Say goodbye to limp veggies, slimy fruit and wilted herbs. Peita Pini has developed a reusable fresh produce storage bag that keeps fruit and veggies fresher for longer. Introducing The Swag, a non-toxic, environmentally – friendly sustainable machine washable, breathable bag. The Swag keeps fruit and veggies fresher for longer. The Swag gives back several days and even weeks of life to your fresh produce. The Swag not only saves money, it saves time because you shop less.
ITC was impressed when we first saw the Swag and we wanted to know more. We asked Peita a few questions.
Why Did You Decide To Invent The Swag?
Over ten years ago, I really started to notice fruit and veggies were sweating when sealed in plastic bags or containers. Then it dawned on me that if I was sealed in a plastic bag without air or water then I die too. This is the same for all living things. This insight started me on a long journey of research, sourcing, testing and refining. The past four years is where the bulk of the hard work was done and where I set out on the adventure of establishing patents around the world and determining how to take The Swag to market.
What is your background in the food or manufacturing industry?
I have no background in food or manufacturing, I’m a full time working Mum with 2 young children. I do a lot of cooking for family and friends and always love fresh produce and to make healthy tasty food. I’ve experimented with different versions of The Swag, I’ve done some toxicology testing. I’ve also sought market feedback and this reinforced my confidence in The Swag.
How does the Swag work?
The Swag is made out of three patented unique layers of non-toxic 100% unbleached, unseeded cotton. The central layer makes the significant difference to the life span of fruit and veggies. The central layer holds the bulk of the water allowing the fruit and veggies to breath and hydrate at their own pace. The Swag is reusable and machine washable. The product is simple; however incredibly effective. I believe as humans we can tend to over complicate things unnecessarily and in fact, my original prototype was quite complex and I just kept stripping it back and simplifying it. I wanted to make The Swag an easy choice.
How Long Did it Take to Develop The Swag?
Once homework, dinner, school lunches, bath time, bedtime stories were complete and my children were fast asleep, I worked well into the night working on The Swag. This continued over a four-year period after my second child was born. There were highs and lots of lows, it was challenging but I was determined to stick it through, I knew the product was too good to be kept quiet.
What Has the Reaction to The Swag been like?
The feedback has been overwhelming! Our customers are reporting that their produce last much longer, most reporting 2 to 3 times as long. They love not wasting food and reducing the use of plastic bags. They are saving money and doing a good thing for the environment. People have been so generous with their praise and encouragement and we’ve receives 100% five-star reviews.
Kathy Sheeran from Shopping Confessions, and a notoriously tough independent product reviewer ran comparison tests on fresh produce in plastic bags versus The Swag and she said the results actually “blew her mind” and that the fresh herbs were lasting ten days in The Swag versus two days in the plastic bag.
The Word of Mouth on this product is HUGE. We’re now seeing trends where we will get one order from a remote rural town and three weeks later we’ll get 20 orders from the exact same postcode – it’s incredible.
Where can you buy The Swag in Lane Cove?
The Swag is sold online at www.theswag.com.au. To be honest, I haven’t even had the time to approach any wholesalers in the area as yet as we’ve only been on the market for two months and we have sold out of stock twice over. I’m currently putting together a wholesale price list to get forward orders so I can start building up manufacturing to meet the market demand. If there are any local business who are interested in stocking The Swag please email me at [email protected]
The Swag Starter Pack has everything you will need to get started on your journey of saving money,wasting much less fresh produce and saying goodbye to toxic plastic bags – FREE Australia wide delivery and gift wrapping!!
1 x Large Swag
1 x Medium Swag
2 x Small Swag
How long have you lived in Greenwich*?
We moved to Greenwich in 2006. I grew up in Dural surrounded by trees and nature, when I started work I moved closer to the city and lived in a number of coastal apartments when I met my husband we looked for a suburb to live and fate took us to look in Greenwich. Our home is 6kms from the Harbour Bridge, yet surrounded by beautiful gum trees and backing onto many Lane Cove National Park walking trails. As soon as we saw it we loved in and we’ve never looked back.
*Greenwich is located (for now) in the Lane Cove Council Area.
ITC loves seeing an interesting concept come to life. As a former lawyer, I know how hard it is to obtain a patent for a product. Peita has done a great job to bring this product to market. We are sure the Lane Cove Sustainability Action Group would be interested in this product. We have also suggested a few local retailers like Organico Emporio and The Source Bulk Foods . The lovely Kitsa from Organico Emporio is quite keen as Organico Emporio is a one stop shop for all your Organic and Eco Luxe gifts, food and lifestyle needs.
Contact Details
Website: theswag.com.au
Instagram: theswag.com.au
Facebook: theswag.com.au
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