The latest in sustainable packaging

Plus: Waymo's expansion, oat milk sheets, and more 📦

Hello and welcome back to Brandscape!

I hope your week is off to great start. Today, I wanted to share what I’ve been reading recently. Read on for news about:

• Sustainable packaging innovations

• Brands influencing culture

• Plastic-eating enzymes in furniture

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Headlines of the week 🗞️

• Gen Z sock brand Doublesoul leverages frequent Instagram partnerships to create buzz. They’ve done collaborations with Ella Emhoff, Pete Davidson, Jeremy Zucker, and more. These frequent collaborations have ensured they’re always popping up in feeds. The brand is on track to do $7.5 million in sales this year.

• Singapore-based startup New Bottle Co. has created a recyclable and biodegradable paper bottle design. I’ve seen brands like La Roche-Posay use cardboard/paper-based tubes for some products, but I’m interested to see if New Bottle Co. can take the idea mainstream. The comparatively higher recycling rates for paper compared to plastic in the U.S. make this an exciting innovation.

  

  Photo: nbco.world

• Speaking of reducing packaging waste, nut milk brand Milkadamia recently announced Oat Milk Sheets. Designed for at-home use, the fermented oat flour sheets dissolve in one-cup water portions. The compressed packaging form could reduce shipping costs and environmental impact. Would you try?

• Brands are contributing to “culture rot” by prioritizing content > culture. This Fast Company article is based off research from TBWA. The agency found that by continuing to follow viral trends online, brands are failing to contribute meaningfully to culture. Companies that both contribute to and create cultural moments will win in the current marketing/advertising landscape. I’m actually working on a paper right now about how brands influence culture for my Media & Modern society course, so always good to have another source! :)

• We’re about to see a lot more Waymos on the road. The company began service in Austin last week and recently announced that they provide 200,000 paid robotaxi rides per week. Valued at $45 billion, the company raised $5.6 billion last fall in a round led by Alphabet.

• Furniture brand Heller will start using a plastic-eating enzyme to assist in the breakdown of their furniture in landfills. The enzyme, provided by Worry Free Plastics, attracts microorganisms that accelerate the decomposition process in oxygen-free environments (such as landfills). Cool.

Photo: Heller

• Gen Z is experiencing trend fatigue. The rapidly-evolving trend landscape on social media promotes overconsumption and kills personal style/expression.

• Sweetgreen is now serving Ripple Fries, their newest better-for-you side option. Yum.

  sweetgreen

  

  A post shared by @sweetgreen

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P.S. — Shoutout to Pludo and Senza for sending over their hero products! I really admire how these brands are blending creative direction and community building.

Pludo's Pink Yuzu is the best electrolyte powder I've tried

For more brand news and (almost) daily IG stories, be sure to follow @readbrandscape. 🚀

Thanks for reading!
— Henry

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Brandscape is a weekly newsletter covering marketing, brand, consumer insights, and design — all through the lens of a college student.

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