Showbags are a beloved staple of the Royal Adelaide Show. Vendors are making the important, albeit costly, swap from plastic to environmentally-friendly materials to carry the tradition into a sustainable future. (Image: Robert Hicks)
By Alana Pahor | @bookish_alana
At this year’s Royal Adelaide Show (RAS), vendors are swapping plastic showbags for paper ones to reduce their environmental impact.
Showbag Shop Showbag Operator Brendan Williams, who represents one of five vendors at this year’s RAS, said the move was happening on a national scale.
“The whole industry is moving towards sustainability,” he said.
“We’re moving away from plastic bags.
“We [started making] that move about five years ago, so most showbags come in paper bags — and if they’re not in a paper bag, they’re in a reusable bag like a backpack or a tote bag.
“Many of the showbags are confectionary and chocolate, so about 75 per cent [of bags] would be paper.”
While Williams said Showbag Shop could not swap the items in the bags for sustainable alternatives, Bensons Trading Brand and Product Manager Samantha Atkinson said her company was exploring the option.
“Whereas we might have used to have a pack of stickers that would come in a plastic seal, we now make sure it comes in a cardboard seal, and we insert it in a backpack,” she said.
“So we try to come up with other ways and methods that we can pack things to try and get rid of plastic as well.”
Atkinson said the transition from plastic to paper had been a costly one.
“The cost of a paper bag to a plastic bag is probably 30 to 40 per cent more in price,” she said.
Williams agrees.
“The difficulty [in transitioning to paper bags] was the cost of the product,” he said.
“They’re a lot bulkier, which comes into a logistical cost, so it wasn’t great in that respect — but it’s a good thing for the environment.”
However, Williams said this production cost increase had not been passed onto consumers.
“In recent times, prices have increased but that’s not due to sustainability; that’s due to the cost of production and transport and everything else going on in the greater economy,” he said.
Atkinson said Bensons Trading had also covered the cost increase themselves.
“We’ve tried to keep our pricing basically the same as last year and we’ve absorbed the pricing ourselves,” she said.
“I think across some of the ranges, you may have seen a slight five per cent increase.
“However, towards the future, as we do change up and look at more environmentally friendly options, there will be an increase that will eventually have to be passed onto the consumers.”
Despite this, Williams said the paper showbags had been well received by showgoers.
“I think [they’ve been received] generally well; they look better, and it feels a lot better not to be handing over so many tonnes of plastic to the consumers every year,” he said.
Williams predicted sales for Showbag Shop would increase at this year’s RAS.
“It’ll be better than last year, because last year was a really tough year with attendance,” he said.
Atkinson attributed the recent sales plateau to the cost-of-living crisis; however, she said sales for Bensons Trading would not likely increase this year.
“I think [sales for Bensons Trading] are on par with the previous year,” she said.
“Post-COVID there was a huge spike in showbag sales, but things are levelling out with the way the economy is at the moment.
“The cost of living is really starting to impact people.
“People are being a lot more choosy on what they’re buying; they’re not buying multiple bags like they were previously.”
Despite people’s tightening budgets, Atkinson said showbags continue to be a source of fascination to showgoers in their paper form.
“You get joy from the unboxing experience,” she said.
“It is something that’s unique to Australia; it’s not worldwide.
“I think it’s been a part of the Australian culture for a long time.
“So we’re looking at ways of how we can keep that a part of the Australian culture, but ways that we can do it better and make it more environmentally sustainable for the future.”
You can purchase showbags at the RAS Showbag Hall between 9:30am and 10pm today and between 9:30am and 9pm tomorrow.
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