COO Giovanna Arias / JUJIN New York (Luxury and Sustainable Packaging)

https://www.jujin.nyc/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/jujin-new-york/posts/?feedView=all

How can packaging be luxurious and more sustainable? 

What is this global packaging company working on to help their clients wade through a very challenging future? 

Thank you so much Giovanna Arias for your insights! 

Check out our sponsor Orora Packaging Solutions 
https://ororapackagingsolutions.com/

https://specright.com/?utm_campaign=2024%20Influencers&utm_source=cory%20connors&utm_content=home%20page 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap.

This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.

Transcript

Cory Connors: 0:31

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 0:34

And I'm Brodie Vander Dussen. Cory Connors: We're really She is a star in the world of packaging and very high end luxury packaging, which is one of our favorite topics to discuss. We just spent some time in Paris together and had an amazing time with the food and all the beautiful sights and all the things. But we're excited to introduce Giovanna Arias from Jujin New York.

Giovanna Arias: 1:03

Thank you, Corey. Thank you, Brody. Happy to be here and happy to see you guys again, after just a short couple of weeks. Thanks for having me.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 1:12

Welcome. Welcome. Yeah. We had a great time in Paris. I'm looking forward to here. and the next. Future leader cohort and all of the great things that come with that. before we get into a little bit of what we talked about there and what we saw at Paris Packaging Week, Giovanna, can you tell us a little bit about your background specifically?

Giovanna Arias: 1:33

Sure. I have always been in strategy and operations throughout my. Career, whether it was in the finance world, the legal world, government technology, FinTech, and now luxury packaging. It's always been in strategy and operations. I've always had a drive for improving efficiency. and it's actually a funny story. I, Grew up in Queens, New York, Jackson Heights, most diversity in the world. Super excited about it. I'll always bring that up every time I can. and my grandmother at the time was cleaning apartments and homes in Manhattan. come from immigrant parents, Columbia. And she brought me to work with her one day. I didn't have school. I was like nine or ten years old, and I ended up in this brownstone in Manhattan, and, I was like, wow, what is, what's this? and how does this happen? Right? and the owner of the property ended up, happened to be there. And, I was a bold kid even growing up and, just asked him a question, How do you have this? what do you do? And he was a COO for a very well known global company. This is, going back 30 years ago. And at that moment, it was really pivotal for me. At that point, I said, I want to be this guy. he explained to me what he did for the company. He was such a nice guy, so humble, so open and, spoke to me like I was his peer and talked to me about all the different industries that he was in and how he was, doing what he did in his organizations at that moment. And I thought this is, game changing. I, this is what I want to do. And so every role that I've been in has been. Very, instrumental and into getting me to where I am here today as a COO.

Cory Connors: 3:19

Excellent.

Giovanna Arias: 3:20

I

Brodie Vander Dussen: 3:20

love a woman and a kid who asks questions, who's brave. That sounds like something that, you've exemplified early in life. And I imagine has been really useful in your career path to get to do where you are today. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Cory Connors: 3:37

Yeah, that's a great story. I'd love to hear that. My, my very good friend Avelio Matos is also from Colombia and he moved to New York as a young child as well. So maybe you played on the streets together. Who knows? we have beautiful packaging samples behind you. can you tell us what Jujin New York is and a little bit about the company?

Giovanna Arias: 3:59

Sure. Jujin New York is a multi material, luxury packaging organization. really, we were known almost 20 years ago to be on the paper side. So A lot of, folks just knew of Jujin, focusing just on paper. And when our partner, Yousef Rafachi, joined the organization almost a decade ago, he had a different mission, and vision for the organization. So he started investing in, multi material factories across the globe. And that's really how we got into the multi material space. so we are, provide multi material luxury packaging for brands, across the globe.

Cory Connors: 4:36

that's a big task because as, packaging changes and, evolves with these new sustainable packaging laws and extended producer responsibility laws, we all have to look at what we're using for packaging. And, and, as far as I can tell, you've pivoted in a great way to accommodate not only making packaging sustainable, but also beautiful.

Giovanna Arias: 4:59

Thank you. and I agree. it's not an easy task. just Europe alone has spearheaded where the direction that all of us luxury packaging lovers, have pivoted into. So we follow that closely, not just on the Europe side. there's policies and laws changing all the time all over the world. And so one of the main tasks on one of my teams that I oversee is that just focusing on from a legal perspective and a policy perspective. What's coming up the pipeline and then how do we pivot to account for that and then not only pivoting, but how do we guide our clients and our brands to, to be able to, make changes on their end as well. You give us a deadline and people move. This is what I see. It's what happened in Europe, right? You give someone a deadline and changes start happening.

Cory Connors: 5:48

Yes, and that's, I think, why extended producer responsibility and the PPWR law that's taken effect recently in Europe is so valuable because it's affecting what we're calling the green bottom line for companies. hit them where it hurts and hit them in the wallet and they're going to take action and make improvements, maybe things that they've wanted to do for years, but now they have a real reason to move forward on those sustainable changes.

Giovanna Arias: 6:15

That's right. That's right. It, it hasn't been easy, but, we have a lot of full tech tools that help us stay, stay ahead of what's coming up the market and to be able to read these metrics and see, what should we be guiding our clients towards? What kind of materials should we be investing in on the raw material side? What should our engineers be looking at to start playing with to see what's feasible and what's not so we can sit down with our clients and consult with them and say this is what we suggest and this is what matches with your brand and your vision.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 6:46

Yeah, I think I know that this EPR both here in the States and then also in Europe is something that's. Challenging. but I'm, I can't help but be excited about the possibilities, not only on the sustainability side, but also in the creativity, the marketing, the what's possible when we push some boundaries and, growth comes from a place of uncomfort and I really feel like as much as this is uncomfortable, I really am excited for, to see the innovations that have come out of this.

Giovanna Arias: 7:18

I Well said Brodie, I 100 percent agree with that. And I love your perspective on that because it's a positive spin. a lot of people are, a lot of organizations are panicking, pivoting, pulling out of certain regions. And, I think you're spot on, right? Just, this is what pushes us to continue breaking boundaries and, setting the bar and then raising that and then going to the next level. this is one of the things that I talked about a lot at, Paris Packaging Week. Being surrounded by industry lovers, industry experts, we competitors, I like to call them peers, but it's something we don't see happen often enough, but our peers, we need to connect actually, because, the bottom line is yes, to make more revenue for the organization. We all need to keep the lights on, but at the end of the day, you have to love what you do and be. Really invested and that goes beyond the organization that goes beyond revenue and metrics and KPIs. That's really what's the long term vision for the organization as a whole. And so if we connect with our peers, our competitors, and we have these conversations, what are you doing in the market? How are navigating this? that's only going to help us to improve innovate. So I love that you said that because we are Great. definitely on this train with that thought process,

Brodie Vander Dussen: 8:32

and I don't think it makes it any easier, right? I'm not glossing over the challenge that it is to change, especially for these big organizations that have, a small change is a really big change. So I'm not glossing over that, but I am holding that challenge in the same hand as excitement and hope for what's to come, so yes, I love that. And I think that we saw a lot about that in Paris, seeing examples of people saying like, okay, if we're not going to do this anymore, what's next? And, Jujin , New York has been great. Um, tell us a little bit more about your partnership, what came out of that, how did it start, and your experience?

Giovanna Arias: 9:16

Yeah, I, we initially, we've been a part of Paris Packaging Week for many years. we love what they stand for. the mission and the vision is aligned with ours. And so this year we said, we're going to invest. We're going to invest a couple more, dollars and, be the headline sponsor. but we wouldn't have done that if the mission and vision didn't align, even with clients and partners that we work with, we have to be able to merge synergies. If it's not right, then, we can't do that. And with PPW, it's. It was right. they're all about sustainability, getting industry leaders together, getting everyone in one room talking. that's how we solve the world's problem. It's, I always say, if we can all sit down with all our different ideas and our big ideas and our conflicting ideas and just have a conversation, That's really how you start changing the world. And so that's what PPW does. and that's, we want it to be aligned with that, which is how we, we came about, as headline sponsor this year. but really, connecting with our, clients. So showcasing some of our, innovations, the big piece, the Temporis piece, that the collab piece that we worked on with, uh, Marie Robert, the talented, artists and friends. so many different cool things happened at the, Paris Packaging Week this last time. And, we're really excited to, to have been, offered to be a part of this journey. with PPW.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 10:40

I love that. I love the conversation having everyone at the table to have that conversation. Even when we have different opinions on how to proceed or what's priorities. I think there's so much more alignment than contrasting opinions where if we're all at the table and actively listening to seeking to understand the next person. I think. That's where growth comes from and that's how, like you said, solve the world's problems. So, and this global waste crisis is a really big one and something that, I'm encouraged was really encouraged by the conversations being had in Paris packaging week. So, yeah, definitely agree. it was a great week.

Giovanna Arias: 11:19

I agree 100%.

Cory Connors: 11:22

The first packaging week is 1 of the finest shows in the year for. Packaging and so it makes perfect sense for you a very high end brand beautiful packaging to showcase there And I do want to talk more about that Marie Gobert partnership that you did the beautiful artwork made from paper one of my favorite substrates and Maybe next year she can make it out of corrugated. That would be even better But tell us more about that, how did this amazing artwork come from your partnership?

Giovanna Arias: 11:54

Yeah, it's a really cool story. Actually, Marie Gobert, is she worked at Chanel as a talented designer for almost 20 years and then branched out of there and, really became a visionary artist. And we, again, really believed in the mission and the vision and wanted to drive those to marry those two together with. We are everything that we do is very intentional. from the emails that go out from the team to the way the engineers. Look at a product or a brief, to the factories that we, per invest in. It's all very strategic and it has to be, mission and vision driven. And so because those aligned, we saw this super talented artist and the beautiful work that she did on the paper side, and we said we have to do a CoLab. And, we connected with her and she was, in line with who we are and. What we do and the sustainable products that we put out across the board. So paper, metal, wood, plastic. It was all over, the full luxury packaging spectrum. And she said, she agreed to do this with us. So. When we talked about our, mission and who we are as at the core, we said, what can we do to really make this poetic piece come to life that speaks to the audience, right? Whether it's the consumers who saw the video and the work of arts, the brands, industry experts, I think, just immediately by looking at it, you get it. it's all paper. Everything she uses is actually FSC paper, Brody and Corey. So it's really cool. And she gives everything a second life. She upcycles everything. So even the paper that she cuts and those pieces that kind of ends up on the floor, it was really beautiful to see them all picked up and put somewhere. And, I ask questions by nature. I'm a curious person. And so, what are we doing with that? And she said, I reuse this for another project. So it just. It just keeps coming back to life, and I love the upcycling that happens there, and again, very much in line with who we are and what we do and how we think about luxury packaging.

Cory Connors: 14:01

Wonderful. And it was a real centerpiece for the event, so well done. You've certainly, the stars of the show. Good job.

Giovanna Arias: 14:08

Thank you. Thanks, Corey. We're very proud of it.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 14:11

I want to touch a little bit about what you said about how the sustainability mission at JuJu in New York. Can you tell us a little bit about what that looks like when you're talking about packaging? specifically for luxury packaging, how does sustainability play with that?

Giovanna Arias: 14:26

Yeah, I'm going to answer this, with a completely different spin. as Brody and Corey, I am, I don't have enough skin in the game. I haven't been in luxury packaging, 20, 30 years. in my previous world, I was in, like I mentioned finance and law and tech and all these different spaces that allowed me to bring these tools and processes and softwares and platforms, and really implement that in, in the luxury packaging space. So we have these great tools. That offer. I'm a big, data person. I really believe in metrics and analyzing and taking information. What we've learned in the past and turning that into some real, metrics that we can use for our strategies moving forward. And that's what I did here. That's what we've done as a team. we've taken these softwares, get these metrics. What makes sense on the what's hurting the planet? What's what? What should we steer away from? What should we really get close to? And, and that's how we make our informed decisions. everything we do is like I mentioned earlier, it's intentional. So on the sustainable side, we have to be experts. So that we can really consult and, guide our clients, our brands. And so understanding what's hurting the planet today, firstly, and how can we make things better is one of the top priorities. And so we actually worked on a really full, project. It's, it was an admin calendar. We also showcased it at, at Paris packaging week. And, as. I'm sure you guys have seen advent calendars. You probably have had some being packaging lovers and what ends up happening is you receive this beautiful advent calendar and it's massive, really fun for a few weeks. And then you're like, okay, what do we do with this piece? So you end up putting it in your closet or if you have space outside of Manhattan, in a garage somewhere, or you get rid of it, it's paper. it doesn't last too long. So we thought, how do we put a spin on this? How do we educate our, the consumers and the brands to show, hey, we can make something that's and make something that is going to last know that you can upcycle and reuse in your home for a long time. And so our teams came together, our team of designers and engineers and they put some awesome, pen to paper thoughts and made something beautiful come to life. They created an advent calendar made out of FSC wood and FSC paper. So the idea was it's really strong and sturdy on the outside. And then the inside, FSC paper, it's, soft and, you have the brand, you have the brand's logo on there, and what happens is the client, the consumer doesn't get rid of it because it's beautiful, because it lasts. You can use it now as a jewelry box or as a cigar holder or whatever. Whatever you wanna put, put in it buttons and, it's nice to look at. And then for the brand, you're also marketing because you're showing. The consumer is constantly looking at, they have this logo and brand and what that brand stands for in front of them. So it was a really cool way to show, full circle, how packaging affects everyone in this world. So the brand, the consumer. The person on the company's on the backend making the advent calendar or the luxury packaging. so we were really excited about that project. That

Brodie Vander Dussen: 17:45

sounds great. Yeah, it was really cool to see it and even get to touch and feel the advent calendar that you're talking about. It was, yeah, very different and I hope it, hopeful to see it on shelves. Yes. Yeah.

Cory Connors: 17:59

So often we're trying to, downgage or, lightweight or right size packaging. I'd like to look at things the other way sometimes and go to a more, sustainable, reusable. or like you said, upcycle or downcycle in your house. my, my kids do that all the time. They'll take a box and turn it into something else. Maybe it's for their Pokemon cards or whatever the case may be. But why can't we reuse things like that over and over again? And it could be our annual advent calendar, right?

Giovanna Arias: 18:31

A hundred percent. if you come to the New York office, our team outside of this beautiful showroom, if you go to their desks, they don't have the standard pencil. cup holders with their pens and pencils and highlighters in there. It's our packaging, actually. And so, yes, it's come to life. yes, it's maybe 10 years old or, or brand new, but we're using it in a different way. It's not just sitting in a closet, collecting dust, or going to the garbage. We're finding different ways of using it.

Cory Connors: 18:58

thank you, Giovanna. This has been really awesome, and, we're excited to hear more from you in the future and what your brand and your company's doing. Anything else you want to tell us about before we finish up here?

Giovanna Arias: 19:11

I want to thank you both. For having me on this platform, I'm really excited to be a part of this industry. and in the role that I sit in today as chief operating officer, I think we're making a lot of headway and, breaking a lot of barriers within the luxury packaging industry. And I'm really excited to showcase, what our team can do and, and how the luxury packaging world is going to change. So thank you both. Thanks for being here.

Cory Connors: 19:38

What's the best way for people to get in touch with you and to work with your company?

Giovanna Arias: 19:43

Sure. so Jujin, New York, it's Jujin, J U J I N dot N Y C. And you can find us on our website, on our, on LinkedIn. Jujin, New York, luxury packaging, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. we've, we're riding the social media wave. We can find us all, all across the board.

Cory Connors: 20:03

I love that. Well done. thanks again. And, excited to see more from you in the future.

Giovanna Arias: 20:08

Thank you. Thanks, Corey.