Pieter Pot

A selection of products in Pieter Pot packaging / Source: Pieter Pot

EuropeFood & BeverageGlassPackaging

5 MINUTE READ

Sophie Benson

WHAT WE SAY:

If all the plastic waste generated in 2020 were melted down, it could pave a 30-foot wide road to the moon.

Pieter Pot wants to make a dent in that with its packaging-free online supermarket, a concept with great consumer potential considering 60% of people want supermarkets to be the ones to take responsibility for reducing plastic packaging. Comprehensive LCAs prove that Pieter Pot’s glass jar delivery system has a lower impact than plastic, but it comes at a price, and in the midst of rising living costs that could hamper progress.

KEY FACTS:

Pieter Pot is a packaging-free online supermarket which provides next-day delivery of groceries in Glass jars throughout the Netherlands, Flanders and Brussels. In December 2021, it had made deliveries using more than 700,000 of its jars.
Customers order online and Pieter Pot fulfils orders from central stock, which is ordered in bulk and packaged in refillable packaging.
Products available at Pieter Pot include: chips/crisps, wine, coffee, mayonnaise, dog snacks, oats, olive oil, mixed nuts, washing powder and pasta.
Products are, broadly, more expensive than single-use counterparts. For example, 600 grams of Pieter Pot washing powder costs EUR 8.95 (USD 10) versus EUR 3.69 (USD 3.89) for a 2 kilogram bag from Albert Heijn.
They then come with the added levy of a EUR 2 (USD 2.10) deposit for each jar, which is refunded within 12 hours after return. With this in mind, this is not an accessible service for consumers of all economic levels.
Following collection, jars are cleaned and refilled with the next order. The company estimates that each jar can be used 40 times, while it uses its glass wine bottles six times before they are recycled.
Pieter Pot has measured its CO2 footprint with the Sustainable Packaging Knowledge Institute. The company claims that delivering one reusable jar emits less CO2 than delivering a pack of muesli, a plastic bottle of ketchup and a disposable jar of mayonnaise.
In February 2023, Pieter Pot was acquired by Delicatessenfabriek in order to avoid bankruptcy. "Pieter Pot grew fast, but ultimately not enough to make the business model profitable on his own two feet," co-founder Joeri Schoemaker told Packaging Insights. Some major suppliers have agreed to drop certain outstanding debts, helping to secure the future of the company, and Schoemaker has stepped down as CEO.

A jar being refilled / Source: Pieter Pot

A packaging station / Source: Pieter Pot

DIVE DEEPER:

In the Netherlands, consumers buy 26 billion pieces of plastic food packaging per year, amounting to nearly almost 3,300 per household. By launching a packaging-free online supermarket, Pieter Pot claims to have saved 2,997,354 pieces of packaging to date.
All Pieter Pot products are sent in glass jars, glass bottles or Ecover-branded packaging, with a deposit required for each one in every order.
Further costs to the customer include a EUR 1 (USD 1.05) deduction for each return to cover the return of empty jars to the warehouse by the delivery service, and EUR 2 (USD 2.10) for the jute bags items are delivered in. Although container and bag deposits are discounted from subsequent orders, it does require an extra initial outlay for consumers.
An LCA conducted by Partners for Innovation concluded that “although the climate impact of the production of [Pieter Pot’s] reusable pot is very high, it can be spread over 40 lifecycles... the total climate impact is often lower than the single-use packaging.”
Pieter Pot admits that some lightweight plastic options do have a slightly lower carbon footprint than its glass jars. It is tackling this by developing a new glass jar which will be more lightweight and squared for better stacking.
Pieter Pot has 70,000 customers in the Netherlands, 10,000 customers in Belgium and 30,000 customers on a waiting list.
In December 2021, the company raised EUR 9 million (USD 9.5 million) in a funding round led by ETF Partners. It follows a funding round of EUR 2.7 million (USD 2.84 million) in November 2020. There are plans for expansion into the UK, Germany and Scandinavia.

"Plastic packaging is a by-product. Consumers are interested in what’s in the box, not the box itself. By moving packaging to reusables, we’re able to radically alter consumption patterns without demanding people to dramatically change their behaviour."

Jouri Schoemaker – Chief Executive, ETF Partners – as quoted in Forbes

Key Design Considerations:

Never assume refillable means lower impact

In measuring its carbon footprint, Pieter Pot discovered some plastic options emitted less CO2 that its chosen glass jar, and funnelled some of its latest funding into innovating a new jar design to compete. Shape, weight, material and transit all count when it comes to a pack’s carbon footprint. For example, if a round bottle is made rectangular instead, more bottles can be packed in one box, meaning a shipment requires fewer boxes, fewer shipping containers and fewer vehicles overall, reducing a product’s footprint by default. Don’t assume a material swap will be enough.

Sell the convenience

Pieter Pot leads with sustainability, therefore, its higher prices might seem like a green tax to those consumers not engaged with the narrative. Target a wider audience by communicating the convenience of at-home collections and a choice of delivery slots, while appealing to a newfound focus on health and wellbeing with messaging focused on the availability of natural, organic and vegan products. This will help align the platform more closely with other food delivery services on the market, and demonstrate that people don’t have to radically change their behaviour to engage.

B2B opportunities

Pieter Pot is in talks with Unilever and PepsiCo to deliver their products through the Pieter Pot platform. It is also working with Heinz to make the company’s supply chain more circular. The internal circular systems you develop with a refillable grocery platform could be the key to scaling through collaboration.

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Pieter Pot

WHAT WE SAY:

If all the plastic waste generated in 2020 were melted down, it could pave a 30-foot wide road to the moon.

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

In the Netherlands, consumers buy 26 billion pieces of plastic food packaging per year, amounting to nearly almost 3,300 per household. By launching a packaging-free online supermarket, Pieter Pot claims to have saved 2,997,354 pieces of packaging to date.

All Pieter Pot products are sent in glass jars, glass bottles or Ecover-branded packaging, with a deposit required for each one in every order.

An LCA conducted by Partners for Innovation concluded that “although the climate impact of the production of [Pieter Pot’s] reusable pot is very high, it can be spread over 40 lifecycles... the total climate impact is often lower than the single-use packaging.”

Pieter Pot admits that some lightweight plastic options do have a slightly lower carbon footprint than its glass jars. It is tackling this by developing a new glass jar which will be more lightweight and squared for better stacking.