Suppli is a reusable takeout container service that uses an innovative approach to eliminate single-use plastics from the takeout and delivery industry.
Founded by Megan Takeda and Julianna Greco, Suppli partners with local restaurants to provide reusable containers so that customers can enjoy takeout without the waste. The inspiration for the company came about when Takeda was upset with the amount of single-use takeout products that she was using, when dining out wasn't an option during the pandemic.
In 2020, Takeda partnered with Greco, a foodie and environmentalist with experience working with young social entrepreneurs, corporate partners and community organizations to advance social justice initiatives in Canada, to create a solution for this ever-growing waste issue in Toronto.
Suppli not only provides restaurants with affordable, reusable container options, but also eliminates the guilt that many consumers feel about ordering takeout from their favourite restaurants and food shops.
"Globally, we extract an unsustainable amount of resources from the Earth to produce single-use items that are used for a single meal and then spend the next 400 years negatively impacting developing countries, nearly 700 species and our oceans," Greco says.
Locally, Toronto serves approximately 39 million takeout meals per year, which means we toss around 78 million pieces of container waste annually. What’s worse is that only 9 per cent of what we place in our recycling bins actually gets recycled, making the Suppli solution more necessary than ever.
Since launching around 10 months ago, Suppli has signed up almost 2,000 consumers and 25 partner restaurants, including SukhoThai, Tokyo Ramen, The Social Gardener, Xola, and more. They have processed over 2,900 orders, which means they have saved more than 8,400 single-use takeout containers from Toronto landfills. After launching and refining the service in Toronto's downtown East end, Suppli is on an exciting path to expand city-wide and beyond in the coming years.
Restaurant partners who sign up for Suppli will be provided with an array of their gorgeous reusable containers made from food grade (18/8) stainless steel and silicone lids. Unlike plastics, stainless steel can be recycled indefinitely, making it a much greener product when used repeatedly. The silicone lids are down-cycled for use in other products, and have a much greener end-of-life profile than plastics.
After you have enjoyed your meal, you will have a week to rinse and drop-off your reusable takeout containers at one of their 25 drop-off locations, currently situated in a variety of grocery stores and coffee shops in the East end. With more and more partners quickly coming on board, the Suppli possibilities are quickly expanding and will soon find themselves widespread among the downtown core of Toronto.
Suppli has also recently partnered with Red Thread Innovations (a builder of digital experiences for companies like RBC and Tim Hortons), to design and develop the future of sustainable takeout. Customers will be able to order takeout for pick-up and delivery on Suppli’s online marketplace and receive their meal without the waste. Come October, they will be beta-testing the Suppli marketplace with select customers, with plans for a mass-market launch in early November.
After receiving an overwhelming amount of feedback to make it easier to order, Suppli is bringing all their restaurants into one home. The Suppli Marketplace is expected to launch in East Toronto at the beginning of November 2021 and will be a one-stop-shop for customers to order takeout for pick up and delivery.
To join the Suppli movement, sign up for free at mysuppli.ca and be the first to know when they will be launching in your neighbourhood. You can also check them out on Instagram to follow their journey as they pave the way for a more sustainable takeout future in Toronto.
