ZenPacks is a Sydney-based eco-friendly food packaging supplier. We offer a wide range of compostable and biodegradable packaging products for cafes, restaurants, and food businesses across Australia.

What are your shipping options?

ZenPacks ships Australia-wide from our Sydney warehouse. Shipping costs depend on order size and destination. Orders placed before 12pm AEST dispatch same day. No minimum order required — we deliver to every state and territory.

Are your products compostable?

Yes, most of our products are compostable and biodegradable. We specialise in eco-friendly food packaging made from sustainable materials like sugarcane bagasse, PLA, bamboo, and paper.

What is your minimum order quantity?

There is no minimum order quantity at ZenPacks. You can buy by the carton — whether you need one carton or a hundred, we have you covered with wholesale pricing for all customers.

Do you sell to cafes and restaurants?

Yes, ZenPacks provides wholesale pricing for cafes, restaurants, catering companies, and all food businesses. Our buy-by-the-carton model means you get trade pricing without needing a wholesale account.

ZenPacks is based in Sydney, Australia. We deliver Australia-wide with same-day dispatch for orders placed before 12pm AEST.

What types of products do you sell?

ZenPacks sells a comprehensive range of eco-friendly food packaging including cups, plates, bowls, cutlery, takeaway containers, bags, straws, napkins, and more — over 700 products in total, all designed for food service businesses.

Are your products certified?

Yes, our products meet Australian composting standards. We source from certified manufacturers to ensure our packaging is genuinely compostable and meets industry environmental standards.

August 03, 2026 by Shopify API

Café Eco Packaging Switch: 7 Steps, Real Prices

Switching a café to eco packaging is one of the most operationally underestimated decisions a food business owner will make — not because it's difficult, but because most approach it backwards. They buy one box of compostable cups, find they cost 40% more than expected or warp under steam, and quietly reorder plastic. The cafés that get it right start with a packaging audit, not a supplier search.

This guide walks through the complete transition process: auditing your current packaging mix, decoding which Australian state bans apply to your business right now, selecting the correct eco materials for each application, and managing the first 90 days of operation on certified packaging. Every cost figure reflects wholesale pricing available in the Australian market in 2026. Bookmark this page — you'll use it more than once.

Step 1 — Audit Every Piece of Packaging Leaving Your Kitchen

Before ordering a single eco product, document exactly what you're currently using. Walk your café and record every disposable item that touches food or drink: hot cups, cold cups, lids, sleeves, clamshell containers, takeaway boxes, bowls, sauce cups, cutlery, straws, napkins, bags, greaseproof paper. If it's disposable and food-adjacent, it goes on the list.

For each item, record:

Current material — e.g., polystyrene (EPS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or PLA
Weekly volume — how many units you consume per week
Current unit cost — pull this from your last invoice
Supplier and lead time — how long it takes to restock
Whether it's covered by a current state plastic ban

This audit reveals two things simultaneously: which items you're legally required to replace immediately, and where the biggest cost impact will land when you switch. A café running 1,500 cups per week faces a very different budget conversation than one running 300. Running this audit takes about two hours and will save weeks of confusion downstream. It also gives you a baseline to measure actual savings and costs once you've transitioned.

Flag the Items Under Active Bans

Cross-reference your audit list against current Australian state legislation. If any of the following are still on your shelf, you may already be non-compliant:

NSW: Single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) food containers banned from 1 November 2022. Additional items including produce bags and EPS loose-fill expanded from 2024 onwards under the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Amendment Regulation.
VIC: Plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls, and EPS food containers banned from 1 February 2023. Plastic-lined paper cups and further single-use plastics items followed from 1 November 2023.
QLD: Single-use plastic items including straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, and EPS containers prohibited from 1 September 2021, with expanded categories following in subsequent years.
SA: South Australia banned single-use plastic bags in 2009 and has since progressively restricted plastic straws, cutlery, stirrers, and polystyrene food service items under expanded Environment Protection legislation.
WA: Plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and selected cutlery items banned progressively from 2022 under the Plastic Pollution Reduction (Single-Use Plastics) Act.
ACT: Single-use plastic bags banned progressively from 2011, with expanded restrictions covering straws, cutlery, and polystyrene items from 2021 under the Environment Protection (Unnecessary Plastics) Amendment Act.
TAS: Single-use plastic items including straws, cutlery, plates, and EPS containers covered under the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Amendment (Single-Use Plastics) Act, with restrictions effective progressively from 2023.

At the national level, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) set a 2025 target requiring 100% of Australian packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable. While these targets primarily bind major packaging producers and importers, they translate into supply chain pressure — and into local council procurement policies — that reaches food service businesses faster than most operators expect.