More consumers buying sustainable Chinese New Year hongbao with upcycled designs
These red packets come with designs that can be repurposed as festive decorations, or even grown into plants.
Printing firm Olympia Premiums has developed various sustainable red packets including a snakes-and-ladders design which can be used as a board game.
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SINGAPORE: Some red packet printing firms are shifting from single-use designs to those that can be repurposed as festive decorations - or even grown into plants.
These sustainable hongbao have been a hit among consumers, with sales for some jumping by 20 per cent on-year even though they are more costly than traditional ones.
Hongbao, or red packets, are traditionally handed out by married couples to children during Chinese New Year as a token of good luck.
REUSABLE RED PACKETS
Paper producer Olympia Premiums told CNA that sales of sustainable hongbao have risen by 20 per cent, despite them being twice as expensive.
“I think for the younger generation, they are more concerned about eco-friendliness,” said the firm’s production manager Kevin Kwek.
These environmentally-conscious consumers have shared their desire for red packets that are reusable, he added.
“We thought of ways to try to see whether we are able to actually come up with something that we can always use over the years,” he noted.
Olympia Premiums has been developing various sustainable red packets since 2018. These include a snakes-and-ladders design that can be used as a board game, and a hongbao which can double up as a festive decoration when it is fully opened.
However, Mr Kwek noted that such products come with many challenges during the manufacturing process, including how it can be labour intensive to pack.
Meanwhile, corporate gift supplier Purple and Pure has given a unique twist to its red packets, which can be sown and grown into plants.
The textured biodegradable seed paper takes twice as long to produce and comes with printing limitations, such as some restrictions on colours and embossing designs.
Purple and Pure founder Ankita Jain said this paper is handmade from recycled cotton, setting it apart from traditional red packets in terms of texture.
“Normal, traditional ang baos are made with a paper that is coated or laminated and cannot be recycled. Our paper is 100 per cent recycled, and because of the seed embedded, you can plant it into different flowers, herbs or vegetables,” she added.
WILLING TO PAY MORE
The Copy Boy, a printing company that produces traditional hongbao, said more customers are now seeking designs that can be used again year after year.
“They get those kinds of evergreen ang baos, so probably quotes or interesting illustrations that are not related to the zodiac,” said its managing director Derrick Goh.
He pointed out that for red packets with zodiac designs, customers who cannot finish using them would then have to “wait a whole cycle of 12 years before you can touch it”.
His firm has been working with Gen Z illustrators to come up with more appealing designs.
Mr Goh added that customers are also willing to pay more for timeless designs compared with last year, as long as these red packets are of a high quality.
“Most of them think that if they can't give out in time this year, they can still reuse it, either for weddings or for future years,” he said.
