Sustainable food packaging company secures growth grant

By Fiona Miller

Environmentally-friendly food packaging company Ecoware will travel to Fiji this week to attend the Nurture Change Business Retreat along with five finalists as the overall winner of this year’s $50,000 Westpac Business Growth Grant. 

Out of hundreds of applications, Ecoware’s inspiring vision and growth plans to create a greener future through plant-based packaging caught the attention of the judging panel to become the overall winner.
The Westpac Business Growth Grants competition helps Kiwi businesses with vision to reach their potential and was first set up in 2015. The business retreat will provide advice from business leaders and experts such as Sir John Kirwan, Kathryn Wilson and Sir Graham Henry and offers the chance to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs.

Ecoware is New Zealand’s first carboNZero certified packaging company and has been listed for the second time as a fast growing company on the Deloitte Fast 50 Index. Co-owners James Calver and Alex Magaraggia (pictured), friends since primary school, started the company six years ago after recognising the need to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Since then, they have educated people about the harmful effects of plastic packaging on the environment and earlier this year, they teamed up with Christchurch City Council as their main packaging provider at three big council events to trial their compostable packaging which proved to be very successful.

Their passion for the environment has been further recognised by being named Most Sustainable Small Business at the Keep New Zealand Beautiful awards recently. The company’s products such as coffee cups, tableware and takeaway boxes are made from renewable resources such as bamboo and corn instead of oil-based plastics and they use non-toxic inks.
Ecoware believes in a circular economy where ‘packaging is produced by nature and commercially composted after use’ therefore their packaging is compostable and leaves less of an impact on the planet than traditional oil-based plastic. This natural cycle is helping to keep our country clean, green and beautiful.

Their latest eco-friendly release is a range of Ecocups, designed by artist DSIDE who is known for creating awareness about environmental issues. Each design features an environmental initiative including endangered animals such as the Maui dolphin and the Black Robin.
One hundred percent of all sales from this collection will go to the New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust to help save the Maui dolphin from extinction. www.ecocupcollection.co.nz