How ZOE used Sourceful to redesign their packaging with zero disruption to their business

ZOE is a nutritional science start-up that helps you understand how food affects your body. They do this by analysing gut, blood fat and blood sugar responses with an at-home test kit, followed by a detailed report four to six weeks later. ZOE then enables you to put together a nutritional programme tailored to your biology so you can improve your long-term health. To ensure a successful rebrand, ZOE worked with Sourceful to create a new, more sustainable, premium line of packaging.

ZOE wanted to upgrade and improve the quality of their brand packaging whilst simultaneously expanding into the UK. Whilst they partnered with award-winning branding agency Ragged Edge to create a new design concept, ZOE still needed to find a partner with packaging expertise to bring the ideas to life in the most sustainable way.

They were also working on a tight timeline. ZOE needed to source, design and produce 16 new packaging components including inserts, boxes and sleeves in just four months, which no other supplier they contacted could deliver.

With Sourceful, ZOE found a packaging partner to work alongside Ragged Edge to create their new brand packaging. Using Ragged Edge’s designs, Sourceful provided structural design, material and sustainability advice for each packaging product. That way ZOE could better understand and balance the trade-offs between price, function and sustainability for various packaging products.

Within four months, Sourceful developed 16 different packaging products — including mailer boxes, rigid boxes, stickers and more — and shipped them to ZOE’s US and UK warehouses. Each of the products was subject to quality assurance testing and went through multiple sampling rounds before being finalised for production. One of the most important packaging products was the rigid boxes, which housed ZOE’s modular test kits. Typically, rigid boxes use magnets for closure and can’t be flat packed, but Sourceful designed a non-magnetic and reusable closure to make the packaging 100% recyclable. And the new design could be flat packed, meaning no air is shipped, in turn helping to reduce material waste and keep costs down. A final win for ZOE was the cost. Rigid boxes are traditionally an expensive product, especially in the UK, so Sourceful mitigated this by sourcing the boxes from its network of vetted suppliers in China. The result was a 75% cost reduction compared to a UK-sourced counterpart.

Custom rigid boxes for ZOE

ZOE successfully upgraded to more sustainable, right-sized packaging in both the US and the UK. Their at-home test kits now arrive in 100% recyclable packaging with new inner and outer artwork designs. And they now only use one single supplier for all their packaging SKUs.

They were thrilled with the new packaging and service provided by Sourceful. And, as a result, ZOE placed their next six month order soon after.