| On Saturday 25 January, the annual celebrations for the Chinese New Year officially begin. Food plays an important role, with many dishes eaten for symbolic purposes. Some foods, such as spring rolls and dumplings, are consumed for luck and hopes for the prosperous year ahead. Other dishes, such as rice balls, are eaten to symbolise family and togetherness during this festive period. Here are 8 lucky packaging you can use to attract luck this coming Chinese New Year. |
Bringing flavour and life to Byron Bay cafe scene, Zentveld’s is a roastery and plantation with a proud reputation for offering newly Australian estate coffee that promotes sustainability and ethical practices.CHALLENGECoffee cups are estimated to be the second-largest contributor of waste after plastic bottles. Standard paper cups feature a thin plastic or bioplastic lining, and require specialist recycling as it is not easily recyclable. Zentveld’s continues to take steps in becoming an environmentally responsible business, and were looking for a takeaway cup to support their sustainable objectives. SOLUTIONZentveld’s have now joined efforts to make a difference by taking on Castaway® plastic free paper cups and committing to diverting takeaway cups from landfill. Wanting their cups to be easily identified and recyclable, opting for Plastic Free Paper Cups was a sustainable option, with the cups able to be recycled within current waste streams.
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IMPACTProviding an environmentally friendly and viable alternative to standard coffee cups, the barrier layer of the cup is a high performance, water-based dispersion coating, meaning it won’t compromise on strength when consuming coffee on the go. Also – being plastic free and 100% recyclable, this range gives consumers the ability to dispose and recycle through co-mingled collection, no matter where they travel to.
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Last September 2018 marked the announcement of the 2025 National Packaging Targets, by the Minister for the Environment.
As a signatory of the Australian Packaging Covenant (APCO) holding a long-term commitment to sustainability, and following a circular economy approach, MPM will be welcoming those targets via five key focus areas:
Please download the brochure attached to find out more about the Targets, and MPM stance.
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| Once upon a time street food conjured up images of greasy meals that were likely to send you to the Emergency Room, but these days street food is an art form of its own, set to rival the menus of fine dining restaurants. Convoys of food trucks and stands allow hungry Australians to refuel on the go without sacrificing quality or taste. Dishes that will spice up any menu Eat your way around the world with Castaway® authentic recipes! Expect mouth-watering dumplings, burgers, paella and more… |
This street food dim sum from Beijing is an authentic type of bao bun that puffs up in the pan. You can fill with minced chicken, pork or prawns if you don’t want to go vegetarian.
Our EnviroBoard® food clams are a great way to serve your buns. Stick in a fork or chopsticks by EnviroCutlery™.
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Copy the latest Korean street food trend with ultra-crisp, double-fried chicken, a quick kimchi slaw and lashings of sticky chilli sauce.
Our Rediserve® Food Clams are available in White and Brown kraft. Make sure you have enough Serv-Rite® napkins dispenser is well stocked up.
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The prawns in this delicious paella may not be essential but they do make it extra special for a Saturday night our the markets with friends.
Our SealPak® Meal Pails come with or without handles. Stick in a fork and knife by EnviroCutlery™.
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Bring the warmth of South-East Asia to your kitchen with this popular Vietnamese street food – known as Phở bò in Vietnam.
Our heavy weight food containers come with a lid. Add a pair of EnviroCutlery™ chopsticks and spoon to each bowl.
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Move over, Bubble tea. The cool new trend in Asian sweets is Thai rolled ice cream.
La Fruita® Ice Cream cups offer an attractive option for the presentation of this dessert to your customers. Pair it with a teaspoon by EnviroCutlery™.
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Stand out from the crowd!Having your own brand in front of your customers while they’re eating, drinking or transporting your product is the perfect opportunity to get your brand out there! At Castaway®, we have the unique ability to create custom designed and custom printed products over a wide range of materials. You can get your Rediserve® trays, SealPak® pails, paper straws, and napkins branded with Brand Builders® custom printing services. Get in touch with our team and find out how we can bring your ideas to life! | ||
The Golden Bean Coffee Roasters Australia and New Zealand coffee roasting competition slurped its way through the scenic town of Port Macquarie, for the 14th time from Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th of November, crowning an overall champion for 2018, and a runner up.
Castaway® has been one of the major Golden Bean sponsors for the last eight years. Fine food, beer, coffee and more coffee were a huge part of the event. Golden Bean Roasters Competition & Conference provides a great bonding and networking opportunity – it was very refreshing to catch up with roasters and suppliers from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
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| The medieval themed-awards evening gave us an opportunity to whip out our knight costume. We’ll admit… the many beers also helped keep the espresso jitters at bay! | |
Congratulations go to Coffee Snobs who took the top gong and edged out more than 120 Australian and New Zealand coffee roasting businesses to claim the Championship trophy. With an impressive track record from previous Golden Bean awards (2017 Overall 2nd runner up), it’s great to see these guys recognised for their excellent coffee and service.
Equal Congratulations to the Runner Up, Bellissimo Coffee!
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| You know it’s a good day when your only worry is “coffee or tea?” | Judging, day two at 2018 Golden Bean. ?credit @quistscoffee |
Coffees were judged in 10 different main categories, three of which were divided into sub-categories for smaller and larger companies. Roughly 210 delegates were in attendance, which is a new record compared to last year.
 The calibre of coffee at this year’s Golden Bean was exceptional, we tasted some incredible coffee. |
With over 1,400 individual entries in this year’s Awards, it’s solid proof Australia and New Zealand’s Coffee Roasting Industry is remarkably vibrant, innovative and ever growing.
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| 2018 Golden Bean Winner | Huge congratulations to all Gold Medal winners! |
Coffee Snobs
Bellissimo Coffee, QLD – Panama Esmeralda
ONA Coffee, ACT – ‘CM Selections’ Unico
Jibbilittle Roasting Co, NSW – Village 8
Paradox Coffee Roasters, QLD – Purple Rain
Beck and Call Coffee, WA – Ethiopia Wolichu Wachu
Rush Roasting Co, NSW – Rush Decaf
Nats Coffee, NSW – BOP Carbonic Maseration
Small Franchise/ Chain: White Mojo, VIC – Cosima
Large Franchise/ Chain: Nine Bars, WA – Aroma Café
Small Franchise/ Chain: ONA Coffee, ACT – Black Betty
Large Franchise/ Chain: Latitude Coffee, QLD – Tiger Blend
Small Franchise/ Chain: ONA Coffee, ACT – Thuti Natural
Large Franchise/ Chain: Black Bag Roasters, VIC – Lazzio Medium Roast
ONA Coffee Roasters
Nine Bars
The complete results, including all Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists across all categories is available on the Golden Bean Facebook page.
Winning Golden Bean is a major business boost considering there is a lot of media exposure before and after the event. You have an opportunity in the pipeline. Congratulations! Now what? From displaying the awards in-premises, to printing your medal tally on your coffee bags or cups, to promoting your success on social media – there are several ways you can utilise to market your brand and your success.
At Castaway®, we have the unique ability to create custom designed and custom printed products over a wide range of materials. Custom branding offers many advantages such as communicating your achievement, building customers’ loyalty and showcasing your award-winning coffee.
Get in touch with our team and find out how we can bring your ideas to life!
MPM Marketing Services and its employees support a number of charities, such as the Ronald McDonald House South East Queensland (RMH SEQ). The South Brisbane House – located across the road from the Queensland Children’s Hospital first opened its doors in 2016 to provide support, care and accommodation for families whose babies are born prematurely, or whose children are undergoing treatment.
Moving away from home to care for a newborn or sick child can be difficult and stressful. That is why the RMH SEQ’s team are available to make each stay a little easier. At RMH SEQ, it is important that families have home cooked meals during their stay. The charity opens up the opportunity for corporate or community groups to cook for these families on a weekly basis and also relies upon the community to assist with raising much needed funds to support the ongoing demand for their services.
We caught up with Tamara Angus – Facilities Manager at Ronald McDonald House South East, to discuss their mission and vision for the future.
To support the ever-changing needs of seriously ill or injured children and their families.
Ronald McDonald House South East Queensland has existed for 27 years.
I have worked with families for over 20 years in charity and not for profits. I started here 7 years ago to support families while they stayed with us. I changed roles and now work in managing and maintaining our facilities and buildings.
The families! I feel I can make difference to families at a very stressful time in their lives. I have always said I get paid in smiles and if I make one person smile each day I am very rich.
Being able to meet the needs of families is what keeps the innovations flowing. Due to the difficult situations our families are dealing with, we need to make this experience stress free. The team works hard to make resources stretch and donations are our life blood. When the essentials are donated it means we can buy the nice to have things for families.
The partnerships that make a huge impact in a very quiet way. Being able to provide containers for families to take a meal to the bedside of a child, or store a meal for a mum who is taking a quick break away from a child in ICU. Providing families with experiences and access to events they have never dreamed off.
I have been with RMH SEQ for 7 years and Castaway products have always been here. For every single Make A Meal dinner there are plates, cups, cutlery and containers. It is a vital part of the dinners and without Castaway we would have had to wash a lot of plates. These donations have been used across all four RMH SEQ sites including Herston, South Brisbane, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital and the Gold Coast.
Warren Finegan has been the RMH SEQ point of contact for a number of years. Warren has been very supportive of the charity and helped us achieve our mission with donations on a regular basis.
Reliability. We have never had to wonder where the next order would come from. We requested goods and they were delivered.
Generous, quality and supportive
We depend on our team of dedicated volunteers to help us run our programs and support families going through some of the toughest times. RMH SEQ has a selection of over 30 diverse and rewarding volunteer positions across our programs in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast to suit your interests and meet the needs of seriously ill children and their families. If you’re over 18 years of age, available to commit for 6 or more months and want to volunteer please email volunteering@rmh.org.au or call (07) 3845 1620.
Each day we provide essential accommodation and support services to seriously ill or injured children and their families. To keep the doors open for families to stay together at RMH SEQ, we rely on the generous support of organisations, community groups and individuals. Please visit our website for more information www.rmhc.org.au/seq
In the coming weeks we’ll be reaching out to the public to help support our Christmas appeal to assist us in raising much needed funds for RMH SEQ. Visit our Facebook page for more information www.facebook.com/RMHSEQ
For more information, visit the Ronald MacDonald House website: www.rmhc.org.au
There is a huge opportunity for catering operators to grow their sales during Christmas and New Year, whether it’s by adding Christmas-inspired hot drinks to the menu or hosting special Christmas events.Here are five of our favourite picks this season | ||
 A simple way to create a magical Christmas table is to use red or green napkins. Tailored to suit all budgets and styles, our biodegradable collection of “Christmas” napkins are designed to provide catering operators and food-service professionals with everything they need to make the Christmas dining experience memorable for their customers. We offer a wide range of solutions and can help you this Christmas with any packaging requirements – from lunch to dinner, to cocktail or happy hours and everything in between. Our Elegance® range of napkins add a note of fun and glamour to your table setting, perfect for a hassle-free Christmas celebration! |  | |
Elegance® Dinner NapkinsMix and match colours such as pine green and red for a fantastic Christmas party. Measuring 400 x 400mm, Elegance® 2 ply napkins come in a wide range of colours to suit your specific needs and complement the décor of any establishment. WHAT WE LIKE MOST:
| Elegance® Cocktail Napkins, Quarter FoldThinking of hosting a social cocktail event for your end-of-year gathering? Make sure your wait team places cocktail napkins on their serving trays to be handed to guests with their appetisers and drinks. WHAT WE LIKE MOST:
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 Table covers make any dining occasion feel more special, and create a lovely canvas for your food. They also protect your tables, meaning less cleaning, better hygiene and more time for your guests. Whether you are looking to creating a Winter wonderland, a gorgeous coastal Christmas or a rustic natural Christmas theme throughout your space, our range of Parego® table covers are made for mixing and matching with the rest of our Tabletops® collection.
|  Parego® Place MatsWhether you choose a white scalloped edge (and pair it with a red or green napkin), or a Ritz-edge placemat, and add your own decorative touches, your table is sure to contribute to the Christmas spirit in your café or business. Embossed for a premium look and feel, this range will appeal to a broad range of customers and settings.
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 Keep expensive and fragile stemware safe from breaking by switching to Elegance® wine glasses! From Tropical Punch to Champagne Mimosa, make sure you have the right festive drink to serve. Elegance® Wine GlassesChampagne flutes are a must have for nearly any event or party! Elegance® champagne flutes feature a stylish design including stems, high transparency and a trendy shape. | ||
Brand Builders® Custom-PrintingMake your tabletops and drinkware work a little harder with Brand Builders® custom-printing. This is an effective way to promote your brand and reinforce your image. For a small investment they make a great impact.
| Our in-house experts can create a design that is perfectly suited to your business or industry – traditional, contemporary, humorous or classic… the possibilities are endless! For more information or to place an order, please contact MPM Marketing Services. | |
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It would seem that eating inside a bricks-and-mortar restaurant is not the favoured place to eat these days. The food truck trend has swept across every state, from regional cities such as Ballarat to metropolis like Melbourne. Food markets have been popping up (and down) over different neighbourhoods and this juicy food trend is here to stay!The culture of street foodConsumers love it because it’s authentic and they can be assured their food is being cooked and served safely, as this is often done in front of them. As more and more cuisines come on-trend, consumers’ tastes continue to develop and this is a demand street vendors and city councils recognise. Food vans are a versatile, fun and practical way to tempt people’s tastebuds with a unique food menu. Go to a festival and the food vans will be there. Head to a major sporting event, community gathering or even the centre of town on a Friday night and the chances are you’ll see the vans parked, smell the tantalising aroma and watch as people rush to sample their creations. Convenience above allEating on the run can be tricky. Great food needs quality food packaging supplies to serve in and that’s where our team at Castaway® Food Packaging can assist. Make it easy for your consumers with our Sealpak® range of food pails and RediServe® trays! Both ranges are made from responsibly sourced, high quality food-grade paper board, and are recyclable – offering a great solution for any food vendor looking to reduce their environmental impact. A range for every flavourWalking through market stalls and, most recently, Eat Street Northshore we’re always delighted to see the innovative ways our customers have been using our products to serve up their delicious treats. Whether you’re serving up piping hot chips, terrific tacos, audacious stir fries, a gourmet hamburger, a steak sanga or a dessert – a RediServe® tray is your solution. Continuing through the seafront area, we’ve also seen our Sealpak® pails filled with Japanese Chicken Karaage & Rice. Get your hands on some local barramundi – crumbed or grilled. Need we go on? Whether you decide to go with our range of Sealpak® food pails or RediServe® trays (or both) – the products are truly versatile, and ideal for serving a wide variety of food… the possibilities are endless! Efficiency at all costsConsumers of every age bracket are documenting their opinions and the details of their food truck orders with selfies, tweets and posts. This puts a little more pressure on today’s vendors to connect with modern consumers and still fit functionality and sustainability with style in their offerings. Packaging is expected to deliver compactness and durable barrier protection, all while maintaining the lowest carbon footprint. Sealpak® food pails and RediServe® trays are suitable for both hot and cold food, and are leak-resistant. As vendors have come to expect, not only are their designs aesthetically pleasing, but they are also easy to store, stack, serve, and carry. | Sustainability top-of-mindYou may think this demand only relates to food, however packaging is now an issue many people are taking note of. Due to numerous high-profile campaigns in the news on environmentally focused issues, consumers are now also conscious of the environmental impact of the packaging they’re using. The As the impact of packaging grows, products that include recyclable materials offer a compromise that can benefit both the consumer and the environment.
Paper – a Top Pick for recyclable packagingThere needs to be a change in mindset in how we handle waste and source materials for our products and packaging. As a manufacturer, we have a responsibility to do something different. To achieve this, all paper material for the manufacture of products in MPM facilities is sourced from sustainable, managed plantations both locally and overseas. At MPM Marketing Services, we believe a truly sustainable approach is not just about using renewable materials and committing to responsible, low-impact manufacture, but is also about ensuring packaging is easy for consumers to recycle. That’s why our Sealpak® food pails and RediServe® trays are produced with material that is sustainable and renewable, and are recyclable throughout Australia. |
 It is estimated that 10 million plastic straws are used in Australia every day. They contribute to the estimated 150 million tonnes of plastic filling our oceans and by 2050 experts estimate there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish! Fortunately, more environmentally friendly solutions are available. Australia joins the straw ban movementAustralia is the latest country to join the plastic straw ban movement, following the likes of Canada, the UK and Germany. With single-use plastics being in the spotlight this year, State Governments and supermarket chains have banned single-use singlet bags and plenty of bars and food-service outlets across the country have joined the movement. Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are stepping up their war on plastic and have recently pledged to stop selling plastic straws by the end of 2018, promising to ban plastic packaging from their stores. Raising awarenessTo combat plastic straw use, campaigns such as The Last Straw are calling on venues and individuals to adopt more environmentally sound alternatives such as paper straws. So far, there have been over 200 venues all around Australia that have joined and championed The Last Straw campaign. Today’s consumer is more aware than ever, and is more likely to purchase products and services from companies whose values are aligned with their own. According to Horizon Media’s Finger on the Pulse survey, more than 81% expect companies to make a public commitment to good corporate citizenship. This is where restaurants, retailers and others in the hospitality industry can gain an edge with something as simple as a straw! |
Rethinking your brand positioningMany big-name brands have vowed to reduce ocean and landfill pollution by banning plastic straws and adopting alternatives such as paper products. Beginning in June, several McDonald’s restaurants in Australia began testing the paper straws with their customers and the feedback was mainly positive. The trial is part of a long-term effort to identify, sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic straws. A better alternative to single-use plastic strawsPaper straws are recyclable throughout Australia and New Zealand, and they will also naturally decompose in a commercial or home composting environment – making them the perfect addition to any business looking to address their carbon footprint. How long do paper straws last?Paper straws are designed to break down much faster than plastic, which can last hundreds or thousands of years. For this reason, a paper straw does not have the same impenetrable barrier to liquid |
| Our straws are made from high quality 3-ply premium paper, and are designed to last for the time it takes for you to finish a drink. If you squeeze, or play with your straw, then yes, it will break apart. If in doubt, try it out! Choose your colour optionMade with food-safe paper, glue and water-based inks these straws can be used for any cold drink and they look great too. Castaway® paper straws are the perfect complement to any beverage. We offer many styles and colours, so there is sure to be one to catch your eye!
| Pair them with our HiKleer® cups and lids!Made with recycled PET, these clear cups are designed with presentation, portion control and recyclability in mind – perfect for customers looking for ‘on-the-go’ drinking convenience! With a comprehensive selection of paper straws, spoons, and cups, you’ll find just what you need to compliment your drinks menu. Brand Builders – Promoting your brand (or event)Although implementing paper over plastic is just one step in reducing your carbon footprint, your customers will appreciate that you are taking important steps to improve your environmental impact – every time they look down to take a sip, they will remember that it was your company that made a difference. At MPM, we have the ability to create custom designed and printed products as seemingly innocuous as paper straws! Castaway® paper straws can be custom printed with your own unique logo or design – contact us for more information. For more information or to place an order, please contact MPM Marketing Services. |
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| Height Diameter | 235 mm Outer: 10 mm Inner: 9 mm | 205 mm Outer: 6 mm Inner: 5 mm | 135 mm Outer: 6 mm Inner: 5 mm |
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| Suitable for | Thicker drinks such as smoothies, milkshakes or frappes. | Carbonated drinks, water, fruit juice, iced tea or coffee, and other similar products. | Tumblers, short glasses and cocktails. |
