ANNOUNCEMENT: Orora and Flexi-Hex partnership / CMO Chris Bradley and co-founder Sam Boex

VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT from Orora Packaging Solutions and Flexi-Hex 
as they partner in North America for Flexi-Hex distribution. 
https://ororapackagingsolutions.com/
https://www.flexi-hex.com/
What if you could replace your styrofoam with paper? 
Could your packaging be made from 100% recycled paper? 
Are you ready for curbside recyclable packaging? 
The future of sustainable packaging is very bright with this new partnership. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/packaging-today-show/id1656906367

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

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Transcript

Cory Connors: 0:15

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors. Today's guests are two of my favorite people in the packaging industry. I'm excited about some announcements that we have, and it's, it's gonna be an awesome episode. So stay tuned. We've got Mr. Sam Bex, the co-founder of Flexi Hex, and Mr. Chris Bradley, the Chief Marketing Design and Sustainability Officer at Aurora Packaging Solutions. How are you guys?

Chris Bradley: 0:42

Doing great. Good. Good.

Cory Connors: 0:44

Pretty good. Thank you. Thank you both for making some time. I know you're both incredibly busy, with some things we've got working in the process here. But let's start with you Chris. can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Chris Bradley: 0:55

sure. So I've spent most of my career as an inventor and product developer, and started several companies, sold several of those off, and, have had a pretty, wild career designing everything from infomercial products to toys and consumer electronics. and I really, fell in love with packaging because I usually started, I. Designing, a product or inventing a product and then really wanting to create a, an amazing out of the box experience. And that's where I kind of got my first love of packaging. And so that ultimately led me, kind of to Aurora. I had worked with, Landsburg 25 years ago. They were my packaging supplier when I was at hp. And, and so it's a company that I've kind of long stayed in touch with and admired. And so I really saw the opportunity to bring, my focus on sustainable packaging, to the op, to the opportunity at Aurora. And so that's how I got here. Excited to be

Cory Connors: 1:57

here. Well, I've really enjoyed working with you, and I'm so excited to, to have somebody on the team who understands my weird thoughts and visions. So, thank you so much for joining our team and, leading us to a more sustainable future. Sam, your turn, sir. Tell us a little bit about your background and how you came. You and your brother came up with flexi.

Sam Boex: 2:19

Okay, thanks. Corey, so. we've got a background in design, so we've been in that sort of design world, I guess. we both, myself and my twin brother, who's the other co-founder of Flexi Hex, used to run a commercial interior design agency. designing lots of, I guess interiors from sort of like retail interiors all the way through to sort of healthcare, and product design as well, and furniture design. So again, quite varied, design background. but a good sort of understanding of kind of like, I suppose how you develop and deliver projects and. flexi Hex was started and sort of like now in, in the world of packaging, but it started off the back of a poor consumer, very much like Chris said, off the back of a kind of a poor consumer experience of buying this surfboard, online and it arriving just. a few days later, just kind of like when I opened the box, it was just covered in lots and lots of bubble wrap, and I just thought it was, the initial thought was, how can I improve or how can we improve that opening experience for a, a consumer who buys a surfboard online? But very quickly kind of that moved on to how can you improve that experience for the consumer, but also make it a much more sustainable solution, than bubble wrap, which was probably ultimately is very difficult to recycle. and would ultimately probably end up in landfill or kind of worse, the sort of environment. So yeah, so we, we took that on as. A project internally within our existing business and set some kind of like capital to it and thought, right, let's do this as a proper project and work out a way to package surfboards. And I guess from that, like, it took about probably six to eight months to come up with the initial products and, that first moment when we put sort of a flexi sleeve kind of, or this sleeve around, a surfboard, we suddenly realized it was this eureka moment. We suddenly realized, ah, we've got something here. And we sort of, so we kind of very quickly realized the potential of the product, not just in this, in for surfboards, but across multiple kind of markets. So it's now sort of, I guess now starting to play out like that. So really exciting to see it play out and obviously being amongst you guys as well. And yeah,

Chris Bradley: 4:37

so.

Cory Connors: 4:38

Very well done it, and it, and you're exactly right. That's the word. it's exciting. It's a new, it's a replacement for a lot of materials that aren't very sustainable. And, I think that's what we're really excited about here. And congratulations on your B Corp, status. I see your, your award there behind you. That's an amazing event that just happened a few weeks ago, if I recall. Yeah,

Sam Boex: 5:00

it was la it was last year actually. But yeah, no, it's again a huge accolade for the business and I think really sort of firmly sort of cements who we are as a business, our d n a and where we started as well. So, and holds you very much accountable as well. So,

Cory Connors: 5:13

cool. Really good. And Chris, we've got some exciting announcements to make today. I want to give you the honor, sir, can you tell us what, what's happening between Aurora Packaging solutions and flexi? Yes,

Chris Bradley: 5:24

absolutely. we're super excited. first a little anecdote. I first discovered Flexi Hex actually watching your podcast, Cory, where you were dropping it, or I guess it was a TikTok, where you dropped a bottle from, I think it was 11 feet, something outrageous. and I'm like, I have to learn more about this material. And so that was the seed of, of a relationship that's really kind of been developing over the past year or so with Sam and I immediately, found a kindred spirit. I'm a designer. He's a designer. And so we immediately just started redesigning everything and looking at how we could really use this. and so we're super excited today to announce that, Orora and Flexi Hex are gonna partner up, and, Orora will be the exclusive North American go to market partner for Flexi Hex. And so we're gonna be, and I already are stocking the full line of Flexi-Hex sleeves, and really plan to. expand the great work that Sam and will have done and others to, to show what flexi hes can do, but to really bring it to market in a huge way in North America.

Cory Connors: 6:36

That's, it's amazing. I'm the amount of things that have happened because of TikTok videos that I've made in my career. I mean, monumental shifts of career trajectory. just can't thank that platform enough. if you're listening and you're from TikTok, thank you. If, Gary Vaynerchuk is listening, thank you. it's an incredible thing. I wanna show, because we are on video here, a couple of the different versions of flexi. This is the air, the smaller version, which is meant for, smaller items, and then this is the heavier duty sleeve meant for bottles, and other items. But Sam, I'd love to get your wisdom on what are some of the materials that this, a hundred percent recyclable. Paper packaging can replace.

Sam Boex: 7:25

Yeah, I didn't sort of mention kind of what it is as well, and I think, so Flexi Hex it's a honey, a paper honeycomb sleeve, an open-ended sleeve which expands and forms around products giving kind of them protection in both sort of postal and sort of the courier networks. And I guess it's the sweet spot for the product is in that e-commerce. kind of space, looking at how you can transport, transport, sort of like products to consumers. with a kind of like creating a better and a more enhanced kind of opening and sort of consumer experience. Yeah. and the types of kind of products it replaces, like I mentioned earlier is bubble wrap is the primary product we sort of look to replace, but they're also products such as e p s, polystyrene foams, kind of pulp solutions. And also we're not so much pulp, but it's kind of like these foams and sort of protective packaging, in, in that space. So,

Cory Connors: 8:19

yeah, a lot of plastic alternatives that we're able to replace with a hundred percent, recyclable curbside product. it's really exciting. Chris, why is it more sustainable? Tell us about the reasons.

Chris Bradley: 8:30

well, it is a fiber based solution and, and so I've done, extensive L C A work or lifecycle assessment work, looking at different alternatives. you also have to look at. The possibility when you're dealing with foams or plastics of leakage into the environment. And all you have to do is go out to that, great Pacific garbage patch full of plastics and foams, and you can see that, firsthand. so the first part is, this is, completely recycled paper fiber-based solution, and it has a lot of the same and sometimes even better performance characteristics than foam does. Yeah. And so, and I think it also lends itself very well. And one of the reasons we were excited to partner with Flexi, he is there's lots of ways that you can use the flexi he sleeve along with, custom corrugated, containers or design. And we have. an almost a hundred person creative and design team at Aurora. And so we have this full structural, designer army that can look at the different applications that customers might have. And now the flexi hack sleeve is a great tool and we can design custom solutions around it. And so it just gives us a much more sustainable option, than a lot of the things that we were able to

Cory Connors: 9:49

do before. So, Yeah, well said. We had an amazing meeting this morning just about this sleeve, just about wine packaging and, the amount of options and versions and capabilities of this as a base solution, combined with paper corrugated is incredible. And I think you're exactly right. We can take this and our designers could take. So many products, so if you're listening and you've got a candle company or a, what are some other kinds of companies that Chris, that should come to us for this kind of,

Chris Bradley: 10:24

packaging? definitely, consumer electronics. you can do a lot of the same things that you can do with. Coreview or any of these suspension systems you can do with flexi hex. it's great for anything that's fragile or sh could get scuffed. So this could be, cosmetics, it could be, skincare products, anything that comes in a glass bottle or jar. and again, I think it's about the protection. It's also about this kind of premium. Consumer experience. If you're a lifestyle brand, that is selling something and that really, and you really wanna show how sustainable you are, this just has such an incredible out of the box experience. And so I think it's, there's so many applications we're looking, crop beauty is a big one. homewares, housewares. We're even looking at, using it for, large mirrors and other types of products like that, as well as surfboards and other things that Sam had

Cory Connors: 11:21

discussed. I know you've got a background in the surf industry and you're both surfers, which is really, kind of a cool story there in itself. we'll have to do some videos someday of you guys surfing out there, in California or maybe England. If that get kind name,

Chris Bradley: 11:40

but you're Exactly, I'm a spring suit only kinda guy. We gotta put a hood on and booties. I'm usually out. Yeah,

Cory Connors: 11:46

we're out. Yeah. no. Six mil suits like they wear here in, Oregon. I know they're really thick and heavy. but, there's a feeling when you open a package and it's, just wrapped in bubble wrap or plastic bubble of almost disappointment. Like the packaging company didn't really think through, or the supplier, or the retailer didn't really, take the time to invest in something that is, purpose built for that item, like the flexi experience. and like you said, the performance is incredible. I dropped a bottle of wine from 11 feet and it survived 11 feet. That's ridiculous. It's just incredible to see. And I know, Sam, you've, I've seen videos of you dropping it off. Look like, cement walls and just like, wow, this is incredible, impressive material. So you get the form and the function along with the beauty, which is pretty rare, in the world of packaging. Oftentimes you have to, wrap something in layers of foam to get that kind of performance, or at least that's what we used to think. Sam, I want to ask you if, flexi Hex has won a lot of industry awards for being sustainable. Can you tell us a little bit about some of those awards and maybe some future direction other than the partnership with Aurora? Do you have some new designs in mind, or how's this gonna work?

Sam Boex: 13:05

Yeah. So, yeah, we've won quite a few. There's a few awards behind me here, but we've won quite a few sort of industry awards, kind of like from packaging innovations through to, sustainability awards, locally as well, which is, again, really, a good, some sort of tough competition up against some great companies. And so, That's really a real privilege for us to be sort of in the mix with those types of businesses. and then with regards to the future of Flexi Hex, I think there's so many exciting kind of possibilities for flexi hacks. the product itself is a patented product. It's, we have a patent Glo a global patent on the product. but there's lots of, I think. We are only just scratching the surface with the types of markets it could be applied to. we talked about kind of, you say Chris talked about sort of cosmetics and kind of like the glass, glass industries, some small glass jars. There's also the large, larger products as well, and then sort of more industrial applications, which I think is really exciting opportunity there from automotive, parts and things like that. And then there's I think, exciting opportunity in materials as well. Still keeping them fiber based. But we're in conversations with a company which make, papers outta seaweeds and papers outta grasses. And there, there are some really, again, interesting kind of, Sort of, I, I guess, thoughts around how Flexx could evolve in the future. At the moment, it's made from a hundred percent recycled paper, and that's great, but I think we always need to be kind of pushing the innovation and we see flexx being, a globally recognized. Product within the packaging industry. So we would love to think that, within a few, a few years that you could potentially buy Flexx, so at your kind of post office, and it is a direct replacement for bubble wrap. So it's very much kind of like in a, in sort of set into a, an into a retail setting where consumers can buy, flexi X just for generic packaging. so yeah, I think sort of lots of exciting scope, I think for innovation and positioning within the markets. So,

Cory Connors: 15:03

It's really a big deal. I've been excited about this for months and, or over a year now actually. So, Chris, let's talk about Aurora a little bit and how, we can service, a company that's looking for sustainable packaging in a different way.

Chris Bradley: 15:20

sure. So, at Orora we've really created a strong focus around sustainable packaging. I am, designing, or we're in construction right now for our sustainable design Lab and innovation center. And, and one of the things that we see our role in the world is to identify and find. Great new technologies like flexi and then use our scale. we have 70 locations around the country, manufacturing and distribution centers and solution centers, and throughout Mexico and Canada. And so that really gives us a unique opportunity to work with customers. and they may be going through a three pl. They may be, doing their own distribution. We have local. Distribution hubs all over the place so we can design a solution. and actually provide the product to our customers just in time. And so, we see the opportunity with Flexi X is Sam and Will had an amazing invention. great global patent on the product. We have the scale and, design strength. To be able to really take that to the next level and help customers who are looking to be more sustainable, find solutions. And we're also offering hundreds of other sustainable solutions as well. we have expertise in all the sustainable substrates and materials from glass, aluminum, corrugated folded carton, et cetera.

Cory Connors: 16:49

Well said, and a vast, opportunity to provide that one-stop shop solution for all packaging needs. I think one of the major features of, Flexx that we haven't touched on is how it ships flat. And it doesn't take up very much space in comparison to a, polystyrene or a polyethylene or a plastic bubble solution. Those are essentially full of air, and take up massive space in a warehouse, whereas this, a pallet of this is, so small and, so, efficient. And, you're gonna save a lot of money and space on, freight. So that's really cool. something to focus on for sure. When you're thinking about a solution for your packaging needs, anything else that, that you guys wanted to talk about? Any, stories or any projects coming up that you're excited about?

Sam Boex: 17:44

Chris, do you wanna go first or do

Chris Bradley: 17:45

Sure. so I, I think one of the big pushes that we have, is really to do, lifecycle assessment, comparative LCAs for our customers. And so one of the things that I'm really excited about as it, even as it relates to flexi hex is if you have volume in a particular type of solution today, and you think flexi hex might be a good. alternative, we can actually show you what the impact is gonna be, in as far as kind of global warming potential between option A and option B. And I think that's, to me that was one of the things that really pushes the opportunity for flexi hacks. Cuz yes, it looks cooler. Yes, it's fiber, but what is the real impact that you're gonna make? So if you're using polystyrene or foams or bubble wraps and you say, here, using a million of these a year, we can actually show you the analysis and it's gonna be, Hey, 30,000 tons less of CO2 going into the atmosphere by making this choice. And that way you're not just looking at price and availability, but you're also looking at price, availability, and a true measure of sustainability. And so, this has been increasingly important for a lot of our customers who have made 25, 20, 25 pledges to eliminate single use plastics, and others that are very progressive when it comes to their sustainability goals. So we wanna work with you if, that if you fit into that category, come talk to us and, and we'll do some really good work together.

Cory Connors: 19:16

Well said. And what's the best way for people to get in touch with us at Orora

Chris Bradley: 19:21

go to orora packaging solutions.com. Yep. And, you can follow the contact form from there.

Cory Connors: 19:27

The work that you and your team and the marketing, scope have done on that. it's incredible. Well, well done. It's, it's a whole new website. It's really awesome. I've worked here for 21 years and it's never been this great. So well done. Thanks, Corey. Thank you, sir. Sam, how about you? what else did you wanna say?

Sam Boex: 19:44

Yeah, I mean, I think for us at Flexi Hex, we are just super excited about this partnership with Orora . It's, for us, it's, it's always been about scale and how do we kind of get flexi hex kind of onto a platform to, to be able to compete, to be able to compete with the kind of the other kind of like products in that market. And, through price, through kind of like scale, through price and being able To scale, to give, to make it sort of, yeah. A really sort of cost effective and effective solution for customers. And I think Aurora, very much for us have, are, will be a brilliant partner to be able to sort of see that scale and we're. in conversations with some sort of globally recognized brands and being able to work closely with Aurora to be able to fulfill those sort of, fulfill the sort of the needs and requirements of those brands is just to say like a, like a real exciting opportunity, which we are looking to sort of see how it plays out. Yeah,

Chris Bradley: 20:36

I think this is really a true partnership already. flexi Hacks has opened up doors for us and we're opening up doors for Flexi, so it's really one of those great, great partnerships. I'm excited to, really work hard to, blow flexi hex up over the next couple years. And hopefully it's something that you're seeing in, A lot of e-commerce, shipments that you're receiving, at your house is coming forward. Yeah,

Cory Connors: 21:03

we wanna hear about that. We, make sure you reach out to us and let us know when you receive 'em. Send us pictures. I'd love seeing that end result. Yeah. Well said Chris. Well, thank you, Sam. Thank you, Chris. We appreciate, all that you're doing for the environment and for the world of sustainable packaging. I wanna thank, Aurora Packaging Solutions for sponsoring this podcast and stay tuned for more.