
Greenigo, a Melbourne-based company known for its unique, eco-friendly stationery products, is seeking local print partners ahead of its expansion into the US later this year.
Founded in Melbourne in 2014, Greenigo’s proprietary technology enables its products to be printed on maple wood veneer to create wood gifts and stationery.
“Environmental sustainability is at the core of our business,” Greenigo director Vivek Panchakshari told Sprinter.
“We print only on sustainable harvested wood veneers and use recycled paper in our products.”
The business is the brainchild of Vivek. While working at his father’s print and copy business in India while studying engineering before moving to Australia, Vivek developed an interest in designer stationery. However, according to Vivek, while the stationery brands he admired developed products that were beautiful in style, he believed they were lacking an ecofriendly element.
Following his acquisition of Melbourne-based printer, and after more than five years of research, and searching for an alternative stock to paper, Vivek established an exclusive trade deal with an US-based manufacturer of wood veneer. Wood veneer is made from FSC controlled wood logs. It is biodegradable, and the veneering process uses less water and chemicals compared to the paper making process.
“I started the business printing greeting cards and wedding invitations on timber. However, when COVID hit and severely affected the events industry we decided to pivot into gifts and stationery.”
Since then, the business expanded its product range into gifts and stationery including bookmarks, journals, and calendars. The company now sells its products in several major Australian airports, tourist centres, souvenir shops, boutique gift shops, and online. The business has also become a family affair with Vivek’s wife Priya and son Dhruv joining the business.
“After a decade in the business, my wife joined our team in 2023 to lead digital marketing and enhance our market presence through trade expos. Even our son Dhruv is enthusiastic about our marketing efforts, attending trade expos and generating numerous leads.”
Vivek is planning to expand to the US market later this year.
“Now that we are more established, we are focused on scaling the business. Expanding into the US market is a significant step toward achieving that goal and introducing more people to the beauty and functionality of our maple wood gifts and stationery,” Vivek said.
“We are also actively seeking investors to scale our operations globally, including the acquisition of other established sustainable brands in the giftware industry.
“The timber is from the US so we can easily set up a print hub there and offer this globally,” Panchakshari told Sprinter.
“We have already started to expand the gift and stationery side of the business through our e-commerce platform, and we a consultant who is working with us to enter the US market by next year.”
Vivek said he is open to conversations with suppliers and online web-to-print platforms, with the aim to be “the Vista Print of timber printing”.
“We are open to conversations with potential partners to be able to have a bigger impact on the industry– we want to become Vista Print for printing on timber.
“Our aim is to specialise only in timber printing, and we want to offer more personalised stationery such as business cards, flyers, event invitations, as well as expand our range of merchandise such as photo frames.
“As a business, we do everything possible to keep the product as sustainable as possible and local. We manufacture locally. We don’t want to compete with overseas because we follow ethical practices.
“We believe our products offer a unique combination of sustainability, functionality, and aesthetic appeal that will resonate with consumers in the US and other international markets.
“We are excited to introduce more people to the Greenigo brand and our commitment to eco-friendly, premium gifts and stationery which are made in Australia.”
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