Jackson Mulligan, Founder of Refill Nation
Founder of Refill Nation Jackson Mulligan opened the Refill Nation store in Te Atatu Peninsula in Auckland in 2019. This marked the beginning of Mulligan fulfilling his mission to create a shopping experience that would add value to his small community, with products all free from single-use plastics, where the customer could bring in their empty jars and containers to refill or use the store's compostable paper bags.
“Our mission is to make sustainable shopping accessible and as affordable as possible so everyone can refill,” said Mulligan.
The biggest challenge facing retailers and businesses moving forward is the need for clear incentives encouraging them to reduce waste and adopt a more sustainable way of operating. This has driven the creation of Refill Nation, where its ethos and store concept address this gap in the market. However, it also means that stores such as Refill Nation remain niche rather than becoming mainstream practices for businesses and, therefore, consumers alike.
“I believe that closing the loop on waste between producers and retailers, with an emphasis on customer refills, would yield very positive outcomes in waste reduction.”
Persuading businesses to supply products in bulk as opposed to retail packaging is one of the most significant challenges Mulligan faces in trying to make store concepts such as Refill Nation mainstream. There have been instances where he has convinced businesses to try this concept, which he said always feels like a big win.
Moving forward, Mulligan hopes to establish Refill Nation stores across the country, providing sustainable shopping options to communities of all sizes. He continued that it's a great joy to see the positive influence learning about waste has on the uptake and growth of stores like Refill Nation.
“One of my greatest joys is when a customer is brought into the store by their primary-aged child, who has recently learned about plastic waste at school.”
Refill Nation provides a range of refillable products, including pantry essentials like flour, nuts, grains, snacks, oils, and syrups, as well as cleaning and body products. It also offers refills for pet essentials. Mulligan’s goal is to maintain affordability without sacrificing quality. To do this, Refill Nation maintains a 60/40 organic-to-conventional product ratio and sources from over 100 food suppliers to ensure the best customer deals.
If a customer shops in one of Refill Nation's stores, the team encourages them to bring in their jars, containers, or bags to refill. Each is weighed before being deducted when the customer checks out.
“Our customers love this system as it means they can purchase exactly what fits in their jars, making popping away the groceries super easy.”
If customers have forgotten jars or containers, the stores have plenty of paper bags for them to use, and each also has a jar library of clean, pre-weighed jars that customers can use. Customers can also purchase products online for delivery anywhere in New Zealand, with each order carefully placed in home compostable or curbside recycling packaging.
Refill Nation estimates that each year, it prevents approximately 300,000 pieces of single-use plastic packaging from being produced. With its overall goal to have its store concept become mainstream, Mulligan explained that for New Zealand to become a leader in reducing plastic waste, crucial steps must be implemented, the first a circular economy and the second a broader education to New Zealanders to enhance knowledge and understanding of how each household can reduce plastic consumption.
“Refill Nation plays a role in both factors by collaborating with suppliers to create closed-loop packaging solutions and educating our customers about zero-waste shopping.”
Read more from the Reffilables feature starting on page 52:
