The AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list recognises the most innovative organisations in Australia and New Zealand, as judged by the expert panel assembled by The Australian Financial Review and Inventium. The assessment methodology is outlined here.
In 2020 the list has been split into 10 industry-specific categories. These are the top 10 innovations in the manufacturing and consumer goods category
1. Bluey Technologies
Innovation: BluCem ZeoGlass®
Number of employees:
BluCem ZeoGlass® is not just a superior product, it’s also environmentally friendly. This acid-resistant concrete can withstand aggressive environments such as sewers and increase the life of sewer liners from 10 to 15 year to up to 50 years.
Rather than being made from sand, which has environmentla consequences, 60 per cent of the product comprises recycled materials, including the glass that goes into the yellow recycling bin. This also means the produce provides a solution for the growing stockpiles of this glass. In fact, if Sydney Water embraced this product, it could completely eradicate this stock pile within two years.
“One of our suppliers recently received a grant to build a local glass plant that can manufacture glass to our specifications to produce this product. This is expected to be up and running early next year,” says Daniel Bosco, Bluey Technologies’ founding director.
2. PACT Group
Innovation: PACT’s pandemic pivot into hand sanitiser
Number of employees:
PACT is a specialty packaging business and the largest manufacturer of rigid plastic products in Australia and New Zealand, with operations that extend into Asia.
The business has subsequently become the largest manufacturer of hand sanitiser in Australia, in response to widespread shortages at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and can manufacture 1.5 million litres a week for more than 10 million Australians. After receiving a request from the Victorian government, it was able to supply the Victorian Police force with 350,000 units of hand sanitiser. It also produced 46,000 litres of hand sanitiser for NSW Schools and donated 5,000 litres of the product to Australian Food Collection Charities FareShare and Oz Harvest.
3. Berger Ingredients and Coco & Lucas’ Kitchen
Innovation: Coco & Lucas’ Plant-Based Ready Meals and Earth Plant-Based Entertaining Range
Number of employees:
Consumers are increasingly exploring plant-based, vegetarian and vegan meals. Berger Ingredients’ and Coco & Lucas’ Plant-Based Ready Meals and Earth Plant-Based Entertaining Range meets this need. The nutritious and delicious, meet-free, frozen meals have a meat-like texture and taste. Options include a Meatless Cottage Pie, Butter Chickenless and Basmati Rice and Spaghetti Vegie-nese. The meals are based on leading food science and processing technology. Sales have grown by 200 per cent month-on-month since the range was launched in July last year.
4. Carlton & United Breweries
Innovation: Lexington Hill Cocktail Club
Number of employees:
Australians have enjoyed more than 2.2 million Lexington Hill Cocktail Club beverages since the brand was launched. Consumers can enjoy one of three different drinks, sangria, espresso martini or margarita, on tap or served in bottles. Exotic ingredients include West Indian lime juice, blue agave tequila bianco and quadruple distilled grain vodka.
5. Ryco Filters
Innovation: Ryco Vehicle Specific Kits (RVSK)
Number of employees:
Ryco has generated more than $750,000 in revenue from its Ryco Vehicle Specific Kits (RVSK) since the product was launched in late 2019. These kits are expected to contribute 5 per cent growth to the business over time, with the range anticipated to double over the coming 12 months.
The kits allow non-mechanics to install a diesel fuel pre-filter and a crankcase filter to a vehicle, using easy-to-understand instructions and simple diagrams. While the kit includes specialised and pre-fitted parts, it is designed to blend in with a vehicle’s factory-supplied components.
6. Carman’s Fine Foods
Innovation: Aussie Oat Bars
Number of employees:
Launched after significant research and testing, Aussie Oat Bars are a healthy lunchbox alternative. Each bar contains less than four grams of sugar and more than 20 per cent of the recommended daily fibre intake for a child aged between four and eight years.
The Aussie Oat Bar has been the top-ranking new product in its category for the last two years.
7. Brownes Dairy
Innovation: Brownes Dairy ‘Milko’
Number of employees:
Western Australia’s Brownes Dairy has developed a thoroughly modern version of the once-familiar milkman or ‘Milko’, who once delivered milk and dairy products through the suburbs.
In this latest iteration, customers order through an online store, with orders delivered within 24 hours. Brownes delivered 12,000 orders within three months and the business is on track to generate $1 million in revenue within 12 months.
8. Brown & Watson International
Innovation: Narva VR experience
Number of employees:
The Narva Virtual Reality experience showcases how different driving lights attached to a four-wheel drive vehicle look on different road surfaces, giving drivers a realistic experience of how different lights work. This allowers drivers to make an informed decision when choosing lights.
The technology has contributed to a 13 per cent increase in sales of the lights included in the VR experience.
9. Moet Hennessy
Innovation: Dom Perignon Proxima (iceless bucket)
Number of employees:
The Dom Perignon Proxima bucket eshews ice in favour of a frozen aluminium base and metal fans to keep champagne and wine at optimal temperatures for an hour.
The bucket also ensures the bottle’s label remains damage free and elevates it, to support the high status of the product.
10. Geofabrics Australasia
Innovation: Bidim Green
Number of employees:
Bidim Green is an environmentally-friendly ‘geotextile’ used for a variety of purposes on large infrastructure projects. Made in part from recycled PET bottles, the material has the potential to contribute to the removal of 1,700 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.
<breakout> Civil engineers pursue true blue innovation
For Bluey Technologies’ founding director Daniel Bosco, civil engineering is about much more than just building bridges, roads and tunnels.
“Civil engineers are often risk averse. But they have the ability to solve problems for humanity if they really put their minds to it. It would be great to encourage civil engineers to be more innovative. We could change the way we live,” he says.
Bosco started his business after identifying an opportunity for a local outfit to challenge overseas incumbents.“We were working on major projects with three main competitors, all from overseas. One was from Switzerland, another one was from the UK and another one was from Germany. I realised there was a real gap in the market for Australian suppliers when it comes to specialised cementitious products in civil engineering, which include cement and binders.
“Civil engineering is slow to respond to technology. But I realised the only way we were going to compete was if we started innovating. That ended up being our advantage because we were coming up with new ideas and new ways of doing things. We became trusted in managing the risk of innovating. This is a big thing in civil engineering. If your phone breaks, you just buy a new one. But if a bridge breaks it’s catastrophic.”
Bosco says Bluey Technologies is able to manage risk through testing and research and development. “I’ve got a background in structural engineering and most of our people have a background in engineering, rather than being chemists. Being able to solve problems and manage risk when we come up with new products has helped us to develop the company over almost 20 years.”
The business now has an extensive overseas footprint, with customers across New Zealand, Asia and, more recently, the US and UK.
Bosco says being open to new propositions helps supports Bluey’s innovative culture. “There are no stupid ideas. If there’s a problem there that needs to be solved and someone has an idea, we’ll apply energy to it. We have a register of innovative ideas we’re working on. We apply substantial resources to research and development, because in a business like ours, there are always ideas coming through. But it’s important to prioritise them otherwise you tend to not finish things. That’s really important to see things through.”