We love hearing our customer’s stories and seeing how BioPak is helping shape the world of sustainable packaging. Jeco Bowl, founded by Jess Meads and Emily Hughes, is a beautifully converted mobile food trailer that began in April 2021.
We chatted to the girls to learn about Jeco Bowl, where it all came from, and what it means to them to have environmentally friendly packaging in their business.
Who are you both and what do you guys do?
Hey! We are Jess and Emily, and we started our business, Jeco Bowl, around April 2021 (we’re quite a new start-up). We came up with our idea whilst in lockdown – we both share passions with food, and when we were on a lockdown walk, we saw that the food trailers were still up and running. We thought “how cool would it be if we went to festivals with a food trailer next year, or even just down by the beach?”
Emily had come back from Australia from doing some study abroad over there, and I (Jess) was just finishing my last year at university. We’d both been living by the coast, we loved the beach outdoor lifestyle, so we wanted to incorporate that somewhere into our business.
We just thought let’s start a food catering trailer.
When Emily was in Australia, people would go for a surf and follow it up with a smoothie or an acai bowl. They have such a health-inspired food culture over there but we’re definitely moving that way in the UK. When people think of healthy food, they don’t always think it’s going to taste good, but we wanted to show people that you can have such yummy, clean food in a really tasty way.
When did you start using compostable packaging, and what sparked this decision?
Going into Jeco Bowl, we wanted to do our best environmentally. We knew that by starting a trailer, we were going to be using packaging that people were going to be taking away with them, and so we knew we needed to find the best solution for the planet. We looked into the home compostable stuff compared to the commercial compostable stuff, and we actually put it on our Instagram stories a couple of times to see what people thought.
We also want to help educate our customers on compostable packaging and materials. We want them to know they can put the home compostable stuff in their garden, in their compost heap, or in their flower bed. Even though sometimes using BioPak might be a bit more expensive than something we could’ve just got cheap from a website, it’s just so important to us and we don’t mind spending a little bit more on something that will be doing good for the planet. Single-use packaging needs to be looked at!
Do you find that your customers are interested in hearing about packaging, where it’s come from and the benefits it has on the environment?
We’ve definitely had questions about whether it’s compostable…people are definitely interested. We’ve put information up on our socials before and had really good feedback, so I guess it just builds the bigger image for everyone.
People sometimes can’t believe where our packaging comes from, and the fact that it’s so environmentally friendly. With the bioplastic, people can’t believe that it’s not actually plastic. People are so intrigued about the different types of packaging that are out there now and how you can still have something better for the planet that looks like plastic.
Packaging is so important – our food could look amazing, but if you don’t have packaging that also looks good then there’s not much point really. That’s what we’ve found with BioPak, it’s the quality that you get every time.
Where did you guys hear about BioPak?
We follow a few people on social media over in Australia and New Zealand, and it was something they shared, to do with BioPak UK.
We also started off early on with NCASS. The fact that NCASS started their cashback and discount deal, it was just great for us. It just made complete sense for us to go with BioPak.
If you had to choose one of our products, which would be your favourite and why?
Oo that’s a good question…the clear cups are amazing. When we have our food in them, they look really lovely (also along with the BioPak straws). Also the clear bowls too, because we can see the colour of our food in them.
It just works so well to have a substitute for clear packaging that is environmentally friendly.
If there’s one word you could use to describe your experience with BioPak, what would it be?
It would have to be quality – the quality really is there.
What are your plans for the year ahead?
We’ve got some festivals coming up, food festivals, weddings, and some food markets.
We’ve also applied for a few sporting events – some marathons, triathlons (we’re both quite sporty people so it’s what we love). Our food is super healthy – smoothies, we do protein shakes, we serve porridge, and we think our healthy foods would go down so well here. We’d love to get into some sports events!
Are there any tips you could give companies that haven’t yet made the switch to no plastic products, or are maybe thinking about it but aren’t sure where to start?
We’re a start-up, and we’ve been able to do it from the start. We thought that it aligned with our values and that it was basically a key thing that we needed to do. If we were able to do it, then if you’re a bigger company then you should absolutely make the switch. It’s something so important, and it should be a priority.
We found that being an NCASS member, having the cashback option and having a bit of money off made it so appealing and super easy!
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our products, please contact our friendly sales team here.
