What It Takes To Build Your Own Production Facility

0:00You really need to have mapped out that whole end of life as well. So what's happening to the waste of your product and how is that being processed? Okay, happy with the product, but how are we going to ensure it ends up in the compost pile? Hello and welcome to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and building a business. I'm Shuang Esr-Shan. We're all looking for new ways to reduce plastic waste, an issue that's impacting how consumers purchase products and how founders are building businesses. According to the United Nations, we produce a total of 400 million tons of discarded plastic each year.

0:40Julia and Jordi Kay wanted to help reduce this number. Their solution? Create a plastic-free cling wrap that's going to replace traditional saran wrap and pallet wraps that we've been using for decades. Together, they launched Great Wrap in 2019, a material science company that's turning potatoes into compostable stretch wrap. Julia and Jordi have since raised over$24 million and have built their own production facility. Julia is here to share how they've developed the idea and scaled Great Wrap to gain international recognition for their impact. Julia, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me.

1:20So your partner Jordi was running a winery and you worked in architecture. In both fields, you witnessed firsthand the massive amounts of plastic waste that's created. Why did the two of you want to do this major career pivot and start Great Rap? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely funny every time we like catch ourselves walking around the factory. We're like, how did we get here? But look, I think for me working in architecture, I was really excited about design because I thought, you know, it gives you an opportunity to potentially design the future you'd like to see. but I learnt fairly early on in my career that that wasn't the case.

2:02So for me I became really obsessed with the materials I was using, making sure that I could use the most sustainable materials possible but that was really hard to do because, you know, for example, I remember visiting one timber supplier and his practices were amazing but I went out into his warehouse and just everything was wrapped in this petroleum-based plastic and then I asked him, you know, will that be recycled or, like, what's the story there? and he was like, no, like no one can really recycle these soft plastics yet. So it just goes to landfill.

2:39You know, and I think that was a real moment where I was like, oh my God, this is a big issue. And similarly for Geordie in wine, just shipping wine around the world, seeing all this plastic waste all the time. We essentially were customers and we just wanted a better product. So that's kind of how it began. And how did you tackle the research part to find something that was what you envisioned? In the really early days, like very rudimentally, like pretty much just Geordie and I really heavy on the Google. That progressed and we, you know, spent a lot of time reading science journals to find kind of roughly where we wanted to head.

3:18Then we found a contract manufacturer of a product that was not like perfect, perfectly where we wanted to go. But we were able to kind of test the demand with that and figure out that, yes, there was actually a heap of customers that would love a compostable stretch wrap in their business. And then after that, we were able to, you know, we realised we need to make this far more sustainable than it currently is. So we partnered with Monash University, which is the largest university in the Southern Hemisphere. And we kicked off a research project with them on converting food waste into a pathway to make a biopolymer.

3:58And yeah, that's been like a two or three year process. And we've learned a lot. I understand initially you wanted to leverage some of the waste from wine production. And eventually you landed on potatoes. So how was the process of researching and iterating? Yeah, I mean, obviously, like starting out with absolutely no knowledge of what we were doing, we were driven or like attracted to things we understood. So Jordi had seen a lot of in winemaking, you essentially squash all of the grapes and there's like this big grape cake that's left over. So we were like, imagine if you could use that and turn it into a bioplastic that could replace everything that we're using.

4:48I think though along the journey we realised that probably we were thinking about the problem on like way too small a level. Grapes are obviously seasonal. There are a lot of them but not enough to kind of cater for the whole world's plastic. So I think that's when we realised it probably had to be something that was, I guess, yeah, geographically abundant pretty much everywhere in the world. And that's when we sort of read a paper that was based on potato waste. And that's kind of where we kicked off from there. But I mean, still we're exploring other feedstocks as well, because I think there's really exciting opportunities in things like seaweed, CO2, products like that.

5:34And you mentioned initially working with a production partner and then you decided to build out your own facility. Why was this so important for you? Yeah, I think like we've all heard of greenwashing and kind of what can happen there. I think we learned really quickly when we were working with a production partner. It wasn't like they were trying to deceive us or anything like that. But it's hard to control another business's operating practices as a customer. Like if you want to make a product that you have true control over what goes into it, it's just going to be easier to set up a manufacturing facility.

6:12I think obviously at the time we didn't realise just quite how much is involved in setting up a factory. But that's essentially what drove it. We wanted to be able to experiment with our feedstocks and know every item that went into our products. I think also we were really excited about creating jobs too. Like sounds super simple, but like we love having a big team around us and wine and architecture usually are really connected to your product. So I think it was just kind of the way we were used to working as well. I think also with managing and building your own production facility, it comes with a lot of complexities and the need for more overhead and financial investment.

6:58So talk to us about the financial side of the journey and especially your fundraising journey as well. Definitely. So at the beginning of this journey, you know, Jordi and I don't come from, I guess, like wealthy backgrounds. You know, we had a small amount of savings that we were able to start the company with, but we've been very, very lucky from the early days to receive financial assistance from, you know, angel investors. Also, we've had a few government grants, but I think we did our first pre-seed round in 2020. And with that money, we were able to set up a pilot facility. So basically just a mini version of what we're doing now where we were able to like test out our formula, build a bit of a customer base.

7:49And since then we've done a seed round and a Series A. We closed our Series A in May last year and that was a significant round in which we were able to scale up from, you know, the pilot factory which was making 1 ,000 rolls a day to a facility where we have the capacity to make 100 ,000 rolls a day.

8:13It's been super exciting. Some of that has been equity and then we have also received asset finance as well. So it's really important for us, obviously, when you're dealing with things like machinery and physical space, like we don't want to raise equity to buy products like that. So we've been able to secure debt there, which has been really fantastic and facilitate a huge amount of growth, which would have been hard to do otherwise. Yeah. And you've raised over$24 million. A lot of the times I think investors are not just a financial support. They also come with a lot of knowledge. So what kind of qualities were you looking for in different investors and partners?

8:56Yeah, we've been super lucky there. So, I mean, I think for us, we've really always been attracted to investors who have built things themselves. You know, they have really great understanding of what it takes to start from an idea and get it into a process. So some of our early mentors was like Simon from Who Gives a Crap, amazing direct-to-consumer toilet paper. He's been, like, fantastic coaching us through people and growing a team, things like that. And then on the kind of, I guess, more physical experience with manufacturing. We've got Thomas Food, so they're a huge, huge food processing company in Australia, which has been fantastic.

9:40We've got Woolworths, which is kind of like Australia's version of like a Walmart. So really those big strategic players that understand the volumes of pallet wrap, but also stretch wrap from a consumer side as well. So we've learned a lot. And I see that there's a lot of growth potential within those investor relations and partnerships where it helps the growth of Great Wrap as well. I think a lot of founders, when they are thinking of starting something that's purpose-driven, they're also a bit concerned about profitability. What advice do you have for people who have that mental hurdle or they think that it would be a hurdle down the road?

10:24yeah it's a hard one because I think personally I don't want to sound harsh but you know you can't think of profitability and sustainability as two separate things I like the way we see it is like obviously sustainability you want to be sustainable for for the world and what you're doing but you also want to be running a sustainable business as well and that includes generating a profit and you know you don't have to sacrifice I think my advice would be just to kind of try and shift the lens. You don't have to compromise one or the other, I don't think. That's great advice. I'm joined by Julia Kay, co-founder of Great Wrap.

11:03I hope you're enjoying our conversation. And if you haven't already, please subscribe or follow Shopify Masters wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review or feedback for the show. Thanks. So we got to talk about the look of your product and also the fun branding. I think it's so important because you built a product that is going to replace the saran wrap and you've had this concept of making it fun and something that people want to display in their kitchen. So how did you approach the branding aspect and making sure that this is a product that was meant to be showcased? Yeah, it was a really fun project for me.

11:44I mean, personally, like obviously this whole process has been exciting, but it's probably been like the closest thing to architecture for me. So, you know, you're essentially trying to, I guess, cultivate a feeling or an experience when people see and touch your product. So it was really fun for me. With the actual physical product itself, the dispenser that you would have seen, it's kind of quite sculptural. I think it was just honestly, you know, based on the fact of I think even like watching my mum use a saran wrap equivalent and just kind of get it out, toss it in the shelf. It's just so throwaway that you don't even like pause for a moment to realise what you've done, what you're doing.

12:28Like it's just, it just is so mindless. And so the purpose of the dispenser was kind of, I guess, to create a bit of a stopper in that flow of actions. And you just like see this kind of crazy just shaped thing you're like oh what's going on there and I think the reason it's important is because we are trying to I guess shift a behavior here and every home in the world has a kitchen and if there is like this object sitting in a kitchen that people have one conversation about when you have friends over for dinner that's like one person's opinion that you can potentially change so we saw that as a real opportunity and exciting thing to test with the actual, I guess, like visual identity of the brand, it was quite challenging because not only do we want to be like a fun consumer brand that people can approach and trust, but we also have like a B2B customer offering.

13:23So, you know, we're talking to like the largest distributors of products in the world that they need to look at you and know that you're serious. Like you're not like just having fun essentially. So we've kind of tried to straddle fun and serious in, I guess, the way the brand looks and feels, but it's been a really fun journey. And, you know, we've only just really started launching that B2B product about two weeks ago. So I think that'll continue to evolve and grow, but definitely very fun. What were some design philosophies or pillars when you were building out the brand to make sure that different elements on your website, on social, email, the way you're communicating is all very cohesive.

14:07Yeah. I mean, I guess big pillar for us is obviously transparency. Like we like have always been, I guess, very led by the people, like we're not a brand without a face. And it's the same kind of ethos, I guess, for the way that and making materials. So I think that's driven a lot of the creative and our language, our tone of voice. We're just trying to kind of be informative rather than like too fun and kind of confusing so that you don't know what sort of you're reading essentially. And then I know that getting your first sale to someone who is a complete stranger is the hardest step for most founders.

14:49How did you get great rap into that first stranger sale? Yeah. I mean, essentially you're like, it's the same thing as like walking up to a stranger in the street and asking them for money. But look, like our first launch was really, really scrappy and like we had no idea. So Jordi and I were still working in our jobs. Jordi was making wine. I was working in the studio. I built like a website after work on Shopify, of course. But the branding looks nothing like what it did now. And essentially, we just we just put up a few Instagram posts. And within 24 hours, I don't know how, but we'd done$30 ,000 worth of sales overnight.

15:36So I think it was just like being attached to, I guess, the winemaking world on our personal, I guess, networks meant that we were exposed to a lot of people that used our product right away. But definitely that was the moment when we were like, okay, I think we could potentially quit our jobs and do this full time.

15:58So it sounds like because you were business owners prior, it exposed you to the community, which kind of helped to feed into your marketing funnel. What else was important elements that drove in different people into the great rap world in the early days? Yeah, I think in the early days, particularly Australians, they like love to see other Australians kind of just like having a go. So the fact that we'd kind of just like set up our own factory and we're trying to manufacture to this product was a really big part of our story. You know, like we had so much content just focused around that. I mean, like to the point where, you know, even like Netflix came out and saw the factory, that was a very big part of sharing that story and kind of feeds back into that, I guess, transparency piece.

16:54It's just like we are the people making the product and, you know, you can pop out and see us at the factory essentially. So that's always been a really big part of what we do. Yeah, I meant to ask, how was the appearance on, I believe the show was Down to Earth with Zac Afron. How has that impacted the growth of Great Rap? Yeah, it's been massive, massive, just like global exposure. Like we get inquiries every day from just like all across the world. And we're like, oh my God, we need to set up a factory on every continent. But it's, yeah, it's, it's super, it was a great experience. Super funny on the day because we'd pretty much just set up our manufacturing facility like the day before.

17:39So there was a lot of like behind the scenes running around, like trying to get everything to look like we were really settled. But yeah, super happy with how it turned out. What's also really interesting about Great Wraps, branding and approach is the balance for customer education and still having that fun brand identity. So how do you approach sharing your impact, sharing little bits of facts and knowledge, and still make it more digestible and entertaining for followers or whoever is on your social and website? Yeah, that's a good pickup. I'm glad you noticed because it is one of our content pillars that we do.

18:22We do focus on education. I think the process kind of behind the scenes, we have an amazing team of like biopolymer engineers. Basically, this is what happens. We have a conversation with them about a process like composting and we get the most technical answer, an accurate answer. And then we pretty much just like converse that around the team until it gets to a point where we're like, okay I could give this to my mum and she would know exactly what we're talking about.

19:00And that's been the process along the journey like it is a really complicated area and you know throughout the time that I've spent in this space there has been a lot of confusion and it like it's not good like people just go oh it's too hard I don't even want to explore compostable materials So yeah, it's very important that we give like a clear message that people can understand. So that's the process. It's quite simple, but it works for us. So easy, digestible content is an important part of the current marketing stack. Are there any other things you're experimenting with on the marketing front?

19:39Yeah, I mean, I feel like I'm like on the precipice of a whole new world of B2B marketing now. So what that looks like, I'm not sure yet. I think for us, there's like a lot of, obviously, we're working with some really amazing brands that have built already like a huge trust legacy within the market. So exploring what partnerships there will look like, I think is going to be a really big thing for us coming down the sort of next 12 months. And speaking to those really strategic relationships with different investors and retailers, what advice do you have for founders who are approaching businesses and thinking of pitching?

20:17This could be quite specific, but it's something that I've noticed and we've spent a lot of time working on recently is when we first started, it was great that we were offering a compostable product and that was kind of enough for other businesses to want to be involved. But now I think you really need to have mapped out that whole end of life as well. So what's happening to the waste of your product and how is that being processed? so for for example for us um we're talking to like the australian version of home depot essentially and they're like okay that's happy with the product but how are we going to ensure it ends up in the compost pile so we're sort of mapping out and piloting that process with a composting facility um so that that can you know be a part of our offering and i think it's important to think kind of just like zoom out from product and think about that whole process that would be my advice.

21:13So Great Wrap is also B Corp certified. What was that process like and advice for other founders who are hoping to be a B Corp company? Yeah, amazing process to go through. Obviously, like quite a rigorous process. The advice I got really early on, which I was grateful that I got from one of my very close mentors was just start as early as you can. Because yeah, like I think we've been working towards our B Corp for about probably two years and we've kind of only just got that but it look it's incredible and definitely worth doing the not only like the process of just looking through everything that that you do within your business um which you know as a founder you probably fully across all of that anyway but the community that you are then a part of is really fantastic for business like you know with launching our pallet wrap we've pretty much gone straight out to all of the B Corp companies because you just know that they're already values aligned.

22:15They are probably trying to look for a more sustainable product already. It's just things like that that is really nice to be a part of. Great to hear. I think another area for founders is the mental hurdle with launching. They want to iterate and make their product perfect, but sometimes you also need to launch and hear real life customer feedback. So any advice there to balance the two and just reach a point where you're like, this is ready to launch and we will forever iterate and develop and research as we go along? Yeah, it's a good question. And look, we haven't nailed the balance 100 % ever, I don't think.

22:58Like really early on, we probably launched products too early, which was, you know, like kind of heartbreaking to go through as well because you do get that feedback and if your product's not 100 % there it's really rough and and you know there's obviously a mental toll that that takes you know your products feel like your child to a certain extent which is not not healthy but kind of the way the way it is when you're a founder I think with this last product launch we've really um we've really pushed that out and we didn't want to go through that process again. So my advice would be probably like test your product just with your immediate team and engage their comfort for a launch because they're the people that, you know, it's important to them.

23:46They're the people that'll go, oh, look, I think this will be fine. Or I think we should wait a little bit. And I think if you go just to that outer circle, rather than just kind of internalizing, like, when are we ready to launch in your own mind, you probably may never launch because the other thing about launching, which I've just like recently gone through is, you know, like we spent all of this time thinking about launch, preparing for launch. And then that moment comes and actually that's just the beginning of the process. Like you've got to now sell this product and like, it's kind of like you've just got to the starting line.

24:19So the sooner you can get there, the sooner you can progress. And like you say, have that feedback loop. I think for us with some products, we've pre-launched kind of spoken to customers in more of a way that was like, hey, this will be a partnership. We're looking for your feedback. This is a process that we are continuing to develop. So your feedback will help us design our product. And I think that's a really good way to do it too. It means you can have those longstanding relationships. And I think consumers love feeling like they've had input into a product too. But it's the biggest challenge.

24:57And for product is not just the only area that you're iterating or developing on. I think once you're starting to produce different products, you notice how in production you can be more efficient and optimize. So what are some areas that you're focusing on now that you're three years into the business and what do you want to improve on now? Like you say, efficiencies is a really big one that we're working on at the moment. Right now, our pricing is slightly higher than we'd like it to be. And we've kind of, I guess, interrogated our processes and realized that within all of the inputs that we have and the way we're doing things, there are a lot of cost savings that we can make so that we can bring our prices down for the consumer.

25:42So that's a big, big exercise that we're going through at the moment. Also more long-term, I think our formula is probably the biggest one that we're constantly iterating on. Like the long-term piece is with that pathway that we've designed with Monash University, the idea is that we'll set up our own biorefinery on site. So what that will mean is that we're able to take local potato waste, essentially feed that to bacteria and the byproduct of that is a biopolymer that is marine degradable and home compostable as well. So that's obviously like super, super exciting for us because it means it will break down in the ocean.

26:22We'll be processing the waste on site, just like ultimate for us. But I think those are the two really big ones for us at the moment. They'll constantly change though. Sounds very exciting. And it sounds like you're We're building an ecosystem of closed-loop production that is going to take place at this facility. So super exciting. Recently, the pallet wrap has launched for corporate clients, and that's going to be available in the U.S. soon. So how are you going to scale and keep up with this global demand? Yeah, I mean, probably, yeah, definitely the U.S. is a really, really big one. I think that'll be our next factory location.

27:04I don't want to say too much, but definitely we've seen like the demand for the pallet wrap in the US is just huge. And you guys are so, so big over there. We'd actually have to have our own facility to be able to cater to you. So I think that's definitely coming down the line. It'll be big news when we do make this, like when this biorefinery happens, because it will mean that switching formula is pretty exciting. home compostable palette wraps cool, but marine degradable palette wrap, I think is just like the ultimate impact piece for us. So we're really excited about that. Yeah. I think just global expansion is pretty big on the to-do list for us.

27:45Yeah. Great wrap in every household. That's it. Yes. Thank you so much for being here, Julia. Thanks so much for having me. That's Julia Kay from Great Wrap. And thank you for joining us on Shopify Masters. Our show is produced by Megan Coyle and Gogo Zoger. Our engineers are Matt Schwartz and Miku Betlem. Benjamin Gottlieb is our supervising producer and I'm Shuang Esther Shan. And we will see you next time.