grow.

“We make plastic boxes,” Allen said. “A lot of people can replicate that. You can’t replicate our culture. We have a lot of authenticity for selling coolers for 75 years and that’s a big part of what we’ve tapped into.”