Having devoted much of his personal and professional life to minimising waste, he knew the amount of waste generated each time he opened a pack of crisps was a challenge that had to be tackled. Excessive packaging, packs littering the streets, and waste going to landfill were just some examples of what spurred Del on to create Spudos – the unpackaged, unseasoned crisp brand that has now disrupted the multibillion-pound snack market in the UK.
Having worked with a crisp consultant – yes, really – to nail down the product they wanted, Del and crisp collaborator Chris Neal turned their attention to finding a sustainable packaging option that matched the Spudos ethos.
Eco Flexibles has been on hand throughout the Spudos journey from daydream to disruptor, guiding, advising, and managing the development of fully functional and 100% home compostable flexible packaging.
Collaboration has been critical to the Spudos journey and Eco Flexibles has provided the market knowledge, industry insight, and technical guidance that has helped Del realise his dream.
This has proven to be invaluable, as launching a crisp business that uses reusable and compostable packaging was no mean feat. It has involved re-educating a market that consumes upwards of 6 billion bags of crisps a year, most of which end up as waste destined for landfill or incineration.
With a farm sourced in the UK to sustainably produce vegan and gluten-free crisps, this would all be in vain if the packaging didn’t stand up to the same scrutiny.
From the first iteration of home compostable bags that ripped too easily to custom-made bags that became brittle when the weather turned too cold, Spudos has been on a journey of discovery and improvement, all the while in partnership with Eco Flexibles.
Through this continued partnership and collaboration, a laminated flexible packaging structure that is strong, greaseproof, and airtight has been engineered. The bags also feature a compostable zip lock.
While this has tapped into the zeitgeist for recyclable, largely paper-based materials, as evidenced throughout much of the rest of the crisp market, the unique way Spudos delivers products to consumers demands a more robust packaging solution, but which nonetheless upholds the brand’s ethos.
Spudos has achieved fully functional packaging that is entirely home compostable, including the zip lock. Del’s dream is now a reality and UK consumers are able to enjoy the snack they love without fear of negatively impacting the environment.
Eco Flexibles is committed to delivering packaging solutions that minimise resource use and eliminate waste from the supply chain. For start-up and disruptor brands such as Spudos, this is hugely valuable and gives them peace of mind that they are collaborating with a packaging supplier that shares their aspirations and goals.
The partnership between Spudos and Eco Flexibles continues, as the product and its packaging are refined and improved to align all consumer touchpoints in the pursuit of sustainable snacking.
This has also coincided with an appearance on BBC One’s Dragon’s Den, where the Dragons were won over by Del and his work to make crisps a more sustainable and ultimately enjoyable treat. This culminated in Spudos receiving a substantial investment from Deborah Meaden AND Peter Jones to take the business to new heights.
“We eat 6 billion bags of crisps every year in the UK alone and the resulting packaging has become synonymous with waste and littering in the UK. With traditional packs taking many decades to decompose, the only viable option up until now has been to send them to landfill or incinerate them.
We needed, to do something about this. Having fully home compostable bags and sachets that decompose in a matter of weeks, instead of decades, was essential to support truly sustainable snacking.
With Eco Flexibles as our partner on this journey, we have been able to make genuine headway and change habits that will improve lives and ultimately lead to a sustainable future.”
Del Currie, Spudos Founder