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McDonald's Canada has turned its cardboard drink trays into portable speakers for smartphones as part of a limited release at a beach on Toronto.

Through a partnership with the University of Waterloo’s Audio Research Group and industry design company Stacklab, the McDonald’s Boombox was created with no electronics involved. 

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Instead, it takes the sound coming from a smartphone’s speakers and increases them by amping up the sound pressure levels via the cardboard speaker enclosure.

The boxes are only available for a limited time at Toronto’s Woodbine Beach, as a way of 'bumping up the volume' while enjoying a burger.

Food & Drink Business

Reploid Group is expanding into Oceania, with the launch of a new sales company in New Zealand. Reploid builds modular plants that use insect larvae to repurpose food waste, having the potential to fill the gap left by Goterra’s collapse into voluntary administration earlier this year.

Welcome to the July edition of PLAY, your monthly wrap-up of the biggest stories shaping Australia's food and beverage manufacturing industry. This month we're looking at court action, a major take-private deal, alleged tomato provenance fraud, new leadership and investment in manufacturing capability. Let's get into it. 

Winners of the 2026 Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards were recognised last week during foodpro 2026, a showcase of how the industry is incorporating circularity, usability, accessibility and digital functionality into packaging solutions across the board.