bouncee Reusable Insulated Crates

Bouncee’s journey started when a multi-national grocer wanted a reusable version of a cold-chain packaging product we had developed previously. We quickly adapted our manufacturing process to make 500 reusable prototypes, which they tested in their harshest delivery network in the Middle East. Their feedback from these network tests ultimately inspired us to develop the bouncee collapsible insulated crate.

Before bouncee, the category rules were:
1. Rigid insulated crates are inefficient and costly in storage and logistics due to the huge storage volumes required.
2. Tapered designs save some space but significantly compromise internal volume.
3. Folding designs have poor temperature control and are too weak for long-term reuse.

Bouncee has eliminated these rules and is advancing the adoption of reusables in new segments by offering the lowest total lifecycle cost for short-transit perishable deliveries.

Made from a unique composite of expanded polypropylene for insulation and rigid polypropylene for the critical hinging areas, bouncee collapses to 50% of its assembled size without compromising internal packing space, strength, or temperature control performance. Its unique surface texture offers improved aesthetics, tactile feel, water resistance, and washability.

Bouncee is more than a highly efficient insulated crate; it is a professional holistic system for all short-transit perishable deliveries. It includes thermal dividers, various reusable phase change materials for different perishable types, and many other accessories, which can be configured in endless formats to meet the needs of different sectors. The crates have slots and other features that seamlessly integrate with the accessories, allowing businesses to separate perishable types into different temperature zones and deliver a safe experience to their customers.

Bouncee considers all aspects of food and pharmaceutical operations and logistics and delivers on all key requirements: temperature control, service life, internal volume, weight and sustainability.

VISUAL—Users resonate strongly with the design. They can immediately visualise the impacts of collapsibility at scale. It looks nothing like a foam they have seen before. They admire the surface aesthetic and gapless design at the edges and seams.

FUNCTIONALITY—It’s immediately obvious that it’s insulated to keep things cold/hot. It’s an innovative collapsible design, far too strong/valuable to be single-use. It’s purposefully textured and is not mistaken for problematic polystyrene (EPS). The assembly process takes only 4s and is a one-by-one approach that can’t be done incorrectly.

USABILITY—The design lowers the cost and sweat of the user experience in operations. The simplest example is a factory worker moving 1000 crates daily with a forklift from a storage location to a packing area. With bouncee, they now do half as many trips.

QUALITY—bouncee considers all aspects of food and pharmaceutical operations and logistics and delivers on all key requirements: temperature control, service life, internal volume, weight and sustainability. The patented integrated rigid hinges combine seamlessly with the insulating foam to create a strong and robust interlock. The tight and fixed fitment of coolant accessories guarantees a safe and consistent delivery every time.

NEW BENCHMARKS—bouncee collapsible crates offer an industry-leading total lifecycle cost in the global short-transit food and pharmaceutical delivery sector.

Before bouncee, these were the category rules:

1. Rigid insulated crates are highly inefficient in storage/logistics.
2. Tapered designs save some space but compromise internal volume.
3. Folding designs have air gaps, poor temperature control and high breakage rates.

bouncee eliminates these rules and is advancing the adoption of reusables in new segments by offering the lowest total lifecycle cost for short-transit perishable deliveries.

bouncee features a new clever composite of EPP and PP with unique interfacing designs to create the world’s first collapsible insulated crate that does not compromise strength, packing space or temperature control and saves >50% in storage and reverse logistics.

Creating the collapsible, modular and repairable crate format required significant development work on the mould design, material selections, moulding process, machinery design and part interfaces. The development, all completed in Victoria, resulted in two new patents now in the global PCT stage.

ENVIRONMENT—bouncee’s mission is to empower businesses in food and pharmaceutical distribution to switch from single-use. Bouncee is a highly efficient reusable alternative that eliminates the need for expanded polystyrene, bubble-wrap liners, gel packs, and other single-use insulated packaging materials.

SOCIAL—bouncee’s mission aligns with broader zero-waste, circular economy initiatives. It supports communities and organisations striving to reduce waste while educating businesses and consumers about the societal benefits of reuse.

COMMERCIAL—The unique collapsible design improves the efficiency of reusable insulated packaging in short-transit food and pharmaceutical delivery applications, making reuse more competitive and reducing operational costs for businesses.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY—The design supports anyone striving to achieve circular economy objectives; it replaces single-use plastic (designing out waste), is made from resource-efficient particle foam materials (minimising material usage), is modular, repairable and recyclable (increasing service life of existing materials), and is efficient in delivery, reverse logistics, and return (lowering impact in use). In a world where reusable innovation and investment are far too low, bouncee is a positive step forward—one that takes on single-use and aims to eliminate waste before it is even generated.

VICTORIA—Bouncee is proudly designed, developed, and made in Tullamarine, Victoria. It has already contributed positively to Victoria’s design and creative culture, having generated two new global patents, been exported to companies in Germany, Israel, Japan, and SE-Asia, and having just been named a finalist in the 2024 Packaging Innovation and Design Awards (PIDA).