This time in Start-up Monitor: The owner and founder of Revopal, Nick Geels. 'The Revopallet can improve 70% of the market for transportation and ergonomic handling' according to Geels.
What is your elevator pitch in one sentence?
Revopal Offers a socially responsible and ergonomic alternative for the sustainable transportation of goods on Revopallets, consisting of 100% recycled cardboard.
What problem does the Revopallet solve?
Revopallet is suitable for environmentally friendly and ergonomically better transportation. Our pallet reduces Co2 emissions and fuel consumption. In addition, the Revopallet provides ergonomically better working conditions due to its low weight. The result of the Revopallet is a more environmentally friendly waste stream for the end user, contributing to the circular economy.
What is the biggest challenge to making this idea successful?
Revopal wants to appeal to companies that want to contribute to a sustainable and circular economy. In doing so, we must take into account the adoption process of pallets, the organization needs time for this integration. For us, this means that we must always remain scalable, not deviating from our starting point of being and remaining a leading supplier of recyclable cardboard pallets.
How did you come up with the idea?
I always worked in large warehouses for vacation jobs during my studies. There I worked with wooden europallets and disposable pallets. These are often full of nails and splinters and weigh 23 kilos each, which was just very heavy. During a course on Corporate Social Responsibility, which I took for my studies in Commercial Economics, all kinds of sustainable products were presented. In the book there was also a product that looked like a pallet. This made me think back to the time I worked with euro pallets in warehouses. The idea gradually developed in this way. I thought maybe you could make that pallet out of recycled cardboard. That's how it all started, from an assignment for a course on Corporate Social Responsibility, combined with my own experience of working with heavy pallets.
What does the product look like?
It is a recycled cardboard board with feet underneath in different sizes: display size, mini size, euro size and block size. In addition to the standard sizes, Revopal can also request custom Revopallets, which are then produced to the customer's requirements.
Doesn't this already exist?
Some models of cardboard pallets have entered the market, but they use different raw materials than we do. Frankly, these are not comparable to the Revopallet.
What are your future plans? Where will you be in two years?
It is increasingly important for organizations to be actively engaged in sustainable issues, which is where Revopallet and Revopal fit in seamlessly. We expect to have inspired much of the market to switch to 100% recycled cardboard pallets in two years' time.
Who do you see as a competitor?
For us, the competitors are basically every pallet manufacturer, but we rely on our own strength and our own product.
What lessons have you learned along the way?
I wouldn't know where to start, I'm young right now, 25 years old, but I'm actually learning every day. The contact with organizations and the issues they put to me, like how are you going to get your production in order and arrange it all logistically, there's so much more to it than just producing a pallet. Another example is: How do the pallets react on an automated machine at the customer's site? Which pallets are suitable for that? One of the important learning phases for a start-up organization is staying scalable and being able to grow with the needs of the market.
What barrier did you have to overcome?
I think the most important one is going on now, which is the corona crisis. We don't know what the market is going to look like and how to go to customers, for example. I do think that after this crisis there will be even more focus on sustainability, because after all, the earth is not going in the right direction now. We make the Revopallet from waste, the old paper that we as people take to the streets, so of course that fits perfectly into that story. However, it's not just the recycling process, the lower weight of the pallet is also an important part. After all, it reduces CO2 emissions and provides an improved ergonomic environment for employees in logistics.