During the fall of 2019, economics student Jacob Telet showed up at UiA Nyskaping with a desire to start a restaurant. This led to «Foodie» being launched in 2020. It didn’t take long for Jacob to have new ideas that he wanted to realize, and in 2021, the journey of Jacobs emballasje began.

Jacobs emballasje was founded with the intention to reduce plastic consumption within packaging, and to abolish the use of plastic bags in Norwegian retail. The team wishes to accomplish this by offering packaging solutions for in-person and online stores, based on European design traditions regarding sustainability, quality, and exclusivity. Jacobs emballasje specializes within not only profiling packaging made from paper, but also wrapping, ribbon, labels & stickers, and packaging for online purchases with logo prints. Today the team consists of Jacob Telet, who is CEO and chief of sales- and logistics, Aynur Naman, who is chief of design- and graphics, and Robin Lee Wongraven who is chief of marketing.

The idea of Jacobs emballasje was first developed by Jacob and his girlfriend, Aynur Naman (who is a philosophy student at UiA). Jacob is eager to share the background of why they wished to found Jacobs emballasje:

- We originally started this journey because we are very passionate about innovation and sustainability, which has been important to us both during our studies, and in the establishment of other concepts. We think that it is important for the future and all the establishments in Norway to focus on innovation and sustainability. This is because the world faces huge climate- and societal challenges through for instance overconsumption of resources, littering in the ocean and in nature etc. Measures have already been taken within the fast-food business through e.g. ban of plastic consumption in packaging (disposable cutlery, take-away boxes, etc.), because plastic is one of the biggest challenges we face as a global society. That is why we have come up with this idea, as we want to contribute with solutions within packaging for the retail trade, so that we help to abolish plastic bags and reduce plastic consumption.

Jacob further explains that they have already had great success with the company:

- Even though Jacobs emballasje was officially launched on June 16th this year, the company has existed for a long period. We started last year and have many local businesses here in Kristiansand who are part of the concept, and they have given us the opportunity to produce shopping bags of paper with profiling. These businesses have previously used both plastic- and paper bags, but we have convinced them to focus on environmentally friendly and recyclable shopping bags made of paper. We have also been in contact with several businesses in Oslo who want us to be responsible to produce packaging for them.

Jacob has had good experiences with UiA Nyskaping from earlier collaboration:

- I already had good experiences with what UiA Nyskaping offers, and what kind of help they provide; hence it was very easy to work together again, due to an already existing relationship with trust. They have been involved in the whole process from idea to realization, and we have worked together in relation to strategy, product development, etc. With the establishment of this concept, it was very important to get external advice for further development, what we should do, and what we should avoid. UiA Nyskaping has contributed with immense help, and without them this process would probably have taken way longer than it did.

The core values for Jacobs emballasje are exclusivity, sustainable products, and fair prices, and Jacob have clearly defined goals for the future of the company:

-Our mission is to abolish plastic shopping bags and reduce plastic consumption in packaging in the retail trade. Finally, we really want to make a small effort so that we help reduce plastic waste and take care of the planet for future generations.

Lastly, Jacob has some advice for other people who might have ideas they wish to realize:

-The first piece of advice starts with believing in yourself and believing in the concept you want to realize. Because it always starts with the idea. If you have an idea that you think is worth investing in, then it is important to go all in. There will always be those who are negative and do not have faith in the concept, and that is when you must be strong and have 100% faith in yourself. I also think it is important to research the market to see if there is a need for the concept/product and see what other competitors have done to succeed or fail. If there are other competitors operating in the same industry, it is important to learn from what they have done well, or not so well. Based on this, you can avoid making big mistakes you might otherwise have encountered.

The team here at UiA Nyskaping is excited to follow the journey of Jacobs emballasje, and we wish Jacob and the team all the best of luck in the time ahead!

You can read more about Jacobs emballasje here: https://jacobsemballasje.no/