How Dutch startup Pieter Pot is getting rid of packaging waste with circular packaging

Are you tired of packaging waste? If you find packages coming home with your orders a nuisance, then you are not alone. Packaging waste is a major part of the total global waste, and the major part of the packaging waste consists of single-use plastic food packaging.

While major e-commerce platforms and other retailers have made promises to get rid of plastic waste, it is yet to materialise in a meaningful way. However, a Dutch startup is showing that it can be done. Based in Rotterdam, Pieter Pot has built a system that allows people to do their shopping without buying packaging.

Founded by Jouri Schoemaker and Martijn Bijmolt in 2019, Pieter Pot has created a circular solution that uses reusable pots to deliver groceries. Its success could become a proof-of-concept and Schoemaker tells us about the inspiration behind it.

Getting rid of waste packaging

The idea behind Pieter Pot stems from the challenge associated with getting rid of waste packaging. Schoemaker says “nobody is happy with all the waste packaging that comes with your deliveries, but the actual challenge is the effort required to get rid of it”.

In order to overcome this challenge, Schoemaker and his co-founder tried to validate an idea that “makes it easy and convenient to buy your groceries without packaging.” The validation process adopted by Pieter Pot essentially reflects their ingenuity.

The premise of this Dutch startup is to replace all the packaging waste with reusable jars and the co-founders started with jars from IKEA and groceries from the market. Once the idea was validated, they went along building the business model and how it would actually work.

For Schoemaker, the challenge is really for consumers who still don’t have enough options for buying packaging-free groceries. “I think there is a big gap between what people want and are actually currently doing,” says Schoemaker.

He explains that consumers want to buy packaging-free groceries but not every corner shop offers them such an option.

A global problem gets a unique solution

The problem of packaging waste is not one faced by the Netherlands alone. It is a global problem with very limited solutions. Pieter Pot is offering just one solution to a problem so grave that we would need multiple startups like Pieter Pot to truly overcome this challenge.

In the grand scheme of things, Schoemaker says legislation requiring supermarkets to have a certain percentage of their shelves with package-free products goes a long way. He also cites research showing that 70 per cent of consumers are willing to reduce their packaging waste, proving there is a desperate need for a solution.

Pieter Pot is the first in the world to offer a full end-to-end circular packaging system. With traditional packaging itself not always recycled, Schoemaker says they take precautions to ensure there are no regulations that prevent washing packaging to reuse it.

By ordering directly from Pieter Pot, Schoemaker says consumers are making an impact against CO2 emission. However, the real impact comes in the form of creation of an infrastructure for circular packaging and changing the system. Pieter Pot recently announced a partnership with Kraft Heinz wherein one of the biggest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) players will adopt reusable jars for its packaged products.

Rise is ideal for first-time founders

Pieter Pot’s solution is so unique that the startup found itself joining eight others as part of Techleap.nl’s Rise programme. When asked about the motivation to join Rise, Schoemaker says the programme allowed him to learn and listen and brainstorm on solutions for shared problems.

As first-time founders, he says they were always speaking with advisors and other entrepreneurs that were a step further than them. With Rise, that conversation continued for Schoemaker and Bijmolt, and they even got the opportunity to have discussions with peers who were in the same phase.

“The Rise programme offered us an opportunity to continuously reflect and make our learning curve steeper,” says Schoemaker.

Sustainability has been one of the key characteristics of startups that join Rise and Pieter Pot, in particular, is looking to solve a difficult challenge and prove a new business model. Its success needs Schoemaker and Bijmolt to not only learn from the best but also make fewer mistakes along the way.

Schoemaker reaffirms the notion that “Rise is a symbol of quality or recognition” and explains how the programme has even helped them find the right talent. He says Pieter Pot now employs 100 people and is seeing people recognise the high performance in the ecosystem thanks to being part of Techleap.nl’s Rise programme.

A profitable business case

Every entrepreneur desires to be successful but they all gauge their success differently. For Schoemaker and Bijmolt, the success of Pieter Pot correlates with being independent and making their business case profitable.

Schoemaker says once they prove their business model can be profitable, more businesses will come to work with it. “If we prove this circular system can work by showing that consumers want this, the backend works and it’s financially sustainable, then I think we will be successful.”

He says one of the reasons behind their success is their ability to validate their ideas. For young entrepreneurs looking to enter the sustainable startups domain, Schoemaker has one piece of advice: “Begin by validating your ideas as lean as possible, before investing resources (time, money etc).”