First launched in 2007, the International Pingus are awarded to licensees, agents and retail partners to celebrate achievement across eight categories of the licensing industry, including the agent of the year.

The Agent of the Year went to Cocoban, the company's agent for Korea for its work across all of Hit's brands. Cocoban has significantly raised the level of awareness of Thomas and Friends in Korea, making it the number one boy's pre-school brand in the country.

Among the other seven categories, Hit Entertainment awarded the following agents, licensees and retail partners a 2010 International Pingu:

Food & Beverage Licensee of the Year - BIP, Germany, for Bob the Builder confectionary

Hard Goods Licensee of the Year - Learning Curve, EMEA, for its Thomas Wooden Railways

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Soft Goods Licensee of the Year - Casco Blue, Australia, for its Thomas & Friends range of apparel

Live Event of the Year - CPLG, Benelux, for Thomas Weekend

Attraction of the Year - Pleasure Cast, Japan, for Thomas Town Attraction, Shin-Masatu

Third Party Promotion of the Year - Sumitomo, Japan, for its Pingu and Sumitomo promotion

Retailer of the Year - Mueller, Germany, for its support of Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends

And the Merit Award Winners are:

Food & Beverage Licensee of the Year - Ceres, South Africa, for its Barney fruit juice

Soft Goods Licensee of the Year - Everfitt, Latin America, for its Barney apparel