For decades, single-use food containers have been a quiet fixture of supermarket delis – practical, efficient, and largely taken for granted. They do their job well. But as expectations around waste and resource use continue to evolve, even the most familiar formats are being questioned.
For manufacturers, this shift presents a complex challenge. Plastic remains a highly effective material for food safety, durability and cost control. The issue isn’t always the material itself, but the model in which it operates. Disposable products are increasingly at odds with circular thinking.
Bonson Packaging saw that tension early. Instead of waiting for retailers or regulation to dictate change, the plastics manufacturer began exploring whether a reusable deli container system could work at supermarket scale. It meant not just rethinking the container itself, but the broader structure of design, logistics, and behaviour around it.
To bring that vision into practice, Bonson partnered with Blender to design a container that could function within a returnable ecosystem.
Future-focused packaging
Bonson has built its business manufacturing plastic packaging for the food industry. For decades, that has meant supplying reliable, cost-effective single-use formats to supermarkets, cafés, and food producers across New Zealand and Australia.
Each year, the company reviews long-term trends and asks a simple question: where do we need to be in five years’ time? Over time, conversations around reuse and circular systems became harder to ignore. The issue wasn’t simply reducing plastic, but reconsidering the model it operated within – how packaging could stay in circulation rather than being discarded after a single use.
“We actually started this whole process in 2019,” says Bonson’s Business Manager, Glenn Drake. “But it just came to a dead halt because of Covid. At that stage, no one was interested in talking about returnable products.”
When global markets began to reopen, the signals were clearer than ever. Overseas, particularly in Europe, legislation was tightening, and major brands were being required to offer reusable options.
“We went to trade fairs in Europe and they were saying that by 2027, businesses like McDonald’s and KFC, these guys must have a returnable model to offer.”
Here in New Zealand, regulation moved more slowly, but expectations were shifting. “We realised it’s going to take a while to do this. And if we didn’t get started now, we’d be on the back foot.”
For a plastics manufacturer, that meant confronting a difficult question: what role could plastic play in a future that demanded less waste, not just less material?
Partnering up to go big
Turning reuse into something commercially viable involved thinking beyond just a container. For a reusable container system to work in a live supermarket environment, Bonson needed alignment across technology providers, circular economy specialists, government partners, manufacturers, and retailers. It also meant committing to upfront investment, without certainty that the model would scale.
Bonson secured co-funding from the Ministry for the Environment and partnered with Circularity to shape the circular business model. Again Again developed the digital return platform which included smart bins and a tracking process that would underpin the container fleet.
With those pieces taking shape, one critical challenge remained: how to translate the ambition of reuse into a physical product that could perform under real supermarket conditions. That’s where Blender came in.
Digging deeper
At first glance, the brief sounded straightforward: design a reusable deli container. In reality, it was anything but.
“It seems like a simple container,” says Blender co-founder Ollie McDermott. “But underlying all of that were a lot of requirements that we had to trade off against each other to optimise the design.”
The container had to work for manufacturers, deli staff, checkout operators, and customers. It needed to slot into existing labelling systems, stack neatly in tight prep areas, withstand knocks in supermarket trolleys, and move easily through sterilisation and cleaning. It also had to feel natural in the home – easy to store, easy to wash, and simple to return.
Rather than jumping straight into product development, the design team began mapping its entire lifecycle.
“We brought together stakeholders from Bonson, Foodstuffs, Circularity, and Again Again,” says Ollie. “By tracing the journey of the container through the hands of different stakeholders, we were able to really dig deep and understand what each of their needs were.”
The design team analysed how the containers were stored, filled, labelled, and displayed. They considered where returned containers would be collected and how hygiene standards would be maintained. They also observed deli teams in-store to understand the pace, pressure, and spatial constraints of the environment.
“We unpacked the whole ecosystem of the container to understand its requirements,” says Ollie. “This highlighted aspect such as labels needing to be a specific size to still be compatible with existing printing equipment. Checkout operators preferred the label on the bottom or side. Because the containers would go through sterilisation, the QR label had to be moulded in rather than applied afterwards.
“Containers also had to stack tightly without air locking. Lids needed to be secure enough to prevent leaks, but easy enough to apply quickly during busy service periods. Surfaces had to minimise food traps to support effective cleaning and drying.”
Thinking outside the square
Once the groundwork was done, it was time to start shaping the container itself. And that meant testing a lot of ideas.
“We went through various iterations and explored numerous container designs, from square ones to round ones, to screw-on lids to hinged lids,” says Ollie. “We tested these with all of the stakeholders to get critical feedback, which helped inform the next direction we took.”
Some concepts looked promising on paper but created headaches in practice. Hinged lids solved the problem of lids going missing, but made stacking more awkward for deli teams. A tighter seal improved leak resistance, but slowed down service. Every design move had knock-on effects.
Prototypes became essential. Physical models were used to test how containers nested, how lids clipped on, and how multiple sizes could sit efficiently inside cartons and sterilisation units. These weren’t aesthetic exercises – they were practical stress tests against real retail conditions.
Gradually, a clearer direction emerged: the ‘squircle’. A soft-edged square that combined the space efficiency of a square footprint with the familiarity and functionality of a round container.
“The square shape is more modern and visually appealing,” says Ollie. “But it’s also a better use of space, and it’s still round enough for a clip-on lid to seal.”
The final form stacks cleanly in-store and at home, feels comfortable to handle, and uses a consistent lid across multiple sizes. Smooth internal surfaces help minimise food traps and support effective cleaning. Rounded corners improve durability. The seal is firm without being fiddly – secure enough to prevent leaks, but easy to close during busy service.
A brave new world
The RePlay reusable deli container system is now being trialled in selected New World stores in Auckland and Wellington.
Each container carries a unique QR code embedded through in-mould labelling, allowing it to be tracked across its lifecycle. Customers borrow a container with a tap of their card or phone at the deli counter, then return it to a smart bin in-store. A temporary $3 hold is released on return, and the system captures data on circulation, return rates and lifespan.
“The feedback on the containers has been universally good,” says Glenn. “Everyone’s loved it.”
Circular design is not new territory for Blender. “In a way that’s our default process,” says Ollie. “It’s central to sustainable thinking – looking beyond the object itself to consider materials, lifecycle, recovery, and the real-world conditions a product moves through. It’s about understanding the whole system, not just focusing on the end product.”
“It was a rewarding project,” says Ollie. “By bringing all the stakeholders together and mapping out the circular journey, we were able to design something that was genuinely fit for purpose.”
Is your idea going in circles?
For Blender, RePlay demonstrates a broader capability: guiding businesses through complex product challenges where design, operations, and behaviour intersect. From early-stage workshops to concept development, prototyping, and production-ready design, the focus remains the same – creating products that work in the environments they’re built for.
If your business is exploring new models, materials, or circular systems, the first step isn’t always redesigning the product. Sometimes it’s understanding the journey it sits within. Talk to Blender today about how we can help bring your next product or circular initiative to life.
