Another reason to love your Just Eat Friday takeaway
Just Eat will support uptake for Notpla’s sustainable packaging among it’s Irish restaurant partners with €50,000 fund…
(Header Image Credit: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)
So, plastic packaging is bad for the environment. This is not news. We have been speaking about the challenges associated with it since….well, since we invented it.
It is a massive, global problem that does not appear to have a simple solution. It has a catastrophic impact on animal, marine, and human life. In short, it seems that there is no upside to plastic.
We may sometimes want to consider the amount of food it preserves during transport – isn’t that a good thing? But why must we still transport so much food from the other side of the world at all, when much of it can be grown locally? And why must our foods have so much unnecessary packaging? Even when it comes in a cardboard box, it’s very often then wrapped in cellophane and ultimately placed into a plastic bag.
So, it’s far from a simple story. Ireland generated 1.12 million tonnes of packaging waste in 2020, which was the fourth year in a row that Ireland’s packaging waste generation exceeded one million tonnes. It is a universally recognised (and urgent!) fact that we must dramatically reduce our plastic production and consumption.
But this is not why we are here today. Right now, we want to highlight the positive steps being taken across Ireland (and Europe) to reduce plastic waste in our food industry.
No to plastic. Yes to Notpla
About a year ago, we came across UK based company Notpla who creates truly sustainable packaging solutions from seaweed and plants that disappear naturally after use. Notpla are famed for their flexible liquid packaging, takeaway box coatings, having started with single-use sachet replacements (ketchup, mayonaise etc). So far, their products have already replaced 2.8 million pieces of single-use plastic from entering our environment.
The challenge for Notpla, as for so many businesses trying to get traction in the market, is the price barrier for customers and consumers.It’s difficult to convince people to do the right thing when it impacts their pocket or bottom line. Notpla needed real support from the market to scale up the business.
Enter – Just Eat
Ireland’s number 1 food delivery brand, Just Eat, came up with a partnership opportunity that’s set to do exactly that. Just Eat is a global brand servicing and supporting over 3,500 restaurants and takeaways in Ireland and over 680,000 across the world.
Amanda Roche-Kelly, Managing Director, Just Eat Ireland
This week, we spoke to Amanda Roche-Kelly, Managing Director, Just Eat Ireland to find out about the partnership and what it means for the food delivery business.
We spoke about the challenges faced by restaurants that would love to use more sustainable packaging, but the cost of doing so is the issue.
Amanda tells us that Just Eat jumped at the chance to support the Nopla revolution (our word, not theirs!). And so Just Eat have launched a €50,000 fund as part of a price-match initiative to promote the roll-out of sustainable Notpla packaging across its Irish restaurant partner network.
How does the partnership work?
Notpla packaging will be available for purchase by Just Eat’s restaurant partners at the same price as equivalent traditional packaging. The €50,000 fund and price-match initiative has been designed to offset some of the associated costs for restaurant partners seeking to make sustainable packaging available to their Irish customers. It is hoped it will help restaurant partners to reduce their use of single use packaging and support the development of a more sustainable food delivery sector in Ireland.
Getting Onside
Image Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
To promote the product and their new partnership with Notpla, Just Eat have also done a deal with the RDS to make Notpla packaging available at all Leinster Rugby home games from now until the end of season.
Having trialed this in the Aviva Stadium for Leinster’s Champions Cup fixture vs Racing 92 in January, Just Eat has said that the launch is off to a great start and vendors are excited.
The timing couldn’t be better either as Notpla have just earned themselves the prestigious Earthshot Prize awarded by Prince William in Boston last month.
Just Eat’s Amanda is truly excited about the launch and what it will do to promote sustainability in food delivery.
“If we can play even in the smallest role in supporting {the Irish government’s} ambition, then we’re happy to do so. We know there isn’t a quick fix in tackling sustainability, however by partnering with such iconic Irish organisations such as Leinster Rugby and the RDS, we feel this is a great way to drive awareness of Notpla packaging and ultimately support our restaurant partners to make an immediate impact.”
Just Eat Notpla Packaging
The Just Eat Notpla boxes are lined with a coating which is unique in the way it replaces usual plastic/bio-plastic lined takeaway containers which are commonly used in the food industry. The Notpla boxes have been designed with a seaweed-based coating and are water-resistant and greaseproof to ensure they can be used as food packaging. The innovative packaging is both fully recyclable and will biodegrade within 4-6 weeks in a home compost, just like a piece of fruit.
Notpla co-founder, Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez is delighted with the collaboration:
Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, Notpla
“There’s an ever-increasing demand from consumers to reduce their waste, but without sacrificing the convenience of their favourite takeaway. So, we’re thrilled to see Notpla’s unique, naturally biodegradable seaweed packaging make its way into the hands of customers all around Ireland thanks to Just Eat’s support. Just Eat truly embraces the opportunity to be a force for change in the sustainable food delivery sector and this fund will ensure its restaurant partners around Ireland can reap the rewards that Notpla brings.”
Key Takeaways (!)
As the Irish consumer continues to enjoy a Friday takeaway, Amanda hopes (like we do), that once a product like this is more visible in the market (or on the menu), consumers will start to request it more. Consumers are becoming far more reluctant about bringing surplus plastic packaging into their homes and we believe that if they had alternatives, or were presented with better options, then they would make better decisions.
Amanda Roche-Kelly, Just Eat Ireland
This is a powerful message from one of our largest brands and great show of support to smaller companies looking to make impactful and scalable change for the better.
It is collaborations like this one are the key to the success of our sustainability journey. We need more brands to follow this lead and get involved in partnerships that work for everyone.
Well done to Just Eat for taking the leap of faith and congratulations to the team at Notpla!
Irish restaurant partners interested in buying the Notpla takeaway boxes can do so via the Just Eat Web shop here.
