Master Indian Reduces Plastic by 50 Percent with New Packaging
Packaging is a bottleneck for so many businesses, and Master Indian is definitely a business where the right kind of packaging can be a make-or-break part of the business.
Our owner, Sunny Zaman, has been working on what has amounted to a very complex packaging design problem for over a year. How do you package spices so that you're using less plastic; so that the process is automatic; and so that people can see all four spice pouches through the front of the box? That was our challenge.
Seeing the spice packs is important because it communicates our unique value. Automating the process is important because you can't grow a business if you have to use a big manual labour force to produce your product. It's not a sustainable business. Finally, reducing our plastic footprint is important for reasons we think should be obvious to every consumer.
Well, after more than a year of calling manufacturers, testing machines, and trying out various packaging designs, seeing what we did like and didn't like about our competitors, we have finally upgraded Master Indian Spice's packaging and here's what we have to show for it:
1) There is 50% less plastic in the new kits, with all pouches totalling only 2 g, which is also more than 1000% less plastic than our main competitors. We're still looking at biodegradable options, but for now, we have successfully reduced.
2) The new kits are filled automatically, removing a huge growth obstacle for our company.
3) The shelf life is now over 24 months (which unfortunately means the packs don't smell delicious when you buy them, but in the end that's good because the flavour is sealed in)
4) The boxes stack for easier storage,
5) Pouring the spice mix is easier with the new pouches, which are essentially tubes.
6) From the grocery aisle, our unique value is more obvious than ever because you can see all four tubes from the package, and our PR and communications expert, Ben McFarlane, did a great job on taking photos of each dish, making them each look amazing, which is now a huge part of the box.
We're so excited to be making this step in our growth as a company, and we thank our customers, stores, and marketing partners worldwide who have made our progress this far possible!