When My Muscle Chef started losing customers due to its polystyrene delivery boxes, founder Tushar Menon realised something needed to be done.
Tushar Menon and his brother Nishant, who co-founded the online meals company back in 2013, have always been environmentally conscious – but polystyrene foam boxes were the cheapest and most commonly used delivery mode when they started out.
However, while the business was growing, there were complaints from customers about the foam boxes – especially those who lived in smaller apartments. They would report that disposing of them was both difficult and environmentally unsound.
“People had cancelled their orders due to the boxes,” Menon said. “So once we found another solution, we won many of those customers back – and received lots of thank you emails about how happy they were with the change.”
But the right solution wasn’t immediately obvious.
“We started by trying waxed cardboard, but the insulation for the food was not great,” he said.
Then the company heard about Woolcool liners, which have been used by other food delivery companies such as HelloFresh, and are supplied by Planet Protector Packaging.
These liners, which can be re-used and recycled, are produced using 100 per cent pure wool and are an insulated packaging solution for perishable goods.