Another year, another review!
2020 has certainly been a challenging year (to say the least) with some ups, but a lot of downs… let’s be honest.
If you haven’t been with us for long, here’s a recap of 2019. If you have been with us for a while, then let’s recap what we’ve been up to this year.
WARNING: We will be discussing the COVID-19 Pandemic extensively. We would also like to take a moment to remember all members of our community who have been impacted. We are with you through all of this, and hope 2021 is brighter.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
We have to start off with COVID-19 and its impact on the economy. At the beginning of the year, the world was rocked by the coronavirus and panic ensued. As soon as LeKAC members got word of how much COVID would affect business activity and the community, we began thinking.
How do we get orders to clients, and how do we share any valuable information we have about packaging regarding the virus?
After diligent research, multiple blog posts were written on how to handle packaging safely. We were also able to work out any kinks in our production process fairly quickly so that our customers were not impacted. But we wanted to do more in order to better serve our community!
We launched a special campaign, where proceeds were used to purchase PPE for our community’s frontline workers. With restrictions in place on hot spots in the area, restaurants saw a sudden increase in take-out purchases. This means that businesses were burning through their take-out packaging supply, specifically paper bags.
After weeks of running our take-out campaign, our wonderful clients helped us in donating PPE to 6 facilities! When 2020 began, did you think that face masks and other PPE would be on donation lists? We certainly didn’t!
Some blogs that may interest you:
How to Handle Packaging During the Coronavirus Pandemic, COVID19 and Packaging: What You Need to Know, COVID-19: Donations Making a Difference
With regards to the packaging industry in general, COVID19 had both positive and negative effects in 2020. While overall in-store spending declined following restrictions and lockdowns, there was a surge in e-commerce, takeout and food/grocery delivery. This means that most companies saw a shift from decorative packaging and accessories to more protective and useful items – think corrugated boxes, paper bags, mailer bags.
In order to keep up with the demand from food delivery and e-commerce, companies needed packaging that reflected their brand. In fact, our custom packaging specialists are helping companies create loads of new packaging for their brands – mailer boxes, takeout containers, bags and more!
Luckily, the majority of businesses we spoke to during this time were not eager to purchase single-use plastic items to keep up with demand, and instead were willing to wait for sustainable options! So, thank you to all of you!
2020 Update of the Single-Use Plastics Ban
Another major factor to consider this year was the announcement of the single-use plastics ban back in January 2020. When things were first discussed, the details were vague and a bit confusing. As the year continued, we were able to understand exactly what would be banned and came up with alternatives to replace those products!
Products being banned include:
- plastic checkout/takeout bags
- straws
- stir sticks
- sick-pack rings
- cutlery
- hard-to-recycle foodware (e.g. Styrofoam)
In order to effectively implement the ban on these items, new regulations will require:
- products to contain a minimum % of recycled content
- rules for measuring and evaluating the amount of recycled content
- guidelines and tools for companies to follow
Obviously with COVID being an ongoing issue, there will be exceptions – but we are definitely on the right track! LeKAC is proud to be part of the solution by providing alternative methods of packaging such as paper bags, bamboo packaging and more…
The ban is expected to be implemented by the end of 2021, with an overall goal of reaching zero plastic by 2030!
Some blogs that may interest you:
What to Expect: The Canada-Wide Single Use Plastic Ban, Canada’s Initiative to Tackling Single Use Plastics, How Packaging Can Impact Your Company’s Image
Extension into New Industries
Our operations were a little different this year due to the pandemic. There were unprecedented surges in packaging needs from various industries – and we were committed to helping as many as we could.
Takeout Industry
With the rise in takeout over the past months, companies were burning through their packaging supply. As we mentioned above, we carried out a specific campaign where part proceeds would be donated to different facilities in the community.
LeKAC’s packaging specialists and Production team were able to devise a list of eco-friendly packaging products that were efficient while also adhering to the imminent single-use plastics ban.
Popular products include: classic takeout boxes, lotus boxes, lunch boxes, carrier boxes, paper cups, soup bowls and paper pouches.
Want to see our takeout containers catalogue? Click Here.
Paper Bags
While curating our paper bags, we noticed something specific missing from this type of packaging – a wide or square base for products like cakes, pies, pizzas etc.
After developing paper bags of specific thickness levels, strengths and quality, we were able to offer our clients 8 different sizes to suit various needs. Furthermore, there are 4 handle options for our Kraft paper bags – twisted paper, flat paper, ribbon and rope.
View our Kraft Paper Bags flyer here.
E-Commerce
With businesses having to temporarily close their brick and mortar locations, there was a huge shift to online shopping. What does this mean for packaging? Well, mailer boxes, mailer bags, envelopes and similar components were in high demand.
This was an opportunity for our packaging specialists to perfect our e-commerce range of packaging, and I must say (not to be biased) they did a great job!
Through various social media campaigns, we were able to identify many businesses in need of this type of packaging – and great connections were made!
Interested in seeing what e=commerce packaging we have? Contact us for a free consultation with our team.
Attendance at Trade Shows + Team Growth
We’d be remiss if we didn’t briefly discuss how COVID affected trade shows this year. These shows are a great opportunity for our team to connect with existing and potential clients – but physical shows were 100% out of the question with the pandemic going on. So how did we still attend events in 2020? Virtually, of course!
We were able to attend one in person before COVID was as serious as we all know it is now.
Attending trade shows virtually is definitely a learning curve, with constant changes to our ‘booth’ and special social media campaigns. Thank you to our entire marketing department for working closely with us through this new experience!
Welcome to the Team
Speaking of learning curves… we have been fortunate enough to be able to hire not 1, not 2, but 7 (yes, SEVEN) new team members! As you can imagine, we’ve outgrown our 2019 office and had to upgrade in 2020. Still in the same neighbourhood, just something bigger to hold all of us!
- Lucas Yang – Business Development Consultant; always positive, never without a smile, what can we say about Lucas? He’s truly just a light in our team
- Ahmad Adeel – Business Development Consultant; always goes the extra mile when it comes to his clients and tries to customise any product to make it work for them!
- Teresa Wong – Business Development Consultant; a genuine superstar who personalises each customer experience.
- Cathy Cheng – Logistics & Purchasing Assistant; helping to ensure all orders are on time and in perfect condition, Cathy works late hours often to get everything done!
- Muskan Kaur – Marketing Analyst; from working on Facebook Ads, to analysing website data, Muskan helps us determine what you guys want to see and how we can make our user experience more exciting
- Samneet Mann – Graphic Designer; there aren’t enough words to describe Sami’s talents. She is so versatile when it comes to graphics and other art mediums, we are so lucky to have her!
- Amanda Nguyen – Marketing Intern; still in school, but working hard! Amanda controls our social media pages and works relentlessly to bring you unique content daily.
What Now?
Everyone at LeKAC is definitely on their toes… what comes next? Will we continue to build our team? Are we pausing for a minute to reassess how to operate with COVID-19 still being so serious?
We’re calling it on 2020, and we’re excited to see what’s to come for 2021. Happy New Year, to all our amazing readers!
Make sure you’re following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date and be the first to hear of any developments!
