Just Eat announces fund to support uptake of Earthshot Award winning Notpla packaging for Irish restaurant partners

• Just Eat launches €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.

• Notpla packaging will be available from food vendors in the Aviva Stadium for Leinster’s Champions Cup fixture vs Racing 92 on Saturday 21st January 2023 to coincide with the launch.

• Just Eat will also partner with the RDS to make Notpla packaging available at all Leinster Rugby home games at the RDS from now until the end of season.
  
  

Just Eat has announced the launch of a €50,000 fund as part of a price-match initiative to further promote the roll-out of seaweed coated takeaway packaging from recent Earthshot UK Climate Prize winners Notpla, across its restaurant partner network in Ireland. The prestigious Earthshot Prize awarded by Prince William in London last month has provided Notpla with a grant to scale up its sustainable business further in 2023. The Just Eat Notpla boxes are lined with a coating which is unique in the way it replaces usual plastic, or bio-plastic, lined takeaway containers commonly used in the food industry. The 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 packaging will be available for purchase by Just Eat’s restaurant partners at the same price as equivalent traditional packaging. The price-match initiative has been designed to offset some of the associated costs for restaurant partners seeking to make sustainability packaging available to their Irish customers.

To coincide with the launch of the initiative, and in acknowledgement of Just Eat’s sponsorship with Leinster Rugby, Notpla packaging will be made available from selected food vendors operating at the Aviva Stadium as a once off for the Leinster’s Champions Cup clash against Racing 92 taking place on the 21 st January 2023. Beyond this, the packaging will be rolled out for food vendors at the RDS for all of Leinster’s remaining home fixtures this season. The fund, which is the first of its kind for Just Eat in Ireland and has a value of €50,000 will enable restaurant partners to purchase the new Notpla packaging for no additional cost to its standard packaging options. This initiative has been developed to aid Just Eat’s restaurant partners in reducing their use of single use packaging and support the development of a more sustainable food delivery sector in Ireland.

Robin Clark, Senior Global Director, Partner & Partnerships Marketing, ESG & Sustainability at Just Eat Takeaway.com, said:

“We are constantly looking for ways to move the needle and make a meaningful impact when it comes to sustainability, not only for our own business but for our restaurant partner ecosystem as well. Our partnership with Notpla, which now spans six markets including Ireland, plays a critical role in our strategy to help build a more sustainable future for the food delivery sector. By launching this fund, which is designed to help our restaurant partners adopt more environmentally friendly products and practices, we are able to influence operations not directly in our control.”

Amanda Roche-Kelly, Managing Director, Just Eat Ireland added:

“As a business that’s very proud of our operations in Ireland, we’re fully cognisant of the Irish Government's ambition to meet certain sustainability targets over the coming weeks, months and years. If we can play even in the smallest role in supporting that 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.”

Notpla co-founder, Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez also added:

“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.”

“It’s an exciting time as we continue our mission to make packaging disappear. By scaling production of our coated board to new heights in 2022, we’re now in a position to replace single-use plastic food packaging at an industrial scale - proven by large-scale events such as Leinster’s upcoming match at the Aviva Stadium."

Irish restaurant partners interested in buying the Notpla takeaway boxes can do so via the Just Eat Partner Webshop here.