A trailblazing Auckland company is continuing to spearhead sustainable packaging in New Zealand by launching the country’s first compostable resealable pack.

Kokako’s Fairtrade Classic Drinking Chocolate will be available from early January 2016 in a new eye-catching 250g Econic^® compostable pack, complete with a compostable zip closure. Comprised of 40% cocoa, Kokako’s Fairtrade Organic drinking chocolate has been created for discerning palates and is sold through selected premium food and organic retailers across New Zealand, including Farro Fresh and Huckleberry in Auckland.

Kokako takes pride in being a sustainable packaging pioneer. They won the NZI National Sustainable Business Network award, Small Business Trailblazer in 2012, and have been using Econic packaging for their 2kg wholesale drinking chocolate packs since early 2014 and for their 1kg packs of coffee beans since November 2015.

Kokako Managing Director, Mike Murphy says, “We were the first organic coffee company in Auckland, founded in 2001, and we’ve always tried to find innovative and design-led sustainable ways to package our products. We hope that using Econic will encourage other companies to use the same type of packaging.”

The resealable Econic packs were purpose-designed by Convex to make it easy for consumers to re-seal the packs and keep the contents fresh.

Kokako’s Econic packs are made from three compostable films derived from sustainably-produced wood pulp and GM-free corn sources. Each film has been certified to the European and American compostability standards EN 13432 and ASTM6400. The zip closure is made from compostable materials derived from GM-free cornstarch, and is also certified to the EN 13432 standard.

Mike says that along with being very practical to use and sustainable, the new resealable Econic packs have also helped increase packing and shipping efficiencies.

He says, “The Econic packs have helped us increase our packaging productivity by reducing the amount of labour involved in getting the product into the pack. The way that the pack’s been designed to fit the 250g of drinking chocolate also allows us to pack it into a really concise box shipper, which means that we’re only shipping the product – we’re not shipping air – and that was key for us.”

Econic bags are compostable when disposed of in a composting environment containing heat, water, oxygen, soil and micro-organisms.

You can find out more about Kokako by visiting: www.kokako.co.nz