Two students from Sheffield Hallam University have designed a sustainable* packaging solution for nationwide restaurant group Pho, as they are crowned winners of Deliveroo’s 2026 Sustainable Packaging Competition.
The competition, in its third year, represents a special partnership between Deliveroo, Sheffield Hallam University and Enviropak, bringing together academia and industry to develop new and practical solutions for sustainable packaging, with the potential for commercial adoption amongst restaurants on Deliveroo’s platform.
Students on the Higher Degree Apprenticeship Packaging programme at Sheffield Hallam University were tasked with redesigning packaging for Pho, a leading Vietnamese restaurant on the Deliveroo platform with more than 50 restaurants across the country. It builds on the success of last year’s competition with fast-growing bakery chain, GAIL’s, where students were tasked with creating a new sustainable coffee cup design.
This year, students had just under five months to design and develop a container that can transport one of Pho’s most popular orders: curry and rice dishes. The goal was to ensure the packaging prevented the curry sauce spilling onto the rice during delivery, kept the product hot and fresh, while placing sustainability at the heart of the process.
George Fowles and Jessica Walklett were crowned this year’s winners, walking away with a £1,500 cash prize. Their winning design, the Terapot, is a semi-circular tub made from fully recyclable pulp. It is designed to hold the curry while sitting inside a bigger bowl which contains the rice.
The smaller tub, equipped with an ergonomically designed outer lip, is built to the perfect height allowing it to press tightly against the lid of the bowl to safely transport the curry, preventing spillages and maintaining its heat.
The judges praised the Terapot for its thoughtful design and sustainability credentials. Plus the winning tub design fits into Pho’s existing packaging portfolio making it a cost-effective update for the brand and therefore a more viable item to take into production.
Azucena Gómez, Course Leader on the Higher Degree Apprenticeship Packaging Professional BSc at Sheffield Hallam said, “It has been a pleasure to work with Deliveroo over the past three years. Their support, collaboration and commitment have been invaluable, and we are delighted to welcome Pho as a new partner this year. This challenge gives our apprentices a fantastic opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in a new industry, explore its challenges, and see how innovation and technology can create effective solutions. It helps them develop their technical abilities, creativity and problem-solving skills while gaining insights beyond the classroom.”
Jai Shah, Founder and Managing Director, Enviropak, said, “The ideas put forward by the students at Sheffield Hallam University were very impressive. It is fantastic to be involved in exploring options on how we bring the winning design to life, enabling Pho and potentially other restaurants on Deliveroo’s platform to benefit from an innovative and sustainable packaging solution.”
