


Humble Sampler
Success Story
Humble Sampler approached AWEN Consulting in 2021 to work on the packaging of the
existing hamper. The main goal was to have a premium look hamper using only sustainable
packaging and elements such as ribbon, tissue paper, labels and tape & consider the fragile products
that have arrive intact to end customers.
The founders of Humble Sampler, Sherona and Gloria, shared some hamper inspirations
with us and the budget for the packaging cost. We worked together to find the best solution for
Humble Sampler Hamper. I would like to highlight that this is two ways job and the feedback from
our clients is crucial to the success of the project.
Below there are some pictures showing how the hamper was when Humble Sampler
approached us, we have worked with the clients request and inspiration in combination with our
expertise in sustainable packaging and materials to find the best solution. Before the gift box was a
shipping box, compostable bag was covering the box, biodegradable pellets and bubble plastic was
used to protect products in glass jars.
For many people the hamper looked sustainable enough, Humble Sampler founders did their
best to find sustainable options to start the hamper business, the problem is that a lot of
misinformation is out there and it’s quite easy to use packaging which is sold as sustainable
alternative however it’s not the best choice for you and for businesses in Australia.
Compostable sachet and compostable pellets sound like sustainable options right?
Well, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) research revealed mass access to both home
composting facilities and consolidated communal compost disposal channels as being inaccessible
for the majority of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) customers. In addition, a lot of compostable
packaging is only certified as industrial compostable meaning it will not decompose in your compost
bin at home. Another problem specially for the pellets is that it creates a lot of confusion because
the customers often don’t know if it’s biodegradable or just Styrofoam. So where to dispose,
industrial compost bin or landfill? In doubt it ends up in landfill and the whole idea of having
compostable packaging is sustainable goes down the drain. If those elements ending up in landfill it
will not break down as promised and will generate methane gases which is very harmful to the
atmosphere, more than CO² is.
Focusing on making the hamper premium look and containing only real sustainable items,
we have chosen to go for paper-based elements that can be reused, repurposed, and finally
disposed in the recycling (yellow) bin that everyone has access to.
We’ve given a range of options together with its price to Hamble Sampler to evaluate. Part
of our consulting service is to get samples to try on and have a better idea how the packaging and
elements will look together.
We have selected the following elements to make the hamper packaging:
Gift box with embossing - 100% recycled paper
Tissue paper FSC certified and 30% recycled content
Filling for the gift box – shredded Paper Crinkle Brown Kraft
Filling for the gift box – shredded Paper Crinkle Brown Kraft
Stickers including its glue and ink water based
Protection for fragile products – honeycomb kraft paper
Ribbon – natural jute
Tape for the shipping box – recyclable with the box
Shipping box – 100% recycled cardboard and recyclable

"Renata has been such a pleasure to work with in researching and sourcing our hamper packaging. From the outset, she was diligent, thorough and went above and beyond in terms of sourcing suppliers and ensuring we got the best price for what we were after. I learnt a lot from Renata as well along the way, in terms of what best practice is. I'm very excited to say that we're part of the collective impact working towards reaching APCO's 2025 targets for sustainable packaging in Australia! This wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for Renata's assistance. Thanks so much again! "
Sherona Parkinson – Humble Sampler

See the feedback
from Humble Sampler:
Sherona has also acknowledged that the packaging process has improved, it’s quicker and it has reduced overpacking of the items. Reduce is very important in the process of rethinking packaging and the goal was achieved!
AWEN is member of APCO & Australian Institute of Packaging and our consulting follows the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines SPGs and work towards the 2025 APCO Packaging Targets, therefore all the projects we work on contributes to the national goal.
Carefully changing the elements and the material we created a beautiful and premium look hamper which could be charged 70% more than the previous one and opened up a new market becoming attractive to corporate as a gift to clients.