Endeavour Foundation’s packaging capabilities have helped it create a diverse portfolio of clients, from the small to the large, and the company’s adaptability and innovation has helped it carve out a uniquely valuable spot in the market.
Carlos Aguado, operations manager NSW & VIC for Endeavour Foundation told Food and Beverage Industry News the company’s ability to adapt to customer needs was a big advantage, but customers also complimented the quick turnaround at a consistently high quality.
“We are small enough that we can offer customisation and tailored solutions, but with a geographical reach from Melbourne to Cairns, we also have the capacity for cost-effective and efficient delivery times which our customers really appreciate,” said Aguado.
Being able to help smaller companies grow and expand and bigger companies adapt and evolve is a fulfilling and important part of the Endeavour Foundation commercial business model.
“Our large workforce means that we can offer highly manual packaging solutions through to semi-automated and fully automated processes which allows us to partner with all kinds of businesses in the food packaging realm. Everyone from the biggest Australian and international retailers in the market through to mum and pop start-ups in the home garage who are seeing demand for their products grow and are looking for a safe and cost-effective way to do that” Aguado said.
Endeavour Foundation provides a range of food packaging solutions including food blending and packaging, shrink/bundle wrapping and bagging, labelling- re-labelling and bar coding.
The packaging formats employed by the company include doy, or stand up and box pouch, box – vertical filling, pillow and pouch bagging, tub/cylinder vertical filling and sachet, among others.
“Endeavour Foundation provides multiple types of business solutions to multiple industries. We’ve got accreditations ranging from HACCP to GMP, which all of our food sites have as a base standard, and then depending on our customer’s business and geographical needs we can then offer other types of accreditations such as SQF, organic, kosher, halal, different types of allergen control and more,” said Aguado.
“We specialise in the packaging of powders, spices, grains, cereals, mueslis and granolas. This is an end-to-end service – everything from blending to filling, and then packing either by hand or using specialised equipment.”
The output capacity of the company was another selling point for Endeavour, with free tours offered for potential customers so they can see it for themselves.
“I think our customers are pleasantly surprised with the capability and capacity that we have,” said Aguado.
“You can see their relief when they realise the process or product, they are briefing us on isn’t foreign. And then when we show them our doy pouch machines or pillow pack machines and they realise that not only can we deliver on their brief, but in a shorter time frame than they were expecting – it’s a great feeling.”
But cost-effective packaging solutions is just a small part of Endeavour Foundation’s story. As a not-for-profit organisation, the business is this year celebrating 70 years of supporting and making dreams a possibility for people with intellectual disability.
“As an Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE), our work sites employ more than 2,000 people with intellectual disability in supported employment,” Aguado said.
“Employment opportunities form a critical part of an inclusive and empowering community for people with disability. When our customers partner with us they’re supporting opportunities for people with disability to work, develop skills, earn an income, explore their interests, and be involved in the community.”
“One thing that we love is seeing the joy on our customer’s faces when they visit our work sites to meet our supported employees and see them packaging their products with such pride.”
“It adds a whole other dimension and meaning to the relationship – they are getting their packaging requirement met but in a meaningful and socially conscience way,” he said.
Endeavour Foundation offers work, home and community services that empower and support people with intellectual disability to live their best lives.