Deliveroo and GAIL’s collaborate with university students on sustainable coffee cup delivery

Deliveroo and GAIL’s have joined forces with Sheffield Hallam University for the return of Deliveroo’s Sustainable Packaging Challenge. For the first time Deliveroo is collaborating with one of their key exclusive partners, GAIL’s, in order to help solve a packaging challenge.

The challenge will see students from Sheffield Hallam University attempt to develop a sustainable cup that enables coffee and other hot drinks to be delivered from a GAIL’s to the customer whilst remaining hot, without spilling, arriving in the best possible condition and considering sustainability as a main driver for innovation.

Students will have just under 5 months to produce a prototype for a cup that meets these objectives, receiving guidance and support from experts at both Deliveroo and GAIL’s. The winning design will then be selected at a final exhibition, with winners receiving a £1,500 cash prize and the chance to discuss the potential for their design to go into production with GAIL’s.

Deliveroo has seen rapid growth in their Breakfast and Coffee category, with it becoming one of the top 10 fastest growing categories on the app. With the growth in popularity of coffee deliveries through Deliveroo, the business has been keen to find a solution to ensure drink orders arrive in perfect condition in packaging that is ethically sourced, recyclable or made from renewable resources and/or is compostable. As one of the most popular restaurants in the category on Deliveroo, GAIL’s is the perfect partner for the challenge.

GAIL’s - who serve fresh, handmade bread, pastries and cakes alongside specialty coffee - has demonstrated substantial growth since partnering exclusively with Deliveroo two years ago. Initially launching on the app with 19 bakeries across London, GAIL’s has now expanded to over 160 bakeries across 13 cities, including Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Cambridge, Reading, Leamington Spa, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Chelmsford and most recently Bristol and Bath.

Jen Bagshaw, Head of Packaging at Deliveroo, said: We’re thrilled to be partnering with GAIL’s and Sheffield Hallam University in this year’s Sustainable Packaging Challenge. Breakfast and coffee is a big area of growth for Deliveroo, and this partnership demonstrates the value in large businesses supporting the development of cutting-edge research, working with universities to bring new, creative and more sustainable ideas to market. This competition is about supporting the next generation of designers who are putting sustainability at the heart of packaging innovation, so we’re thrilled to be collaborating with these talented students on this project.

This initiative follows continued steps made by Deliveroo to support restaurants to transition to sustainable packaging. In 2024 they worked with Sheffield Hallam University, challenging students on their Degree Apprenticeship in Packaging Professional to develop a piece of sustainable packaging for food delivery that prevented spillages and maintained food at the correct temperature. The winning design is now being produced in collaboration with BioPak and will be available for all partners to buy through Deliveroo’s sustainable packaging webstore in 2025.

Additionally, Deliveroo has a £2.5 million packaging fund that subsidises the cost of select environmentally friendly packaging items from the Deliveroo packaging store, elevating its sustainability offer to restaurant partners to support them in switching to greener choices.

This article was originally published by Deliveroo.