Close×

A viral meme satirising Australian politics has given Boxer & Co packaging design agency owner Gwen Blake the chance to launch a new business virtually overnight.

It started when she created an image of a tote bag with the words "Ban the single-use prime minister" on it.

Boxer & Co's Gwen Blake with the bags, ready to ship. Image supplied.
Boxer & Co's Gwen Blake with the bags, ready to ship. Image supplied.

"I never had any intention to make it," she told Fairfax Media.

"Then the post got shared like a zillion times, and everyone was asking for the bag. So I've created a business overnight."

Blake is the co-owner of Sydney packaging and design company Boxer & Co, a brand and packaging agency which she co-founded with creative director Mark Haygarth.

It counts Nestle, SunRice and Woolworths, and a host of entrepreneurs, as its clients.

Blake, who recently spoke at the New Frontiers in Packaging Print Print 21+PKN LIVE event in Sydney, said she already had the knowledge she needed to start the business, which she has called Sans Sheriff.

She has made merchandise in the past, and so she decided to use that experience and make the bags available to the public via online marketplace Etsy.

She said the business turned over more than $30,000 in its first three days.

Blake said the bags have already been copied by another company, but she has a trademark lawyer on-side now.

While Sans Sheriff will continue, she said she would probably close orders for the bags this week.

"That said, things clearly change fast around here!" she said.

Food & Drink Business

Every participant across the food and packaging industry supply chain must ensure foreign contaminants are not present in the products companies deliver to their customers. Eric Confer from Eriez outlines the best practices processing plants use today to achieve the highest product purity and avoid costly tramp metal damage by using magnetic separators and metal detectors.

Wild abalone fishery and undersea wine company, Rare Foods Australia (RFA), says a downturn in global seafood demand, supply challenges, and the significant cost of being listed on the ASX are behind its decision to delist.

TasFoods says its petfood brands, Isle and Sky and Pet Treats, will benefit from its sales and distribution agreement with Natures Best (Tas) due to its “significant” retail network. Pet Solutions International is Natures Best’s parent company.